The Ins, Outs, and Pieces in a Wedding Invitation Suite
Image by Danielle Coons Photography
What’s in a Suite?
The stationery world has its own language and you probably are a little clueless to a lot of it. That’s not exactly helpful when you’re trying to plan your wedding, now is it?
Instead of searching the internet up and down, I’ll fill you in and touch on all the pieces in a suite. I’ll also talk a little about why stationers make the choices and suggestions we do to our clients. You’ll hopefully be able to discuss it all intelligently with your stationer afterwards and know if you want an inner and outer envelope… and why.
Invitations
You already know what this is… or at least I’m going to assume you do.
The invitation is the main event, of course. It’s the first taste of your event for your guest. This sets the tone for your entire wedding (dramatic, but true!) and we do not want a bad first impression. We rarely have the opportunity to send such formal mail like a wedding invitation, which means lots of us aren’t aware how using certain words may indicate something specific to your guest. Don’t feel bad about not knowing! The invitation is most important because of what it says and how it’s said, too.
So as for the what it says: I always suggest and provide the wording to my clients (I gather the info in a questionnaire). If you are going the DIY route, it’s even more important to do your homework here and I suggest starting with the basics.
The basic information:
The Host(s) Names
The Couple’s Name(s)
Date and Time
Ceremony City Location
There are always exceptions to this, of course, and sometimes you’ll have more information on the invitation. This all will depend on what other pieces you include in your suite. Keep in mind a casual invitation and formal invitation with both have the same basic info but stated in different ways.
The tone and formality of your invitation is the how. You’ve probably seen more casual wedding invitations say things like, “We’re Getting Married! John & Cameron, June 18, 2023,” whereas a formal invitation may start, “Mr. and Mrs. William Burr invites you to celebrate the wedding of their daughter…” How different are each of these? Both have the important information and are appropriate. It’s just that your wedding formality and aesthetic will determine what kind of wording is appropriate for YOU.
Pro Tip: Did you know that using “honour” in your verbiage indicates a religious ceremony whereas “honor” does not?
It’s things like this that make hiring a stationer (hi!) super beneficial. We are well-versed in the nuances of invitation wording and when you would use it. We know how to properly indicate who is hosting, how to include both parents if they are no longer married, where to indicate a dress code, and lots more.
RSVP / Reply / Response Card
The rsvp card is necessary, but the method — card or digital — is up to you. Even in our digital age, I still absolutely recommend using snail mail for a reply as wedding invitations are very special and should be treated that way. However, if you do choose to go digital, I still recommend printing this information on a separate card to go in your suite.
There’s one rule for a paper rsvp: make sure you add stamps to the envelopes! There’s also one exception: if the invitation is going internationally. Our US stamps are useless in another country so leave that envelope blank so your aunt from Italy can add her own (or you may not get a response at all!).
When should you have your rsvp due back? I always recommend a month before your wedding since most day-of vendors need your guest count around a month prior. I always actually set my clients’ rsvp date five weeks prior to the wedding date to add another week buffer to count them all up and chase down any responses.
What’s included on the RSVP:
“M” and space for the guest(s) to write their name
RSVP Due Date
Food Choice and Allergy Requests (optional)
Enclosure Cards of All Kinds
Details or Information Cards share info that may not be included on any other card in your suite and can include literally whatever you want — no rules here! Have a shuttle for your guests or anything else that will make your guests’ life easier? Did you put together a wedding website? This is the place.
Maps are really popular, especially if you are having a destination wedding or lots of out-of-town guests. Not only are they functional but the opportunity to be super creative with this piece is awesome. You can highlight places of interest for your guests other than the ceremony and reception location so after the wedding is over, they have other new places they can explore during their stay.
Reception Cards are used if your reception at a very different time or entire day than your ceremony altogether. This is basically a miniature version of your invitation and includes the same type of info.
Accommodations Cards are used to share that you’ve blocked off rooms at a nearby hotel for your guests so they can stay nearby the festivities. Not blocking off any rooms? Suggest your favorite places to stay instead! Don’t forget to include B&B’s too as they’re usually kid friendly and offer more flexible arrangements than a traditional hotel.
Rehearsal Dinner Invitations are sometimes included with the wedding invitation itself. These are not sent to every guest at the wedding, just the bridal party and family, so you may need to adjust your postage for these specific mailing envelopes (your stationer will let you know or you can have it weighed at the local Post Office). If you prefer sending them separately like us, that’s totally fine, too.
Weekend Itinerary Cards are great if you are having a weekend of celebrations; a welcome dinner, rehearsal, and farewell brunches are common. Lots of people make a weekend out of their wedding as getting families all together is so hard to do. If you plan on this, I highly recommend an insert with weekend festivities time and location, places of interest, attire suggestions for activities, and definitely some favorite coffee spots.
One thing I don’t ever include (anywhere!) is registries. While I’m not the most traditional person, wedding registries are best left to shower invitations or wedding websites. You can also ask your family to pass the message along if it’s really important to you. There'd be nothing worse than your guests seeing it as poor taste, right?
All Those Envelopes
The invitation suite will be in either just one envelope or inner and outer envelopes. For the most classic method, we use two. The purpose is twofold — it keeps the invitation envelope inside super sparkly clean and the inner envelope also will indicate who, specifically, is invited. For example, the outer envelope will say “Mr. and Mrs. John Smith and Family” while the inner will say “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Anna and John.” If there are other (probably younger) Smith children that aren’t listed on the inner envelope, it will explicitly indicate that they are not invited to attend.
Pro Tip: If an invited child is over 18, they should get their own invitation, even if they still live at home.
The traditional reason people used two envelopes was that mail really got greasy and dirty in transit. Once it arrived, the household staff would remove the outer envelope and present the clean inner one. With all the pretty postage we have access to now, I’m happy we get to see the outside envelope but I wouldn’t mind the household staff part!
That’s all the pieces in a typical suite. I hope you have a better understanding of what’s included in a suite now. If you aren’t sure what you might want or need, speak with your stationer. We mostly prefer to order all these items together with your invitations to make sure we get them out on time!
Have questions I can answer? Leave them below in the comments.
If you have more questions about wedding invitations or calligraphy, click the button below to get started on your own dream invites!