After all of the worrying about creating and revising a guest list, Lu and I will have a total of 157 guests at our reception on October 16th -- only five guests over our venue's "ideal" number!
The invitation and RSVP process wasn't all that bad. According to the Bridal Association of America's Wedding Report, the average couple spends approximately $659 on invitations and reply cards -- not including reception cards, direction cards, save-the-dates, or postage. With a little planning and creativity, Lu and I were able to spend 77% less than the average couple for everything.
We used 40% off coupons from Michaels to purchase fun, orange invitation kits (that included the invitations, ribbon for decorative bows, envelopes, and response cards) for $45, and we spent $30 on a new ink cartridge for the printer. Total cost of supplies: $75.
We also included a magnet that we printed through Vistaprint that directed guests to our website for more information and to RSVP. Since we have guests traveling to our wedding from all parts of the country, we thought it would be more convenient for guests to have all of our wedding information at their fingertips in one location.
Vistaprint offered us 100 free magnets and 140 return address labels for free. The return labels did double-duty for both the outside of the invitation and as the mailing label on the response card envelope. One trick: We had to order 140 "free" labels twice to have enough. If we'd ordered 280 labels at once, they would have charged us $9.99 -- definitely still a discount, but free is even better.
Total cost for magnets and labels: $30.
Then we had to figure out what to do about addressing our envelopes. Technically, envelopes are supposed to be hand-written; but neither Lu, I, nor our local bridal party had the time, energy, or penmanship for that. And hiring a calligrapher? At $4/envelope, we quickly nixed that option!
We considered using mailing labels, but white didn't look good on the ivory envelope and the clear labels were too shiny for our taste. Instead, we just converted our address list on our website to a spreadsheet, and used used the mail merge feature in Microsoft Word to print directly on the envelope in a pretty font.
We opted not to use:
Grand total for all of our invitations: $155.... $504 less than the average couple!
There were certainly a lot of people that Lu and I were not able to invite that are close to us as individuals, so sending out invitations was bittersweet. However, we definitely stand by our decision to invite those that have impacted our relationship as a couple.
And you know what? We also didn't have nearly as much drama as we expected with the RSVP process.
Apparently, there were a few "I wonder why I didn't get my invitation yet" remarks. (I only heard about these conversations second-hand, so I'm not sure how common they were.) However, the majority of people were really understanding of our big families/small budget/not starting our marriage in debt situation.
We also didn't have to chase down many people for their responses. The majority of guests took advantage of our online RSVP option, which also saved us tons of time. Even those last-day stragglers were able to respond in a timely fashion.
There were a few guests that asked if they could add a plus one to their invitation and/or bring a teenager to the "Adult Reception." It was tight, but we were able to accommodate everyone in the end.
Despite all of my nervousness over the last several months about the guest list, I'm really glad that things ended up the way they did. We didn't lose any friends, end up disowned by any family members, and aren't breaking the fire code of our reception venue. (Yes, all of these have happened to people and were valid concerns for us.)
We will have to squeeze in 9 people at a few tables to maintain the size of the dance floor, but this is just one more worry that's no longer lingering in the back of my mind.
The invitation and RSVP process wasn't all that bad. According to the Bridal Association of America's Wedding Report, the average couple spends approximately $659 on invitations and reply cards -- not including reception cards, direction cards, save-the-dates, or postage. With a little planning and creativity, Lu and I were able to spend 77% less than the average couple for everything.
We used 40% off coupons from Michaels to purchase fun, orange invitation kits (that included the invitations, ribbon for decorative bows, envelopes, and response cards) for $45, and we spent $30 on a new ink cartridge for the printer. Total cost of supplies: $75.
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| Our invitations. |
We also included a magnet that we printed through Vistaprint that directed guests to our website for more information and to RSVP. Since we have guests traveling to our wedding from all parts of the country, we thought it would be more convenient for guests to have all of our wedding information at their fingertips in one location.
Vistaprint offered us 100 free magnets and 140 return address labels for free. The return labels did double-duty for both the outside of the invitation and as the mailing label on the response card envelope. One trick: We had to order 140 "free" labels twice to have enough. If we'd ordered 280 labels at once, they would have charged us $9.99 -- definitely still a discount, but free is even better.
Total cost for magnets and labels: $30.
 |
| All of the pieces of our invitation. Ready for assembly! |
Then we had to figure out what to do about addressing our envelopes. Technically, envelopes are supposed to be hand-written; but neither Lu, I, nor our local bridal party had the time, energy, or penmanship for that. And hiring a calligrapher? At $4/envelope, we quickly nixed that option!
We considered using mailing labels, but white didn't look good on the ivory envelope and the clear labels were too shiny for our taste. Instead, we just converted our address list on our website to a spreadsheet, and used used the mail merge feature in Microsoft Word to print directly on the envelope in a pretty font.
 |
| Lu printing envelopes. |
- separate reception cards. We printed the address of the reception on the invitation.
- direction cards. We're going to print directions on the back of our ceremony programs, so people don't lose or forget them.
- an inner envelope. We addressed the outer envelopes appropriate and specified how many guests we were inviting on the reply cards (i.e. "We have reserved 2 seats in your honor.")
- stamps on most of our return envelopes. Although we included response card envelopes in all of the invitations, we encouraged guests to RSVP online and only included stamps for our older, more traditional guests.
Grand total for all of our invitations: $155.... $504 less than the average couple!
There were certainly a lot of people that Lu and I were not able to invite that are close to us as individuals, so sending out invitations was bittersweet. However, we definitely stand by our decision to invite those that have impacted our relationship as a couple.
And you know what? We also didn't have nearly as much drama as we expected with the RSVP process.
Apparently, there were a few "I wonder why I didn't get my invitation yet" remarks. (I only heard about these conversations second-hand, so I'm not sure how common they were.) However, the majority of people were really understanding of our big families/small budget/not starting our marriage in debt situation.
We also didn't have to chase down many people for their responses. The majority of guests took advantage of our online RSVP option, which also saved us tons of time. Even those last-day stragglers were able to respond in a timely fashion.
There were a few guests that asked if they could add a plus one to their invitation and/or bring a teenager to the "Adult Reception." It was tight, but we were able to accommodate everyone in the end.
Despite all of my nervousness over the last several months about the guest list, I'm really glad that things ended up the way they did. We didn't lose any friends, end up disowned by any family members, and aren't breaking the fire code of our reception venue. (Yes, all of these have happened to people and were valid concerns for us.)
We will have to squeeze in 9 people at a few tables to maintain the size of the dance floor, but this is just one more worry that's no longer lingering in the back of my mind.
