Non-Traditional Invitations

itsivana13

Hello! 

I know this breaks every etiquette rule that I've read, but I felt very strongly that I didn't want to mail invitations to my guests. And though, I'm not an environmentalist it did seem like a better idea to send digital invites rather than send out paper that people will just throw away. At the same time, I did think that it was important that my invitation take work and effort and a simply e-vite wouldn't cut it. A lot of work goes into mailing invitations to guests as well as money (postage, paper, design) and I wanted to show my guests respect by working hard to create a digital invitation. 

This is when I came up with the idea that I wanted to do a video invitation. Not only is writing, filming and editing time consuming but it is also a labour of love that takes dedication and commitment. As I reviewed options and watched many youtube videos for inspiration an idea dawned on me. My guests deserved even more than one video. That's when I decided to create a web-series about the trials and tribulations of wedding planning. I also took the opportunity to prime guests so they understand that I'm having a very non-traditional wedding. 

So my fiance and I worked with our helpful and very amazing friends to film a web-series. I took footage from every episode and created a trailer which served as our official invitation. I designed a custom email and even learned to code it in HTML to send to our guests. And now I'm pleased to report that we've finally released our first episode. And a new episode will air each week leading up to the wedding. I hope this gets our guests engaged and excited for our upcoming nuptials. 

What I didn't expect about this experience is how much of a bonding experience it has been for my fiance and I. We had to collaborate creatively to make the series and I'm so happy that I found new and exciting ways to bond with him and really be a true partner. 

For anyone looking for new and interesting ways to send wedding invitations, I highly suggest making a video together. It's really worth it. 

For those who are curious you can take a look at our videos below: 

Invitation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaAoyjKcJ5w

Webisode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESpRK4rC2UE

[Deleted User]

This is very cool and you can tell a lot of work has gone into this but things to think about

• You may want to follow up individually with guests to make sure they received your e-vite because if it went out as in a mass email, many people may not get it because I know, any group emails that get sent to me, end up straight in my spam box
• Leave yourself time to follow up on RSVP. A friend of mine was in a wedding where the bride did online RSVP, only 2 people resvp online, the rest of the guests she had to call
• Also you may want to send a reminder email close to your wedding date to everyone since they won't have an actual invite that they can put on their fridge or a spot to serve as a reminder of your wedding.

itsivana13

Thank you so much for your advice. It is incredible. 

We have been pretty lucky thus far and received a lot of RSVP's through our online tool. And I find releasing the episodes is a great way to also remind people to RSVP. 

And you are so right about the SPAM inbox. We totally had about 30% of our invitee's not see our original message and luckily had the idea to follow up with anyone who didn't respond personally. Plus my mother in law is amazing and she reached out to all her guests on our behalf. 

And I will totally send the wedding reminder email. I didn't even think of doing that until you suggested it. 

Thanks again for your amazing advice! Really fantastic.