When is it appropriate to put and family? I'm not really close to any of my cousins so I was thinking about just addressing the Invites to the parents and then putting and family. Some of the cousins are over 18 and don't live with their parents but since I'm not close to them I don't even know where they live. What do you girls think? I'm also trying to keep numbers down and really don't want them to bring a guest, is this horrible?
Re: When can you put And Family?
Can you find out the addresses of your cousins through your aunts and uncles?
You'll need to get the names of your cousins for place cards, notes, etc.
Find out their names and ages and address the invitations appropriately.
However, do you know if any of these people are in serious relationships? Because if they are, you need to invite their SOs. And if they are over 18 and don't live at home, they really need to receive their own invitations where they live. Enlist your parents to find out all the information you need.
The only way I think it is acceptable to write & family is if it is a family with young kids so there is no question and you are inviting all of them. Once they kids are into their teens and older you can't do that. Just to give you an example of what you can get yourself into: if someone were to send an invite to my grandparents saying Mr & Mrs __________ & family, they could get the response card back with over 40 people on it. They have 8 kids, who all have kids, and us older grandkids are engaged and in serious relationships ourselves.
Don't do it unless you have a very flexible guest list and don't care if your 3rd cousins 14 year old boyfriend shows up or something like that.