Being invited to a wedding is an honour, especially if the invitations are nicely printed and delivered straight to your mailbox. As a guest, your first and major duty is to respond promptly to the invitations. As soon as you receive the wedding invitations, check your schedule and discuss with the other person included in your invitation. If you can not make it, respond as soon as possible so the couple will have time to invite someone else in your place. It might be simple, but it shows a good manner of being invited. In this article, we’ve compiled a very useful list of the things you need to know to be a good guest.
Wedding Invitations Reply: Replying with an RSVP card
The first thing you need to check after opening an invitation is to see whether it has small supporting cards coming with it. Some couples love to insert RSVP cards for their guests to fill with details and post back. These RSVP cards include every question the couples need to know from you, as well as information about when they expect these cards to be posted back. After making sure you’ve provided the accurate information such as guest names, dietary requirements and a tick on ‘Happily Accept’, you can bring this card to a nearest post box. Since it might take a few days in postage, especially if it’s going to a different country, you will need to estimate the turn around time to make sure it reaches the couple before their expected RSVP date.
Wedding Invitations Reply: Replying to a Wedding Website
Some couples prefer to keep their invitation suite simple without producing a lot of stationery. They choose to write all the information about their wedding on both sides of the invitations for an efficient use of paper. There are a few ways you can make your wedding invitations simple but still able to deliver the important messages your guests need to know, such as directions, dress code and even how-to-RSVP. Nowadays, it’s becoming a trend for a wedding invitation to come with a link to the wedding website which contains further information as above. If you notice the wedding host provides a link to their wedding website (usually on the bottom of the invites), don’t forget to check it when you have time since you surely don’t want to miss out on those details. Make sure you find the RSVP section in the website and respond as soon as you have made a decision whether to come or not.
Response to wedding invitations: Check who is invited
The names written on the envelopes or on the actual invitations are not without purpose. There is a guide here on how to address wedding invitations that the couple might have followed so you need to make sure you have a basic understanding of who is invited. If you see that the invitations only have your name as the invitee, you should not invite anyone else to come along with you. It simply means there is only one seat reserved for you and not your partner or family member.
However, if you see that the couple writes ‘Your name and guest’, it means you are free to bring a partner to the wedding. It will be very helpful to the couple if you put your partner’s name when you fill in the RSVP card so they won’t be confused about what to write on their upcoming seating chart and place cards.
Another case is when you and your family are sharing the same invitation. Couples most commonly write every name they’re inviting including the children. If you’re unsure whether you should bring your toddler to the wedding and can’t find any further details on the invitations, the couple would appreciate it if you give them a call or text to ask directly.
How to decline wedding invitations gracefully – a sample
Sometimes you are really keen to go to the wedding to which you are invited but reality doesn’t allow it. You might be stuck with your job or it may be a destination wedding with requires budgeting for travel and a holiday alongside. If you think you won’t be able to make it to the wedding, respond to the invitations straight away. If you are a close friend or relative to the wedding host, it’s better if you could call the couple to explain that you have to regretfully decline the invitations before sending the RSVP card back or email them.
Here are some examples of what to say/write when you’re declining a wedding invitation:
“While I’d love to be with you on your special day, I’m sadly unable to attend. I will be there in spirit and can not wait to see photos!”
“Sadly, we are unable to attend your wedding day, but look forward to celebrating the next time we see you!”
“Regretfully we are unable to attend. Best wishes on your special day!”
Cancelling an RSVP
If something unforeseen happens which means you cannot attend the wedding even though you have sent your RSVP back, giving the couple a call immediately is better than any apology. They will appreciate you taking the time to inform them as soon as you made the decision. They will need to inform their caterer about your cancellation and can have a spare seat to invite someone else. You can choose to send them a text message if you feel like you need to think word by word on how to politely cancel your attendance. Remember, a short, to the point text is appropriate if it’s a day-of cancellation.
Replying to wedding invitations might seem easy and quick, that’s why a lot of people tend to procrastinate and leave it at the very last minute to get back to the hosts. Having to deal with a lot of couples being frustrated about expecting RSVPs and not being able to finalise their final guest list, we highly recommend following the above ground rules on responding to invitations to not cause any further problem for the couples.
I’ve always liked adding a card asking the couple for their favorite LOVE song so that the bride and groom can consider adding it to their reception day playlist.