I Want My, I Want My, I Want My…R.S.V.P!

Vintage Lace Response Card
Vintage Lace Response Card (Photo credit: blush printables)

Why guests don’t reply to wedding invitations? An age old problem. How do you get them to RSVP? Here are some proactive tips for couples:

  • Leave enough time: You’ll read in books that invitations are traditionally sent 8 weeks before the event.  With guests behaving as they do, that’s bullfeathers. Allow yourself plenty of time, and then tack on 2 weeks to chase after people. Don’t add stress by cutting your window too short.
  • Double check your response cards: There are too many couples who happily seal their invitations only to turn around and see extra sheets of stamps – they’ve forgotten to stamp the return envelopes. Have a second set of eyes check that everything looks A-OK.
  • Enlist the cool kids: Get point people to set a good example- if there’s a family matriarch, see if you can get her to RSVP early and let everyone know that’s what’s expected.  Have your wedding party spread the word among friends, etc.
  • Relax A Little: In the end, there are going to be slackers.  You’re going to have to have your Mom, and close friends work the phones a little anyway, no matter how hard you try, so there’s no point in fretting that your cards aren’t coming back fast enough.

There you have it! Now all you have to worry about is seating everyone. Piece of cake. Unless you haven’t picked a cake. Which is nothing to worry about – THAT’S a fun one!

Be well and love well.

-Dinah

Go Ahead! Be My Guest! Oh Wait…Can I Take That Back?

My blog the other day linking to the information on how to get an official White House greeting for your wedding also brought up the rest of that day’s post about managing one’s guest list.  We all have to do our best to be diplomatic, but let’s just all take a moment today and say a prayer of thanks that we have more control over our guest lists than the White House has over theirs. Wishing all the best to the event planners in charge of the Governor’s Association dinner this week, and to those working on the Governor’s Ball at tonight’s Academy Awards!

Brides: Ready, Set, List!

How does one take control of the roster? Besides hiring the experts at My Little Flower Shop to keep you calm, cool and collected, here are 5 favorite tips to keep in mind.

List early, and often

Don’t wait to start making a guest list.  Most likely, we don’t have to tell you this – a lot of brides start a list even before they get engaged.  Nevertheless, for the less future-focused, it’s good to have a starting point. So just start by writing down anyone you can think of that you might want to invite.

Never say never

Once it’s time to start narrowing the pool, don’t invite people assuming “they won’t come.” Even those relatives in Malta your family hasn’t seen for 2 generations might be so touched by the invitation that they decide to get on a plane.

Life on the B list

Despite all the refrigerator magnets, the emails and the skywriting, there are still some people who will have other plans on your wedding day.  You’ve got a limited period of time to fill in, so you haven’t a moment to lose.  Have a back-up list of guests at the ready, addresses and all, so you can fire off invitations as the regrets come in.

Embrace your inner beancounter

Spreadsheets can be beautiful things. You’ll be so happy you started keeping everything in an orderly fashion. One gal we know says the address spreadsheet is her favorite thing that came out of the wedding. They’ve used it for everything  from kids birthday parties to holiday letter personalization. (It was a perfect opportunity to ask to be removed from her holiday letter list, but I just couldn’t. Bless her heart).

Just because you went to hers…

This is not Kindergarten. It’s $125-a-plate-gourmet-brunch-in-the-garden. Every girl you’ve ever seen walk down the aisle doesn’t by default belong on your list. Grown ups know this. If this culls immature friends from your life, lucky you.

Always invite the president

This is one case where you really can assume that they won’t come. But, if you send an invitation to the White House, you’ll get a special greeting back in honor of your wedding. Pretty darned cool. 

The Honorable Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama
The White House
Greetings Office Room 39
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

A wedding greeting from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

On the subject of the White House and weddings, can we just go on record that Prince William is unbelieveably rude? And that you can put a big old tiara on that Kate chick but she’ll never be as regal as Michelle Obama? But I digress.

It all boils down to this: Focus on who you two really want to smile at on your way back up the aisle. An informal poll of the MLFS staff revealed that is highly likely to be one of the happiest moments of your life. Who do you want to share that with? Go forth and list!

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