Monday, August 3, 2009

I NEED YOUR HELP!

It has been brought to my attention that I have no idea about invitation etiquette. I guess this is a good thing since I haven't sent them out yet?!?!

So this is why I need your help....

What is the proper etiquette for a newspaper announcement if you are having an invitation only wedding? Do you put a wedding announcement in the paper before or after the wedding? If you do it before is that rude? Do people even care? HELP!!! This all news to me, I just thought you put a wedding announcement in the paper and that was it. I didn't think people read that and thought it was an open invitation to attend your wedding? It seems that my generation is NOT a paper reading one, and would NEED a formal invitation? NO? YES? MAYBE?

Is this only true of small towns like the ones D and I hail from?

So I was curious and went to the Tennessean and many people worded there announcements as follows:
  • ..."friends and family are welcome to attend, invitations were sent to out of town guest only"
  • ..."will be married September 26, 2009" no details
  • ..."will be married September 26th, 2009 at such and such church, at such and such time"
  • ..."were married September 26th, 2009"
So it seems everyone is lost! LOL


I would love any wedding guru to clear this up for me before I commit and faux pas!!!

2 comments:

  1. We did an announcement w/ picture and gave no details as to where the wedding or reception would be. I guess it's up to you. I wouldn't put details in there though, otherwise all of Robertson county will show up to your wedding! I think we just put ours in the Rob Co. times...

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  2. The first option is not polite - invitations should be sent to all invited guests, and posting an "ad" in the newspaper does not take the place of this.

    In general, it is best not to put all the details in ahead of time both to avoid uninvited crashers but also for safety reasons - best not to give too many details about when your house will be empty, when your car will be full of expensive gifts, etc.

    As for whether to put in before or after, that is up to you - if you wait until after you obviously avoid any problems with tipping off crashers, and you can use a beautiful wedding photo to accompany the announcement.

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