First & Foremost Kiss
Keep it simple & special. The last thing you want is to confuse your guests or overwhelm them with way too much information jammed into one card. For destination weddings, your best bet is to send multi-card invitation suites or a multi-page booklet style invitation that allow you to break up all the details.
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In addition to the basic information, your main invitation card can include a few words that excite your guests about the location with mentions of the ocean, sea, sun, sunsets, or travel and inspires them to make the trip by emphasizing why their presence is so important to you.
It sounds harder than it is. Just check out some examples of invitation wording below to see what I mean. The key is to keep it short. We live in a busy world. People want to quickly skim through the text, get the point, and be told what to do which brings me to my next point
Details Cards You Might Need
Accommodations
If you are reserving hotel room blocks for out of town guests, it is recommended to share this information on an accommodation details card. This card is especially essential if you have a lot of out of town guests who may not be web-savvy enough to find room block details on your wedding website.
What to Include: Along with the name of the hotel and street address, inform guests of the name or group code your room blocks are listed under along with the date to reserve by. You may also wish to include the hotel’s phone number. If a shuttle is provided from the hotel to your venue, you may also add it here.
What Not to Include: You do not need to list the hotel website’s booking pagethese are often long and can look confusing. It’s best to include this on your wedding website. Don’t include too much informationsuch as the temperature, recommended airports, or other minor details guests can find on their own.
Ways to Save: Omit the added cost of including a website card by briefly including your wedding website at the bottom of this card.
Reception Insert
If your wedding and reception are held at different venues or if there is a long break between both events, this insert may be necessary to share all of the extra details with guests.
What Not to Include: If you have any other wedding festivities, such as a post-wedding brunch, do not list it on this card. It can appear confusing to guests if too many events are listed on one small insert card.
Website Card
Include Details About Your Covid Wedding Safety Plan
Honestly, the more info you give your guests, the more comfortable they will be about attending your wedding during the pandemic, says Darcy. The great thing about a details card is that you can be long-winded as youd like. Youre not fighting for space on the page like you are on the actual invitation card.
You might include your plan for social distancing, mask-wearing, dancefloor limitations, food service safety, and any details guests would find helpful about the venue. For example, if the venue is outdoors or has a wall of open doors for good airflow, you might want to highlight these features to ease your guests concerns.
Many couples also offer guests the opportunity to ask questions about their COVID Safety Plan. A great way to do this is via your wedding planner or a close friend who can take phone calls and emails on your behalf. They should have a detailed plan from you so its easy to tackle any questions without involving you.
The way you write and format your details card is entirely up to you, but you can be pretty informal with this info and just include the highlights. Or, you can set it up like a more formal note to your guests.
Sample text for your COVID wedding invitation details card:
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What To Include In A Reception Card
If you plan on having your wedding reception in a different location from the ceremony, a reception card will help give your guests the information they need in order to attend. First, include the name of the venue and address. Then inform your guests when the reception is, whether you state a time, or write, immediately following the ceremony. Lastly, add any important details your guests may need to know about the reception, such as if they must park in a certain location or if there will be cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, etc.
Why Include An Enclosure Card
When theres a lot going on for the wedding day, enclosure cards provide the extra details for your wedding celebration. That way you dont crowd your wedding invitation with too much information. The invitations should only consist of wedding ceremony details, while the enclosures cards can take care of the rest.
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Wedding Invitation Wording Etiquette
The one topic that I get the most questions on: wedding invitation wording and etiquette. There are so many rules to follow when choosing the appropriate wording for wedding invitations. Most of which are unknown and subtly hidden within each line on the invitation.
THE INVITATION
The most traditional wedding situation is the bride’s parents hosting/paying for the entire event. That scenario has changed quite a bit with our generation- as many couples are getting married later, paying for the wedding themselves or the groom’s parents are co-hosting. If the wedding is any combination of those things, I suggest using “Together with their families” or “Together with their parents” at the top of the invitation. This is a very common and popular choice for invitations.
If the wedding ceremony is not held in a house of worship, the request line should read, “request the pleasure of your company”. If the wedding ceremony is held in a house of worship, it should read, “request the honor of your presence”. The U in honor is optional and based on personal preference.
If the wedding ceremony and reception are held at the same venue, a separate line is added to the bottom of the invitation. The most common choices are: “Reception to follow”, “Dinner and Dancing to follow”, or “Cocktails, Dinner and Dancing to follow”.
THE RECEPTION CARD
THE RESPONSE CARD
EXTRA INSERT CARDS
No Children At The Wedding
Although it can be a bit of a sensitive subject, it is up to you if you want to invite children to your wedding. Make your stance clear letting your guests know whether they need to book a babysitter or work out the logistics of bringing their child to the wedding. If you are inviting children then you should check with parents whether or not their children need high chairs and plan a specific childrens menu. Take a look below for some suggests wording and poems to let your guests know that there will be no children at the wedding.
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Do I Need A Wedding Details Card In My Wedding Invitation Suite
by Brea Gilchrist | March 11, 2020 | Stationery Tips
Among the questions I ask my clients in our initial consult is do you want/need to include a details card in your wedding invitation suite? Sometimes Im met with a definitive yes or no, but more often than not, its more of a !
The good news is, Im here to walk you through it and to make sure your wedding invitation suite not only sets the stage for your amazing wedding day, but effectively communicates everything your guests need to know to join in the celebration.
To kick things off, Ive created this handy flow chart graphic to help you determine if you should include a wedding details card in your invitation suite:
Read on and Ill walk you through when it likely does or does not make sense, with plenty of wedding details card examples.
ARE you having more than one event during your wedding weekend?
This is the most important question to ask when deciding how many pieces to include in your wedding invitation suite. To start, the wedding invitation itself should do one job, and do it very well. Your wedding invitation invites your favorite people to your wedding ceremony and reception, sharing the pertinent details of the wedding ceremony and wedding reception time, date and location. Dont ask it to do too much, just let it stand out in all of its magnificent glory and leave the hard work to the worker bee pieces of the wedding invitation suite like the RSVP card or details card.
Enclosure Card Wording And What To Include
Written by Shutterfly Community Last Updated: Mar 11, 2019
When it comes to wedding invitations, its nearly impossible to fit all of your wedding details on the invite. The purpose of an enclosure card is to include those extra details that are important to your big day, while keeping your invitations neat and clean. An enclosure card is a small piece of paper that typically goes inside all of your personalized wedding invitations. It can include reception details, directions, transportation schedules, and any other important information for guests. Enclosure cards prevent confusion on your wedding day by providing guests with special details and instructions that answer their questions ahead of time. Weve provided a helpful guide on enclosure card wording below.
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Destination Wedding Invitation Wording: Sending Invitations To A Hometown Reception Before The Dw
Maybe you want to send out an invitation to the hometown reception before you even have your destination wedding. You have to be careful to not confuse your guests into thinking theyre invited to the destination wedding also. Heres an example of wording you can use. This example is for a cruise wedding but the wording can apply to any destination wedding.
Invitations Sent Before the Destination Wedding
Were getting ready to depart on a romantic trip which is only the start Lisa Smith
Details To Include On Your Enclosure Card
Including an enclosure card with your wedding invitation is a great way to communicate to your guest additional wedding day details. Whether you want to provide your guests with directions to your wedding venue, or let them know the address of a local hotel, a wedding enclosure card can be used as Reception Cards, Direction Cards, Accommodation Cards and more!
Not sure what to include on your enclosure card? No worries, we are here to walk you through this! We have outlined below the common uses and etiquette for wording on your Wedding Invitation Enclosure cards.
Accommodation Card: For your guests who will be traveling from out of town, it is a common courtesy to include a hotel which is convenient and affordable for them to stay. When placing this information on your enclosure card, be sure to include the hotel name, address, phone number and website. Also if there is a special rate code that you have established with the hotel be sure to include this information as well.
Reception Card: When the ceremony and reception are held in different locations, adding a Reception enclosure card will help direct your guests. Here you can provide your guests with the Venue name and address.
Additional Wedding Events Card: For those guests you would like to join you for other weekend activities, you can choose to provide an enclosure card letting them know a schedule of events such as, rehearsal dinners and post wedding brunches to name a few.
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Directions Or Map Insert
If your wedding venue is hard to find or GPS directions might not send guests the best route, consider including a directions insert. A hand-drawn map is a fun option if you want to highlight several locations relevant to your wedding and it also makes a sweet keepsake.
Since youll have guests traveling from different locations, its best to offer directions from a common starting point. For example, a local airport or highway interchange, or the hotel most guests will be staying at. Another option is to include directions from the ceremony location to the reception location.
If your reception is at a different location than the ceremony and you are not using a separate reception card, the directions card is a great place to list the full address for the venue.
The Knot Lush Greenery Personalized Wedding Details Cards
Add some lush greenery to your wedding stationery with this fresh wedding details card that features eucalyptus leaves adorning the header. Fully personalized, this wedding enclosure is a great option for an accommodations card with room to share important details about the hotel and reserved room blocks.
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Doesnt Need: Your Hotel Information
Deborah McCoy, president of the American Academy of Wedding Professionals, believes its best not to bog guests down with hotel, flight or things to do information in your save the date. Chances are, the majority will have no idea as to whether or not they will be attending at this stage, she says. That type of information should be reserved for those who have accepted the wedding invitation.
Transport Options & Parking
Informing guests of the different transport options they can use is something they will really appreciate. We recommend you include the phone numbers of local taxi companies for those who want to drink at the reception, as well as train stations or bus routes for non-drivers. You should also include the parking details of the venue if they are planning to drive.
If you are providing the transport between venues for your big day, let guests know the details of this so that they can plan accordingly. Destination wedding cards should contain flight information, including the local airport and how to get to the venue from there. We recommend you include a few different flight routes that guests can take to make planning easier for them.
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Needs: Your Wedding Website
Most wedding planners recommend waiting to look at save the date ideas until your wedding website is up and running. This way, wedding guests can get to know you a little better as a couple , and become familiar with the type of wedding youre planning on having. This is where all of the details of your wedding are going to live, so it’s good to send people there as early on as possible, adds Weinberg.
If No Gifts Are Requested
Some couples opt for no gifts, especially if the wedding location has required guests to travel and pay for accommodation. In this circumstance often just omitting gift details from the invitation is enough. Of course, you can always make mention on your invitation with a simple line such as Your presence is present enough.
If you need more inspiration and ideas for gift card wording or design, we recommend browsing our Collection of letterpress invitation designs. Any suite can be designed with a Gift card or Information card to suit your situation and wording preference.
See the Wording page on our website for more examples and a downloadable PDF of wording suggestions. If you have any questions regarding Gift card wording or design, please get in touch, we are here to help!
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