Suggested time on your invites?

You have spent a lot of time planning your event, scheduling the DJ, the caterer, working with the venue, the flowers, make up and hair - what start time do you put on your invitations?

You've scheduled your ceremony for 4:30pm and you put 4pm on your invitations.  You know Aunt Kathy will show up at 4:45 and miss the start of the celebration, Uncle Mike will be on time as he hates to be late but will not be happy if he has to wait half hour, Cousin Mary gets lost in a blink of an eye and will be calling everyone to find out where the celebration is and Grandma has lost time and has no idea how long its taking to start.  How do you please everyone?

Well, you can't and you shouldn't make yourself too crazy about it.  Delays happen, alternate plans are considered and people have to learn how to deal with it as its YOUR day.

We still suggest putting a start time before your actual start time, even if its 15 minutes.  Why?  Because of the late arrivals, people get lost and because delays happen!  There are some planners and venues that have given brides and families a hard time for not starting at the scheduled time.  Recently at a ceremony a few key guests were not there yet and the bride and groom wanted to wait. Thats OK we started about 10 minutes later, everyone was OK with that. Even starting 10 minutes past the start time there were still late arrivals. At another ceremony the planners were harassing everyone that it was a minute past the start time and it was unacceptable! How dare they... this is YOUR day, dont let anyone bully you.

Things to consider:
Look into having a pre-ceremony cocktail hour or half hour.  This is a great idea since it gives people a chance to arrive, mingle and grab a bite.  It also gives everyone a cushion in the event that there is a delay that can not be helped.  Ex: The officiant is lost, its snowing, roads are closed, accidents on highways,...etc.

Consider having your cocktail hour BEFORE your ceremony start time. Then have your ceremony and then onto dinner and dancing.

We have seen some invitations written with 'promptly' starting at the desired time. Does it work? Yes and No.   If you not having a 'pre' event then go for it, its YOUR day.

Keep in mind a lot of this is not easily done in a place of worship.  We are making suggestions for ceremonies at venues other than places of worship.

You may irritate some people by not starting at the time indicated on your invitation and you may keep others happy that you didnt start on time since they were late.

YOU know YOUR families. Dont let anyone push into something you dont want. Look for all kinds of ideas and settle for what makes you comfortable.

Its YOUR day!

Trouble reading RSVP cards.

We’ve all dealt with horrible handwriting! Its even more of a struggle when your collecting all your RSVPs for your event and you cant read them!  One common tip that we have heard of is writing a tiny number on the back of your RSVP cards so when they return you can look at that number and check them off your official list. 

How does it work?

The common RSVP card contains the letter ‘M’ and a line where the person receiving the invite would write their name. Upon receipt of the RSVP you can understand the handwriting and great you go to your guest list and check them off as attending. The next one you get is written so horribly you cant figure out who it is. You have two options, 1: Guess 2: Wait until you are done receiving all the replies and by process of elimination you can then figure out who it was replying.  

A better choice - write your guest list and write a number beside the name! Then write that number on the back at the bottom of the RSVP card - the receiver would never notice and in the event you cant read what they write then you can turn the card over and match up the numbers to your guest list!

An even better idea?  

As creators of custom invitations have the ability to write your guests name right on the RSVP card!  How great would it be to receive that!  We think anyone getting that in the mail would be excited, and all they have to do is check the ‘attending’ or ‘not attending’ and put it back in the mail! 

This is a free service we offer our clients. Since we obtain mailing lists for addressing envelopes for our clients we already have the details, so we can also place those names directly on the RSVP cards. 

Come by and see what we are all about.

www.thesellall.com

www.thesellall.net