Illinois-Chicago

When to send invites?

Hello! I am trying to decide when we should send out our invites.  The wedding is June 12, and the majority of guests will be coming from out of state. (Our STDs went out in November).  My dilemma is that our reception venue space can be divided up into three separate "rooms" and we need to let them know by April 12 if we will need the entire space, or if they can block off one third of the space potentially to hold another event. 

Because of this, I need to have a rough head count by April 12 to know if we will need the entire space to accommodate all of our guests, or if the venue can "release" one third of the space for another event.  If we do release part of the space, our food and beverage minimum goes down $600, so we could potentially save a chunk of change if our confirmed guests list winds up being small enough.

FI and I were thinking of sending out the invites sometime in February, but that is four months in advance and I am afraid it might be too early.  What are your thoughts?  TIA!

Re: When to send invites?

  • duckie1905duckie1905 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I understand your situation, but I think it is really rude to ask your guests to make a decision so far in advance.  I would send them out at 8 weeks and just suck up the $600 loss in minimum if you don't make the room quota.  Additionally, many of them may not be able to make the decision at all, leaving their RSVPs unanswered or lost altogether.

    There is no magic formula for declines/acceptance so I would make sure you have enough space to seat every person that you invite.
  • edited December 2011
    Does that mean that if 1/3 of your guests decline, you won't need the extra room? If so, I would say definitely plan to use the extra room. I'm sure some people have that high of a decline rate, but most planners and guides that I have seen say to estimate that 10-20% will decline. However, like pp said there is no real equation to figure it out. That's weird for a venue to have such an advance date. Surely if they're in the wedding business they know how hard it would be to get a response from guets by then.
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  • edited December 2011
    I agree with pp.
    We could save money too if we use the smaller room, but decided to just suck it up.  We just can't know our numbers earlier or else everyone would send invites far in advance in order to save money. It is a lot to ask 4 months in advance. 

    I think you should sent out in the beginning of April, with an rsvp date early to mid May.

    Danielle
  • marilenamarilena member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    That's really odd timing. You generally don't even mail invites until 8 weeks out, so I am surprised they want a count at that time. You can try and get a feel from people since you sent a STD, but I would suck up the cost. You never know where your count will fall and you don't want to cram people in a room if you get a high number of RSVPs.
  • ondreaflynnondreaflynn member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Question - Have you checked hotel availabilty for the weekend of your wedding?  We're getting married the weekend before and the city is practically sold out.  We sent STDs and strongly encouraged people to make there reservations at the time of receipt.  By doing so, we were about to get a head count for most of our out-of-town guests as they all called asking for help on hotels.  If most of your guest are out-of-town, you could do something similar.  It's not perfect but maybe....  Although, I'll admit, I'm a rule breaker so Peggy Post might be displeased.  But then again, if I did do it Peggy's way, she wouldn't have a place to sleep for the wedding. :)
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