My mom and I were talking about this tonight- how do we go about inviting people to the "welcome" dinner, wedding, and then brunch? We're having a "wedding weekend", where all out of town guests, close friends, and family will be invited to the rehearsal dinner and post-wedding brunch, then obviously there will be others invited to the wedding. We have a lot of out-of-town people so we wanted to make it worth their time to come all the way to town- not just for a 6 hour ceremony/reception. I figured that I needed to do formal invitations because it's not the traditional rehearsal dinner... Do I send out three separate invitations? When do I send them out- include everything with the wedding invites (to the appropriate people), or wait a few weeks and then send out the "welcome" dinner and "post" brunch invites?
We included an insert for Sunday brunch in the invitation and sent out separate rehearsal dinner invitations. I see no reason why you couldn't just make a separate insert for the rehearsal dinner and include it in the invitation for those who are invited. It might get a little complicated while stuffing, but as long as you keep track, it should be fine.
That being said, are you guys paying for the rehearsal dinner too? It's probably a little strange, but I wanted it to be clear that my in-laws were hosting the rehearsal dinner and my parents were hosting the wedding and Sunday brunch, so I thought that separate invites and completely different designs were appropriate. My mom is a little territorial...
We had a weekend wedding with lots of out of town guests. What I did was put together a "weekend schedule" that went out with the Save the Dates. It gave all the events for the entire weekend (in addition to the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner and morning after brunch, we also had a girl's ritual and a boy's outing the day before the wedding, plus bachelor/bachelorette parties that weekend). The schedule also had information on who was hosting (if it wasn't us), the estimated cost (if we weren't able to pay for it. This only applied to the bachelor/bachelorette parties and the boy's outing), and suggested dress. It actually worked really well. Keep in mind though that no matter how specific you think you're being, someone will still have a question. Even though we specifically said that the rehearsal dinner was open to ALL out of town guests, we still had one couple ask if they were invited since they weren't in the wedding party. Oh well.
The only thing I wish I'd done, was include the "wedding schedule" with the invites as well. I realized later that there were some late additions to the guest list who had not gotten a save the date.
The other good thing was that when I went to put together the "out of towner's newsletters" to put in the hotel rooms, I already had the schedule typed out and formated.
The file I used for the schedule is on my home computer, but if you want a copy just pm me your email address and I'll forward it to you. Good luck!
I've done it a few different ways with my brides... but it usually involves a little "pocket folder" invitation with a few different sheets of paper tucked behind the invitation or another type of "wrapper" for all of the invitation elements. Here is one example, and here is another. Oops, and I just remembered a third. The wording can be different if there are different hosts for your events. These don't show each and every piece of paper that was included but you'll get the idea!
We are doing pocketfolders with inserts-- one will read "Events" and will have details about the welcome party (not calling it a rehearsal dinner) and the brunch. That'll save us money on postage and separate invitations. Here's an example:
just make sure people know about this well before the invites go out as bonniebell did - if people have to fly they will probably make their flight reservations well before they get the invites. You could also put the info on your website, or email it out., and encourage your family to help spread the word!!
Wedding weekend events are becoming more and more common, especially for weddings where the majority of guests are coming in from out of town. The best thing to do is send everything in one invitation package. This way your guests are not confused by various mailings and you are not spending more than necessary on postage, which can quickly add up!
There are various things that you can do, below are a few options:
1. Pocket folder invitation with a schedule of events card
2. If you don't want or need a pocket folder, opt for a belly band type of invitation that holds extra insert together with the invitation. Include a timeline or schedule of events card and make sure to add these items to the reply card, so that you know who will be attending.
The Rehearsal Dinner invitations should be sent separately, however, as they are traditionally thrown by the groom's family and should stand as a separate event. Mail the invitations out 6-8 weeks prior to your wedding date and the Rehearsal Dinner invitations are sent out after the wedding invitation, typically 3 weeks before the dinner.
I hope this helps. Congratulations on your engagement and happy planning!
I included a schedule of events on our wedding website and included a small card with our invitations (on the response cards, actually) directing invitees to check it out for more information. You may very well save postage by doing this as it doesn't add a lot of weight to your envelope the way a bulk of papers as suggested above by the spammer would.
My mom and I were talking about this tonight- how do we go about inviting people to the "welcome" dinner, wedding, and then brunch? We're having a "wedding weekend", where all out of town guests, close friends, and family will be invited to the rehearsal dinner and post-wedding brunch, then obviously there will be others invited to the wedding. We have a lot of out-of-town people so we wanted to make it worth their time to come all the way to town- not just for a 6 hour ceremony/reception. I figured that I needed to do formal invitations because it's not the traditional rehearsal dinner... Do I send out three separate invitations? When do I send them out- include everything with the wedding invites (to the appropriate people), or wait a few weeks and then send out the "welcome" dinner and "post" brunch invites?
Thanks!
posted by alissa07 71 posts 3 months agoWe included an insert for Sunday brunch in the invitation and sent out separate rehearsal dinner invitations. I see no reason why you couldn't just make a separate insert for the rehearsal dinner and include it in the invitation for those who are invited. It might get a little complicated while stuffing, but as long as you keep track, it should be fine.
That being said, are you guys paying for the rehearsal dinner too? It's probably a little strange, but I wanted it to be clear that my in-laws were hosting the rehearsal dinner and my parents were hosting the wedding and Sunday brunch, so I thought that separate invites and completely different designs were appropriate. My mom is a little territorial...
posted by rebecca 986 posts 3 months agoWe had a weekend wedding with lots of out of town guests. What I did was put together a "weekend schedule" that went out with the Save the Dates. It gave all the events for the entire weekend (in addition to the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner and morning after brunch, we also had a girl's ritual and a boy's outing the day before the wedding, plus bachelor/bachelorette parties that weekend). The schedule also had information on who was hosting (if it wasn't us), the estimated cost (if we weren't able to pay for it. This only applied to the bachelor/bachelorette parties and the boy's outing), and suggested dress. It actually worked really well. Keep in mind though that no matter how specific you think you're being, someone will still have a question. Even though we specifically said that the rehearsal dinner was open to ALL out of town guests, we still had one couple ask if they were invited since they weren't in the wedding party. Oh well.
The only thing I wish I'd done, was include the "wedding schedule" with the invites as well. I realized later that there were some late additions to the guest list who had not gotten a save the date.
The other good thing was that when I went to put together the "out of towner's newsletters" to put in the hotel rooms, I already had the schedule typed out and formated.
The file I used for the schedule is on my home computer, but if you want a copy just pm me your email address and I'll forward it to you. Good luck!
posted by bonniebelle101 291 posts 3 months agoI've done it a few different ways with my brides... but it usually involves a little "pocket folder" invitation with a few different sheets of paper tucked behind the invitation or another type of "wrapper" for all of the invitation elements. Here is one example, and here is another. Oops, and I just remembered a third. The wording can be different if there are different hosts for your events. These don't show each and every piece of paper that was included but you'll get the idea!
posted by Anonymous 27 posts 3 months agoWe are doing pocketfolders with inserts-- one will read "Events" and will have details about the welcome party (not calling it a rehearsal dinner) and the brunch. That'll save us money on postage and separate invitations. Here's an example:
http://www.cardsandpockets.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=169
posted by lulubelle 67 posts 3 months agojust make sure people know about this well before the invites go out as bonniebell did - if people have to fly they will probably make their flight reservations well before they get the invites. You could also put the info on your website, or email it out., and encourage your family to help spread the word!!
posted by Janna19 340 posts 3 months agoHi Alissa07,
Wedding weekend events are becoming more and more common, especially for weddings where the majority of guests are coming in from out of town. The best thing to do is send everything in one invitation package. This way your guests are not confused by various mailings and you are not spending more than necessary on postage, which can quickly add up!
There are various things that you can do, below are a few options:
1. Pocket folder invitation with a schedule of events card
2. If you don't want or need a pocket folder, opt for a belly band type of invitation that holds extra insert together with the invitation. Include a timeline or schedule of events card and make sure to add these items to the reply card, so that you know who will be attending.
The Rehearsal Dinner invitations should be sent separately, however, as they are traditionally thrown by the groom's family and should stand as a separate event. Mail the invitations out 6-8 weeks prior to your wedding date and the Rehearsal Dinner invitations are sent out after the wedding invitation, typically 3 weeks before the dinner.
I hope this helps. Congratulations on your engagement and happy planning!
Thanks,
Kalyn Denno
posted by LilahPaper 6 posts 3 months agoSpam makes me sad
I included a schedule of events on our wedding website and included a small card with our invitations (on the response cards, actually) directing invitees to check it out for more information. You may very well save postage by doing this as it doesn't add a lot of weight to your envelope the way a bulk of papers as suggested above by the spammer would.
posted by CarolineG 284 posts 3 months ago