It's the second-most-asked question that I hear. A newly-engaged bride/groom will contact us, excited to begin working with a designer on their wedding stationery. By now, they know what their wedding stationery timeline is and when to start working with us. They have an idea of what they'd like. The next question is, " How many invitations do we need to order?"
I have a great respect for certain aspects of traditional etiquette (yay for Emily Post!), and while some rules might be outdated, there are etiquette solutions that can help us out when determining invitation quantities.
The first thing I'd like to say is that it's highly unlikely that you'll be ordering an invitation for each wedding guest. The number on invitations you order is not the same as the number of guests you're inviting. Generally speaking, the relationship circumstances of a guest will determine their invite.
Wedding Stationery Quantities
One Invitation Per Family Unit
Parents and children under the age of 18 (if invited) living in the same house should receive one invitation altogether. Children over 18 should receive their own
invitation (even if they still live at home.)
One Invitation Per Couple
One invitation should be sent to a married couple, or a couple living at the same address.
One Invitation Per Single Person
Send one invitation to every single person on your guest list. Roommates who are not romantically involved should also receive their own invitation, even though they live at the same address.
Order 10-15 Invitations Extra
It's always suggested that you order a few invitations extra. This way, if someone's invitation gets lost in the post, or you decide to invite new people, or you'd like to save them as keepsakes, or give to the photographer to photograph on the day, you'll have those already printed. It's usually much more expensive to print an extra 10 invitations after the rest have been done than ordering them all at the same time.
What Do I Do If I Don't Know How Many People Are On My Guest List?
These guides are all well and dandy, but what if you haven't finalized your guest list yet? There's a simple equation you can use to get a ball-park figure that you could use to get the process moving.
You should have a general figure in mind for how many people you'd like to invite. This might be dictated by the number of people your venue can accommodate or cater for, or by your budget.
To work out an invitation quantity, you'll simply divide this total number in half and then add 25.
For instance, say you'd like to invite 130 guests. 130/2 = 65. Adding 25 gives you a total of 90. 90 invitations would be a good place to start working with when you order your stationery or hire a designer. Once you have a finalized list (and haven't printed them yet!), be sure to update your designer.
And that's it! I hope this has answered some of your questions and put your minds to rest on one matter of your big day.
'Till next time,
