?The invitations set the style of your wedding in the guests mind before anything else. Your invitations should reflect the overall feel of your wedding to the prospective guest. After reading your invitation they should have some idea as to whether the event is going to be black tie or casual, traditional or contemporary and so on.

?Your invitations should have a response card that explains how to respond to the invitation. The response card can simply be a form they fill out and mail or it can have email and phone contact information or all the above. Response cards that are to be mails should include a stamped and addressed envelope.

?Order you invitations early proofing, stuffing and addressing the envelopes is time consuming. Calligraphers often require two weeks to finish the envelopes.

?Send your invitations 6-8 weeks before the event and 8-10 weeks before for guests that will be coming from far away.

?The reply by date on the response cards should be 2-3 weeks before the event.

?Notification cards are often sent long before the date of the wedding to allow people to plan ahead and block the date off on their schedules. This allows people coming from far away to be able to make travel arrangement early. You should include local traveler information such as hotels and rental cars.

?When the reception is at a different location than the ceremony your invitations should include a reception card. These cards should have all the pertinent information such as address, phone, driving instructions and a map to the reception location.

?Including a menu card in the invitation is always a good idea and even more necessary if you are offering more than one dish.

?Programs give the guests a layout of the events happening in the wedding and makes them feel more connected to it. They can also serve as keepsakes of your wedding for family and friends.

?Place cards for the tables at the reception help the guests to know where to sit or where not to sit. If you are not going to have assigned seating you will probably want to reserve some seats for family.

?Don?t forget the thank you cards for your guests that attended.