International Invites

chem2012

My FI is from Australia (as is his entire family) - the wedding will be in the states... How early should we send out invites?

Also, would it be a better idea, instead of sending rsvp's back across the ocean, to have them email or log in to a website? Snail mail, if I send a card to him, can take up to 3 weeks for him to get.

Another option that's crossed my mind is to get them all prepared, put his entire families in a box and send it to his parents, then have them send them out from there? Not sure what the best way to go on this is.

Thoughts? Ideas? I'm not sure which is etiquette in a situation like this.

TIA

LeiselEB

Mail them the invitations like normal, but give them an option to email or call or send the card back for RSVP. You don't include postage on the RSVPs for international mail. 

MyNameIsNot

Mail the invitations 10-12 weeks ahead of the wedding.  This is a case where it really is best to give extra notice, so either a STD or a call/email with the date and travel info a few months ahead is a good idea.  

For RSVPs, you can purchase stamps at the post office for Australia to US, but it's ok to leave the stamps off also.  Like PP said, it's best to give an alternate RSVP option because of the mail delay.  We offered email RSVP to our international guests, as that's how my H generally communicates with his family abroad.  

Tabbie11

The majority of my family is in England, and we have some in Australia so I sent out Save the Dates really early, like 8 or 9 months early. That way they had enough time to save an plan accordingly. Then I sent my actual invites out 2.5 months before the wedding. You cannot buy postage for international RSVP's since they all have different postage systems an they won't work. More than likely you'll know if they are coming in advance anyway, since travel arrangements will probably be made at least 3 months out but its still  nice to send them each an invite.

melisrodis

Hey Chem!  My fiance is also Australian!  His (very large) family are all in Australia, and we lived there for a little while before moving here.  But my parents are hosting the wedding, so it is here. And a January wedding!   I just got excited about the similar situation. 

In any case, the FI and I sent out save the dates in May/June.  It didn't quite take three weeks for the mail to get there, we started hearing from people about a week or a week and a half after we sent them out.  If I were you, I would send out some kind of personal email or something to let people know now (since it's probably a little too late to send out printed save the dates), set up a website with information now.  We put access to a travel agent (travel agents offer group rates, so does Qantas -- it doesn't save that much, but it does mean people don't have to pay the full amount.  They can put a $100 deposit to reserve their seat and then pay the balance 30 days before, instead of having to put the whole amount down right away).  Also, you should note that January 12 is still holiday rates.  Qantas and most airlines flying AU-US are holiday rates until Jan 17 or 18. 

Also on the website, we put our hotel room block information, advice on getting around the US, the best ways to approach travel around the US (since Aussies are accustomed to such a different public transport model , and as many discounts and travel advice as we could think of.  Basically, everything we've learned in making that trans-Pacific flight half a dozen times each in the last six years.

For invites, we are not sending them much earlier than the traditional 6-8 weeks.  We are ordering ours soon, but not planning on sending them until early November (about 10 weeks before the wedding).  RSVP options are phone, email, or website.  We have gone back and forth on the option of the website RSVP since I've heard such mixed reviews.  But we'll provide it as an option, and if we hit trouble, we'll just have to deal with it then.

I know you didn't ask for ALL of this information, but we've learned so much in trying to handle a trans-Pacific wedding (and bridal party)!  If you have any questions at all, feel free to hit me up!

Peavy

I think that shipping all the invitations to Australia and having his parents put them in the mail there is a great idea.  That way you know that they won't be delayed in the mail from the States.

chem2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_international-invites-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:ee3fe164-f1d4-4a3c-92df-5bc38dfc0885Post:89ffb7ae-a553-4d37-825b-28595fa01d47">Re: International Invites</a>:
[QUOTE]Hey Chem!  My fiance is also Australian!   We put access to a travel agent (travel agents offer group rates, so does Qantas -- it doesn't save that much, but it does mean people don't have to pay the full amount.  They can put a $100 deposit to reserve their seat and then pay the balance 30 days before, instead of having to put the whole amount down right away).  Also, you should note that January 12 is still holiday rates.  Qantas and most airlines flying AU-US are holiday rates until Jan 17 or 18. 
Posted by melisrodis[/QUOTE]

How do you go about this?

What a small world that your FI is also Australian! We missed the boat on STD cards unless we send them out tomorrow lol

melisrodis

Hey Chem!

I missed your response so sorry for the delay!  If you want, I can PM you the details of the travel agent I worked with (she is with Flight Centre).  But there is also a group flight form you can fill out on the Qantas website directly.  It's kinda mixed in with conventions and other irrelevant things to weddings -- and it requires a bit of time and effort to understand their quotes.  But this is the page I went to:
http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/group-sales/gb/en

Let me know if I can help with anything else!