When you are planning a wedding, it is very important to get an accurate head count of your guests.
Getting people to respond, however, can be challenging at times.
These are some suggestions on how to design your wedding response cards to be both beautiful and effective.
The very first thing that needs to be decided is whether or not to include response cards.
Traditional wedding etiquette says that the proper way for your guests to let you know whether or not they will attend your wedding is with a handwritten note.
In the lower left hand corner of the wedding invitations, print either R.
s.
v.
p.
or The favour of a reply is requested.
This should be enough to inform your guests that you need to hear back from them, and believe it or not, it does actually work.
However, most couples these days will opt for some sort of response card.
There are several reasons for this.
One is the popularity in the invitation issued to "Mr.
James and guest".
When the invitation opens the door to a guest bringing along a date, it can be more difficult to get an accurate head count.
When meal choices are offered, brides will usually ask that the guests indicate their preference on the response card, as well.
But really, the true reason for the popularity of response cards is that people simply do not trust their guests to do the right thing without help.
If you have come to the decision to use response cards, you then need to carefully design the wording and the style.
There are a couple of main options in terms of the design of the cards.
Since they will be mailed as an enclosure in the wedding invitations, the response cards should coordinate with the invitations both in style and degree of formality.
The most common choice for the cards is to have them made in the same paper and printing as the invitations.
The response cards are quite a bit smaller than the invites and usually come with a little mailing envelope, complete with the host's address and proper postage.
Sometimes couples will try to save money on the response cards by using a postcard instead of a card and envelope, which will reduce the cost of the stamps.
Then it is on to the wording that is best for your particular situation.
The standard form for a response card is M_________ will/will not attend.
#of guests attending_____.
Please respond by May 21st.
(the deadline given is usually 2-3 weeks before the wedding.
The problem that couples run into with this form is that if you allow the guest to fill in how many people are coming, he or she might see it as a chance to bring additional people who were not named on the envelope of the invitation.
Sometimes parents will plan to bring children who were not invited, or a single guest will take this response card wording to mean that he or she can bring along a date.
A more effective form of response card is to personalize each one with the name of the guests invited.
It would look something like this: Mr.
William Howard will/will not attend.
Mrs.
William Howard will/will not attend.
The favor of a reply is requested by June 18th.
Certainly this is more labor intensive than the standard response card format, but it also leaves no room for error.
Having individual cards printed by a stationer would be prohibitively expensive, so it is best to do this yourself or enlist the aid of a bridesmaid (this is why you thank them with such nice gifts!).
Either print the cards on your home printer using a card stock that matches your invitations, or have the stationer create the cards, except for the names.
You can hire a calligrapher or ask a bridesmaid with excellent handwriting to personalize each response card with the names of the guests.
You would not pay a friend for this job like you would a professional calligrapher, but if one of your attendants puts in long hours on this project, you should thank her with a special present, beyond the bridesmaid gifts that you are giving to your entire group of attendants.
With careful planning, you will be able to get the accurate guest count that you need.
There will always be a few people who do not respond, no matter what you do, but for the most part, these tips will help get you the replies that you require.
Once you get all of your responses, you can move on to the seating chart!
Getting people to respond, however, can be challenging at times.
These are some suggestions on how to design your wedding response cards to be both beautiful and effective.
The very first thing that needs to be decided is whether or not to include response cards.
Traditional wedding etiquette says that the proper way for your guests to let you know whether or not they will attend your wedding is with a handwritten note.
In the lower left hand corner of the wedding invitations, print either R.
s.
v.
p.
or The favour of a reply is requested.
This should be enough to inform your guests that you need to hear back from them, and believe it or not, it does actually work.
However, most couples these days will opt for some sort of response card.
There are several reasons for this.
One is the popularity in the invitation issued to "Mr.
James and guest".
When the invitation opens the door to a guest bringing along a date, it can be more difficult to get an accurate head count.
When meal choices are offered, brides will usually ask that the guests indicate their preference on the response card, as well.
But really, the true reason for the popularity of response cards is that people simply do not trust their guests to do the right thing without help.
If you have come to the decision to use response cards, you then need to carefully design the wording and the style.
There are a couple of main options in terms of the design of the cards.
Since they will be mailed as an enclosure in the wedding invitations, the response cards should coordinate with the invitations both in style and degree of formality.
The most common choice for the cards is to have them made in the same paper and printing as the invitations.
The response cards are quite a bit smaller than the invites and usually come with a little mailing envelope, complete with the host's address and proper postage.
Sometimes couples will try to save money on the response cards by using a postcard instead of a card and envelope, which will reduce the cost of the stamps.
Then it is on to the wording that is best for your particular situation.
The standard form for a response card is M_________ will/will not attend.
#of guests attending_____.
Please respond by May 21st.
(the deadline given is usually 2-3 weeks before the wedding.
The problem that couples run into with this form is that if you allow the guest to fill in how many people are coming, he or she might see it as a chance to bring additional people who were not named on the envelope of the invitation.
Sometimes parents will plan to bring children who were not invited, or a single guest will take this response card wording to mean that he or she can bring along a date.
A more effective form of response card is to personalize each one with the name of the guests invited.
It would look something like this: Mr.
William Howard will/will not attend.
Mrs.
William Howard will/will not attend.
The favor of a reply is requested by June 18th.
Certainly this is more labor intensive than the standard response card format, but it also leaves no room for error.
Having individual cards printed by a stationer would be prohibitively expensive, so it is best to do this yourself or enlist the aid of a bridesmaid (this is why you thank them with such nice gifts!).
Either print the cards on your home printer using a card stock that matches your invitations, or have the stationer create the cards, except for the names.
You can hire a calligrapher or ask a bridesmaid with excellent handwriting to personalize each response card with the names of the guests.
You would not pay a friend for this job like you would a professional calligrapher, but if one of your attendants puts in long hours on this project, you should thank her with a special present, beyond the bridesmaid gifts that you are giving to your entire group of attendants.
With careful planning, you will be able to get the accurate guest count that you need.
There will always be a few people who do not respond, no matter what you do, but for the most part, these tips will help get you the replies that you require.
Once you get all of your responses, you can move on to the seating chart!
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