Foolproof Wedding Shower Invitations
04/25/09
My best friend and I recently threw a wedding shower for a college friend. We thought it would be fun and different to create the wedding shower invitations from scratch. We considered ourselves pretty creative people. After all, we were the women who wielded a mean glittery paint pen to decorate acrylic glasses for fraternity exchange party favors. We took that confidence and started off on our adventure to make the perfect wedding shower invitations. Given our experience, I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of tips for those of you embarking on the same journey.
Before you begin your inspired journey to the perfect wedding shower invitations, check with the bride to make sure she is cool with you unleashing your creativity. That does not entail spoiling the secret or giving away all the details. Some prospective brides have been thinking about their wedding day all their lives and also have a set vision of what the shower should look like. I personally feel that brides like that should have to throw their own showers. You probably know your bride well enough, so this may not be an issue and you can check this box and carry on.
I am not going to go into detail about what kind of wedding shower invitations you can create, because the possibilities are limitless. If you have a special theme for the shower, your invitations will probably tie into that. If a more traditional shower is planned, then just make wedding shower invitations that are fun, groovy, gorgeous or memorable (or all four).
What I have to say next can make or break the shower, so pay attention. Make sure you go over the message on your wedding shower invitations with a fine tooth comb. It often helps to have a fresh pair of eyes look at it, since a mistake you have been looking at for so long might look normal at this point. Many of the old school guidelines advise you to use proper English (as in, British English with their "favours") on your invitation. Unless Sir Elton John is on the guest list, I think this is superfluous. Quality check everything, so that there are no grammatical errors or misspellings. Assure that you have the correct date, time and year on your invitations. Verify the location name and the address. Attach some directions if you know the address is confusing or does not make sense when you mapquest it. Be clear on the invitation that guests should RSVP with a yes or no. There are always guests who will attend without replying, and those will not attend but never tell you. This makes planning difficult. Now, there will always be a couple people who show up unexpectedly or cannot make it at the last minute. But, by making it explicit on the wedding shower invitations, you increase your odds of a good headcount tremendously. Having a clear RSVP statement, however, will give you a better chance with planning. Most people assume "shower" means only women, so if men are invited, be sure to be clear about that on the invitation somewhere too. Lastly, if you are hosting a themed party, make sure your guests know what to wear or bring. "Come dressed as your favorite rock star from the 80s and bring a bottle of wine to stock the cellar."