I feel terrible about the invitations....

iriscarmendiaz

So, as many of you know, two months out, I had to re-do my whole (destination) wedding. We expecting more people to come, and people just dropped like flies. We invited 92, expected 50-55.

Then our count was 30 (which is when we moved the venue and everything else, since the original venue fit 152). Now our count has dropped to 27... and the RSVP deadline is on Wednesday, so that may change... but I doubt it, because it's 3,000 miles away from where all the guests live.

I feel super bad, because I ordered 100 invites (which a good friend paid for out of huge generosity), and half of them didn't get sent (I overestimated). And of course, since I changed everything about the wedding, the invitations I have are now completely wrong (except for the date).

I don't know what to do. I feel like i should pay my friend back for the invitations since I no longer need them (but I don't want to "give back" a gift).

I also want to skip the updated invites and just call/email just the people who are actually coming to the wedding. I don't want to waste anymore money (especially since I lost lots of deposits and money already).

Should i pay back my friend?
Do I really need to get new invites for just 27 people?

mms2012

This is what I would do. 

I would get my friend a REALLY nice thank you card and inside I would put a $50 gift card to her favorite clothing store and have both myself and my fiancee sign it.

And as far as the invites go, I would just go online (maybe Vistaprint) and buy some invitations with the correct information on it.  Vistaprint is extremely affordable.  Like $20 for 50 invitations.

Good luck!

spazticrexe

It sounds as though you've already sent out your invitations, so I would acknowledge this next communication as an update. I would definitely do the Vistaprint thing that PP suggested and only send it to the people who have not declined the original invitation. I would also suggest having a contact number on there for 'regrets only' -  just in case.

ETA: Ditto on the heartfelt thank you card.

h1jung

I'm also having a destination wedding and am finding really close friends who said they would come not coming... So I just wanted to let you know that I overestimated too and am kinda bummed about all this! I agree with everyone else- just do a DIY or inexpensive, simple invite and thank your friend. You can always keep the original invite as a memory of the great gift.