Step 4: Send Invitations
6 to 4 weeks prior to the wedding
Invitations are the formal pieces you send to your contacts requesting their presence at your wedding. They are typically sent four to six weeks prior to the wedding and provide all the details the invitee needs to attend your wedding. To learn the specific details on what invitations are to include and how they are typically written, please see the BridalTrack Invitation Guide.
Sending these will be the second time you use your list and will be very similar to how you used it for the Save The Date Notices. Again, if not set up properly, you will have to manually sort through your entire contact list to select each contact who is to receive an invitation.
Just like with the Save The Date notices, the first step is to back up your list. Next, using your software's tools, extract all the people who have a "Yes" in the "Invitation" field. For specific instructions on how to use the filtering tool of your software, consult its help files. Your program should return a sub-list of just those contacts. Save this new list with a name different than the main list.
Extract invited contacts from your wedding's contact list
Because invitations are hand addressed, it would be appropriate to print this list out and not bother setting up anything in a word processing document.
Addressing Invitations
Going row by row, complete the invitations' envelopes (inner and outer) for each contact on your list. Instructions for properly addressing each of the invitation envelopes can be found in the BridalTrack Addressing Guide. That guide contains all the rules and exceptions for addressing both the inner and outer invitation envelope based on the addressee's personal information. Also available is the BridalTrack Addressing Calculator which takes all the addressee's information and automatically generates what should be put on both envelopes.
Because invitations are formal pieces, completing them properly can be quite cumbersome. This is not to say it is not managable, it just takes knowledge and a streamlined process to effeciently complete the task. For instructions on assembling your invitations and creating a streamlined process, please see the BridalTrack Invitation Guide. There you will find detailed instructions on completely the process properly and effeciently.
One important tip that you will find in the BridalTrack Invitation Guide is to write each contact's "Ref#" field lightly in pencil on the back corner of their RSVP response card. This allows you to easily identify any returned responses that are either illegible, incomplete or torn in half by the postal service. That way, if you receive a response back you will always know who it came from.
Also, using the reference number to search your list will ensure that you quickly find the contact you are want. While many people on your list may share a last name (i.e Smith, Jones, etc.) only one contact will have that "Ref #" in their record. So, even when you do have an easy to read response card, updating your contact list is made easier using a contact's "Ref #".
Remember, your contact list is more than just a mailing list. When set up properly, it is a correspondence management tool that helps with both sending and receiving mail from your contacts.
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