How To Write Wedding Announcements

Typically, wedding announcements are mailed to people who were not invited to your ceremony and/or reception. Unfortunately, many couples aren't sure who should receive announcements, how to write the content for the announcements, or even when to send them.

Wedding Announcement Recipients

As you plan the guest list for your wedding, you probably had to leave some names off either because your venue was too small or because your budget was already stretched to thin. Both are common issues when planning a wedding. Either as you are creating your guest list or immediately after it has been finished, you should create a separate list of people you would have liked to invite but could not. These people may be friends or family members, even business associates. Additionally, you should speak to your parents and ask them for the names of people they know who should receive announcements.

Additionally, if you are having a small destination wedding or if you've chosen to elope, you should send announcements to all of your close family and friends.

Ordering Wedding Announcements

Ideally, your wedding announcements should be ordered at the same time as the rest of your wedding stationery, including your invitations. You may want to use the same style paper and design for your announcements as for the rest of your stationery, but you don't have to.

When you place your order, you should order a few extras. After all, you may need to cut the final guest list before you send the invitations and those people should definitely receive an announcement. You'll also want an extra to keep for your scrapbook, and your parents may want to have a keepsake announcement, too.

For commercially printed wedding announcements, you can expect to pay $1 to $3 per announcement.

But if your budget doesn't allow you to purchase printed announcements, you can always create your own. Purchase heavy card stock paper (the kind you would use for greeting cards) or specialty paper, such as vellum, parchment, or rice paper, then design and print your own announcements using your home computer. You can also buy blank announcements at card stores, then simply fill them out by hand.

If you do use a commercial printer for your wedding announcements but don't place the order at the same time you ordered the rest of your stationery, remember to give your printer at least two weeks for the announcements to be ready, plus at least one to two weeks (depending on the number of announcements you are sending out) for you to get them ready for mailing. Remember wedding announcements should be mailed the day of or the day after your actual wedding.

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