Wedding invitations; they seem simple, right? Just send a quick note reminding people about your wedding and hope they RSVP by the date you asked. There’s more important things to focus on, right?
Not exactly.
The wedding invitations are actually one of the most important aspects of the wedding. They provide a ton of important information, and making sure you include all that information will make your wedding run infinitely more smoothly.
1.) The invitation. Of course the main part of the invitation is the part where you inform the person that you are getting married and you would like them to be there when you do. Many couples choose to send a “save the date” announcement a few months before the invitation itself to hopefully ensure their guests will pencil them in for the future.
2.) Response cards. These are the 
RSVP cards that let your guests inform you of whether or not they will be coming and if they will be bringing a guest or not. Make sure you make it clear what time the RSVP needs to be returned by. Also, many people have been using online RSVP registries that allow their guest to go online and enter all the information immediately, ridding yourself of the stress of waiting on snail mail to plan the rest of your wedding.
3.) Reception cards. This is to let your guests know if they are invited to the reception as well as (or instead of) the wedding. And because the reception is often held in a different location than the ceremony, this card provides information about what time the reception starts and where it will be, as well as any additional information you deem important, like if there will be an open bar or not.
4.) Maps or directions. Many of your guests are probably going to be traveling from out of town, so it only makes sense to add in a set of directions or a map to the ceremony and reception locations. Otherwise, you might run into the ultimate bridal drama of hundreds of people texting you throughout the day trying to find your wedding. Save them (and yourself) the trouble and just send them a map beforehand.
5.) Web sites. This might be the best thing of all to add in your invitation. You can list the places you and you’re fiance are registered at, that online RSVP I was talking about earlier, as well as web sites with information for a destination wedding, like airport, rental car and hotel confirmations and additional information.
All in all, if these five bits of information are inside your invitation, it should save yourself a world of hurt. Putting all the info in every invitation proves that if you don’t answer your phone, all they have to do is get in contact with another guest (any guest!) in order to have their questions answered.
5.) Go for a test run. You may think you know how long it’s going to take to get to the location from the hotel room, but really test it out. Are you getting married on a Saturday evening? Take a night to drive the distance from the hotel to the location, so you can give your guests a time estimate of when they should leave the hotel to arrive on time. Same with other aspects, like getting into your wedding dress. Step into your dress a few nights before, corset, extra fluff and all to make sure you have at least a rough idea of how long it will take you to get dressed.
guests may be able to cough up the extra dough for that $800 place setting you have your eye on, but if everything on your registry is high-dollar, many of your guests are going to be left out. Make sure you are registered for gifts all the way down to $20 (or even less) to ensure everyone is able to contribute a gift on your wedding day.
Many brides consider their wedding day the biggest day of their lives, and between friends, family, caterers, dj/band, the weather, and other issues, a lot can go wrong. However, there are a few ways to be one step ahead of the game. One of which is a wedding emergency kit. Keep a little bag full of these useful items and you’ll be able to ward off wedding day blues before they ever have a chance to hit.
groomsmen have less to worry about. Stains are not going to be as apparant (they’re usually dressed in dark colors) and they don’t have to worry about makeup, manicure touchups or their hair falling flat. There are, however, a few things they might need.
6.) Have some fun! All it takes is a bit of google research to find Heidi Klum and Seal’s yearly vow renewal ceremonies where they have a different theme. They’ve had a masquerade theme where they wore feathered masks and headgear, while years previous they’d gone with a “redneck theme” where Seal wore a mullet wig and guests were asked to wear jean shorts. They’ve even had a “wedding” theme, where women were asked to dress like brides and the men asked to dress like grooms. So by all means, take a page out of Heidi and Seal’s book and on your vow renewal day, have a little fun!