So, you’re getting married? That is a big deal indeed! After all, for most people, the wedding is actually the culmination of years of preparation to become a spouse. Since you are already planning your wedding with your loved one, you probably are thinking about those who will be invited to the event.

You could invite many people if your wedding budget can accommodate it. Nothing wrong with wanting to invite anyone and everyone – just be sure you have the funds for it. Since you want your wedding to be a classy affair, you might consider sending electronic invitations to your prospective guests.

Why Rely on Electronic Invitations?

There are good reasons for opting for electronic invitations. Here are some of them:

• Save On Paper – For one thing, in this day and age, you will want to pursue the paperless route since you don’t want to use paper. Paper comes from trees so that would mean some poor tree somewhere will have been cut down for that. To support global reforestation efforts, you can rely on electronic invites instead (such as those offered by greenvelope.com).
• Looks Better Online – You might also want to avoid using paper because you like the appearance of paperless invitations. Even if you’re not the artistic type, going electronic is a good solution since you can use the computer’s font choice and font size (and other settings) to make sure each invitation is flawless. Your hand won’t get tired trying to create a work of art out of every invitation. Almost every working adult nowadays can afford even a low-end computer so that means your guests will be able to view the electronic invites with ease. And since you sent electronic invitations, your guests will be able to reply just as easily online.
• More Economical – Since electronic invites don’t require printing on special paper, you actually save a bit. The electronic invites will be presentable and, should you want a hard copy of the invitation, you can easily print it out on your own printer. One source says you can expect to pay up to $8,000 if you use traditional paper invitations. On the other hand, an electronic set of wedding invitations may cost only $100. And don’t forget that with traditional paper invitations you have to factor in the cost of envelopes and mailing fees.
• Divert the Money to Other Wedding Expenses – Since you know now that you save quite a bit, the silver lining here is that you can use the savings for other expenses. For instance, you may want to update the reception buffet so that there will be more choices for family, friends, and other guests. Or perhaps you want to use the surplus money for a future need, such as buying your own home. The point is, since you will be saving money, that makes for a good reason to go paperless.
• Easier to Edit – If for some reason you want to edit the paperless invites, it will be easy to do so using your computer. You may change some aspects of the paperless invites such as colors of the background and font, size of the lettering, and even insert digital photos if you wish. You can discard or reuse if you want to. If you misspell the names of some guests, it is easy to rectify the error. And if for some reason, the wedding is postponed or even called off, you can easily edit or delete your electronic invitations right away. Not so messy, is it?
• Saves on Time – Going the traditional paper invitation route is usually very time-consuming too. You have to make sure the printing press doesn’t make any errors when their staff are encoding names and other information onto the paper invites. You have to go over each invitation, insert them into the appropriate envelopes, and then mail them. Then you have to wait for the RSVP of your guests. Going electronic helps you catch up on wedding preparations so that you can double-check if anything might be amiss. It also means you are less stressed for time as the due date comes closer and closer. You will literally have enough time to comply with wedding requirements because of this.
• You Get to Say Thank You Electronically Too – After the wedding, you will be able to open your file of invitations sent and thank everyone who was able to go to the wedding and reception. This helps you avoid overlooking certain guests and everyone will feel better once they receive your electronic “Thank You” notes. It also helps you remember your wedding guests for future events as a married couple, such as the birth of your first child.

Preferred Content of Electronic Wedding Invitations

Now that you know the benefits of using an electronic wedding invitation, it is time to learn about what you should put in each invitation. This is where typos and misinformation have to be spotted so that you don’t send out flawed invitations.

Some common information you should put are:

• Your name and the name of your fiance.
• The time and date of the actual wedding.
• The location of the wedding ceremony.
• The name of the religious leader who will be officiating (for religious ceremonies).
• The name of the official at City Hall who will be officiating (for civil weddings).
• The name of the guest receiving the invitation.
• The name of the wedding planner (if any).
• The name of the wedding website created for you as a couple. (Take note that this is where the wedding registry should be posted so that it is discreet).
• The location and time of the wedding reception.

Sometimes, due to circumstances beyond your control, it may be necessary to hold the wedding ceremony online. Though you would have to amend the wedding invitations for this, it is easier because you won’t have to commute far just for the wedding. It also won’t be necessary to host a wedding reception. If your guests still want to send gifts, you can advise them easily about how they can do that.

Final Takeaway

Though the world seems to be a bit out of control lately, the good news is that you now have a loved one to devote the rest of your life to. You may love each other so much that you want to get married to each other, in the presence of your friends, family, and colleagues. If you want to, you can make your wedding invitations on a computer and send these out via online means. This will help provide a silver lining to the fact that it can get difficult to get together with all these people in real-time, face to face, for now. Going electronic with your wedding invitations makes your situation easier so that you won’t have to delay the actual wedding on account of events beyond your control.