is it too early?

shaygray88 · April 2013

So I have my invites put together and ready to go. My date is July 27th and my oot guests have already purchased their flights and booked at the hotel. Is it too early to mail the invites or should I go ahead and put them in the mail tomorrow? Thanks in advance!

Sidenote: I was gonna post in the eboard but don't feel like getting eaten alive as MrsBad put it lol;)

nursing2u · April 2013

Destination wedding invites they say should go out like 6months early... U know I sent mine out a few weeks ago

shaygray88 · April 2013

right. well mine isn't a dw I just have oot guests...I just didn't want to seem too anxious lol

nursing2u · April 2013

Ohhhh.. then I think its like 2 months out..

shaygray88 · April 2013

oh ok. thanks!

zantster · April 2013

It can be 2-3 months. We chose 2 1/2 months. The main thing is to make sure that your RSVP date for when your guests need to respond is at least a couple weeks before the venue needs your final count in case you need to follow up with some phone calls.

Our wedding is September 21. Invites will go out July 7. Our RSVP date will be August 15 because the venue needs our final count by September 7. That will give us three weeks for people who forget and mail back their RSVP late as well as for us to make phone calls and track people down if we need to without panicking and nagging people too quickly.

shaygray88 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:1542952b-2bba-4e36-a467-d322a6eb90fb">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]It can be 2-3 months. We chose 2 1/2 months. The main thing is to make sure that your RSVP date for when your guests need to respond is at least a couple weeks before the venue needs your final count in case you need to follow up with some phone calls. Our wedding is September 21. Invites will go out July 7. Our RSVP date will be August 15 because the venue needs our final count by September 7. That will give us three weeks for people who forget and mail back their RSVP late as well as for us to make phone calls and track people down if we need to without panicking and nagging people too quickly.
Posted by zantster[/QUOTE]

You just gave me something to think about. I hear so many brides complain about not getting back the rsvps on time or even at all. Knowing my group maybe I should just get them on out...

zantster · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:0e1e8bd9-f6a0-40b8-8bcb-01fb2c0fe5a1">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: is it too early? : You just gave me something to think about. I hear so many brides complain about not getting back the rsvps on time or even at all. Knowing my group maybe I should just get them on out...
Posted by shaygray88[/QUOTE]

It will help if you look over your venue contract and see when they require you to give them a final head count. Mine said the head count is due 2 weeks before the wedding.

So, if for example your contract says the same thing, then they would want to know how many people you will be having by July 13, 2 weeks before.

Setting an RSVP date of June 15 gives people time to mail their RSVP late and then you could start making phone calls a week later if you need to, which would be June 22, leaving you three weeks to get the final count in.

In this case, taking into account how long it might take the mail to get to your oot guests and for mail that goes to the wrong address to come back... I would send them out between May 4 and May 11 depending on how far away they are.

It may take between 3-10 days to get to your guests based on distance(some of my guests are in Ireland). You want them to get them by around the middle of May and they have a month to return them. The post office can help you nail down that date too.

You don't want to send them too far before the RSVP because then people will put them aside and are more likely to forget about them. But you don't want to send them out too late either.

kevcan2013 · April 2013

You go girl...You are on it Shaygray88! My wedding is July 27th too! My invites won't be here until May. I wanted to send them out by May, but my mom said that was too early, people would put them aside and forget about the wedding. So I'm still unsure about the correct time to send them out as well.

shaygray88 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:254b4397-f7b8-40d7-bf55-2f62ac42e648">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: is it too early? : It will help if you look over your venue contract and see when they require you to give them a final head count. Mine said the head count is due 2 weeks before the wedding. So, if for example your contract says the same thing, then they would want to know how many people you will be having by July 13, 2 weeks before. Setting an RSVP date of June 15 gives people time to mail their RSVP late and then you could start making phone calls a week later if you need to, which would be June 22, leaving you three weeks to get the final count in. In this case, taking into account how long it might take the mail to get to your oot guests and for mail that goes to the wrong address to come back... I would send them out between May 4 and May 11 depending on how far away they are. It may take between 3-10 days to get to your guests based on distance(some of my guests are in Ireland). You want them to get them by around the middle of May and they have a month to return them. The post office can help you nail down that date too. You don't want to send them too far before the RSVP because then people will put them aside and are more likely to forget about them. But you don't want to send them out too late either.
Posted by zantster[/QUOTE]

Thanks I need the final headcount by June 30.

shaygray88 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:9d891f13-8ac0-4281-8cb9-1d28bd4f25bc">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]You go girl...You are on it Shaygray88! My wedding is July 27th too! My invites won't be here until May. I wanted to send them out by May, but my mom said that was too early, people would put them aside and forget about the wedding. So I'm still unsure about the correct time to send them out as well.
Posted by kevcan2013[/QUOTE]

Hey date twin!! Hope all works out for you too!

zantster · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:5b9c15d8-f193-4bf9-a27b-e47d38ca0f45">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: is it too early? : Thanks I need the final headcount by June 30.
Posted by shaygray88[/QUOTE]

That's really helpful. So then if they need the final count by June 30 I would send out the invites between April 25 at the earliest or May 1 at the latest. You can assume everyone will have received their invite in the mail during the first week in May. Then the RSVP date should be June 1. You would start making phone calls to people if you don't get them by June 7. That would still give you a few weeks to find people who don't call you back before you need to get back in touch with the venue with the count. You don't want to stress yourself out so that's why you put a bit of cushion on the timeframe. June 1 gives people a few weeks to get it back to you. Because depending on when they actually put it in the mail it will take a few days to get back to you too.

zantster · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:9d891f13-8ac0-4281-8cb9-1d28bd4f25bc">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]You go girl...You are on it Shaygray88! My wedding is July 27th too! My invites won't be here until May. I wanted to send them out by May, but my mom said that was too early, people would put them aside and forget about the wedding. So I'm still unsure about the correct time to send them out as well.
Posted by kevcan2013[/QUOTE]

What does your contract say about when the venue requires you to give them a final head count? Your mom might not be thinking of how soon they need to know this information before the actual wedding date of July 27.

shaygray88 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:48acb49e-ece2-4571-acc8-ca785d7ddf9c">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: is it too early? : That's really helpful. So then if they need the final count by June 30 I would send out the invites between April 25 at the earliest or May 1 at the latest. You can assume everyone will have received their invite in the mail during the first week in May. Then the RSVP date should be June 1. You would start making phone calls to people if you don't get them by June 7. That would still give you a few weeks to find people who don't call you back before you need to get back in touch with the venue with the count. You don't want to stress yourself out so that's why you put a bit of cushion on the timeframe. June 1 gives people a few weeks to get it back to you. Because depending on when they actually put it in the mail it will take a few days to get back to you too.
Posted by zantster[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your help!

zantster · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:62119fed-4ad3-47c4-a230-136db318222f">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: is it too early? : Thanks for your help!
Posted by shaygray88[/QUOTE]

You're welcome. I'm glad it was helpful.<img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" />

aquari0216 · April 2013

i cant see them eating you alive for it but i think a couple more weeks wouldnt hurt

shaygray88 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_is-it-too-early?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:b7b49a6f-fff8-4c0f-b618-d7af535aef84Post:e1223c20-e0fb-4d1c-94b6-2bdac3a2a7ea">Re: is it too early?</a>:
[QUOTE]i cant see them eating you alive for it but i think a couple more weeks wouldnt hurt
Posted by aquari0216[/QUOTE]

I hear you girl, but you never know with those women. The smallest thing can turn into a huge blowout...

nursing2u · April 2013

Yes.... give yourself that cushion...my RSVP date is may 16th... that gives me almost a month for the scragglers.. I figure...If they wait to the last minute to buy their plane ticket, the least I can do is make sure I can still include them in the numbers..

M1ssJ · April 2013

I would send them out on the 1st of May. I dont think its too early, if your wedding is destination then folk should know by now. I would def do followup calls and texts the 2 weeks before though

is it too early?

Re: is it too early?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards