How far in advance do you send dinner party invites?

Julie2013

I know those of you planning weddings need to send invitations out quite some time in advance, but I seriously doubt my event requires so much notice. I've been looking all over the internet and I'm getting mixed time frames. If anybody out there has a book or other handy, reliable resource that would cover this, would you mind telling me what it says about how long in advance dinner party invitations should be sent?

Thanks! 

Julie2013

Our guest list is about 30 people long and only 3 families are far enough away that they will be getting a hotel room. Those families are already planning to attend, so the invite won't be their first notice of the party. The rest of the guests are local. Does that info change anything?

lyndausvi

I would say 2-4 weeks out.

ootmother2

2 weeks is most common but 3 is find if you're feeling nervous about it.


and if it's your first, good luck and don't worry.  There are firsts for everything in life

Julie2013

Thanks, lyndausvi and ootmother2.

And ootmother2, thanks for the well wishes. It is my first formal dinner party. Our guests are such a warm, fun crowd that I know this will be a wonderful way to spend our anniversary.

DramaGeek

I'd do 3-4.  Is this for your renewal?  I feel like my mom sent their renewal invites about 3 weeks out.

Julie2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_how-far-in-advance-do-you-send-dinner-party-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:f4fd789b-22e0-4e99-b1b7-ebf2eee398aaPost:6a515f0f-2155-4a6d-b5e5-6e69e1f522b2">Re: How far in advance do you send dinner party invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'd do 3-4.  <strong>Is this for your renewal?</strong>  I feel like my mom sent their renewal invites about 3 weeks out.
Posted by DramaGeek[/QUOTE]

Yes, it's for our renewal. It sounds like 2-4 weeks ahead is a good time frame. Sounds good to me, too!

Julie2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_how-far-in-advance-do-you-send-dinner-party-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:f4fd789b-22e0-4e99-b1b7-ebf2eee398aaPost:65128f9f-04e6-4ee1-832d-a312fdb86487">Re:How far in advance do you send dinner party invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>It really depends on your guest list</strong>, but I would want it about a month out for a formal dinner party.
Posted by StageManager14[/QUOTE]

I'm really curious about this. How does it depend on the guest list? Size? How far away? Thanks for the advice. From your and other responses, 2-4 weeks seems about right.

DramaGeek

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_how-far-in-advance-do-you-send-dinner-party-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:f4fd789b-22e0-4e99-b1b7-ebf2eee398aaPost:6bd4bb23-5d64-4387-b77f-282920fd75fb">Re:How far in advance do you send dinner party invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:How far in advance do you send dinner party invites? : I'm really curious about this. How does it depend on the guest list? Size? How far away? Thanks for the advice. From your and other responses, 2-4 weeks seems about right.
Posted by Julie2013[/QUOTE]

<div>
</div><div>I'm going to assume I know what stage means and answer for her :-P</div><div>
</div><div>Where they live in relationship to the party, of course, but also their occupations, schedules, etc.  For instance, I'm in production right now so I know that for many weeks I have very little free time.  When we were trying to schedule supper club last night, I already had conflicts through all of October, November, and December.  Since I am the director, I make the schedule, and had I known in advance I could have scheduled differently.</div><div>
</div><div>Some people, like doctors and nurses, need a lot of notice to be able to get the time off.  H used to work at Lowe's and they did their scheduling 6 weeks in advance, so we needed some notice for that.  There were ways around it, but being able to ask in advance was easiest.</div>

Julie2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_how-far-in-advance-do-you-send-dinner-party-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:f4fd789b-22e0-4e99-b1b7-ebf2eee398aaPost:ad1dcfdb-ef24-4ddb-948c-7639a292895a">Re:How far in advance do you send dinner party invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:How far in advance do you send dinner party invites? : I'm going to assume I know what stage means and answer for her :-P Where they live in relationship to the party, of course, but also their occupations, schedules, etc.  For instance, I'm in production right now so I know that for many weeks I have very little free time.  When we were trying to schedule supper club last night, I already had conflicts through all of October, November, and December.  Since I am the director, I make the schedule, and had I known in advance I could have scheduled differently. Some people, like doctors and nurses, need a lot of notice to be able to get the time off.  H used to work at Lowe's and they did their scheduling 6 weeks in advance, so we needed some notice for that.  There were ways around it, but being able to ask in advance was easiest.
Posted by DramaGeek[/QUOTE]

That makes sense to me! I do have some on my list that might have that problem. STDs seemed like overkill, so I have just let them know by email. They responded back, so I'm good there.

Thanks, DramaGeek!

DramaGeek

Stage, I'm the same way.  I don't even want to think about my effing schedule right now.  I ended up having to cram two shows into one weekend in a couple of weeks because it was the only time I could go during their runs.  And I have rehearsal that weekend too.  Blegh.

Julie2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_how-far-in-advance-do-you-send-dinner-party-invites?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:f4fd789b-22e0-4e99-b1b7-ebf2eee398aaPost:fada8874-0c01-46e9-9f33-dff32735efb4">Re: How far in advance do you send dinner party invites?</a>:
[QUOTE]For a dinner party, 2-3 weeks.
Posted by RetreadBride[/QUOTE]

That seems to be the general opinion and I believe that's what I'll do. Thanks! :)