Post-elopement wedding party invites

[honey22]

Hello! I am stuck for wording/ideas for our wedding party.

bakground - we are having a small destination wedding, immediate family only invited, however we are going to have a wedding party when we get home around 6 weeks later. This will give the photographer time to edit and supply us with our pics so we can have a full slideshow showing on the night.

We are planning on wearing our gear, ie. my gown, the BMs will put their dresses back on, and the boys will wear their suits/beach wedding clothes. We won''t be having a traditional reception as such, but there will be a cake. Think more like cocktail party?

How do I word these invites? When do I send them? Should I send save-the-dates and then send more formal invites later? Use our announcements as invites? Arghhhhhh! I am at a loss. We are having a frangipani theme for our tropical wedding, we don''t necesarily have to incorporate this, but it might be nice to add a tropical touch

Here are our wedding invites for reference: (sample from the website)

http://www.theweddingshop.com.au/welcome/images/Frangipani_Wedding_Invitation_Square.JPG

Thanks in advance!

 

[neatfreak]

I would think of it more like a party you are throwing, thus no save the dates, etc. Just send the invite with enough time so that people know it''s coming.

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

Will there be a dinner or just cocktails and HD''s? Is it formal, casual or somewhere imbetween?


I think it would be fine to use the announcement as an invitation as well - save a stamp and makes it clear that it is not the actual wedding! You could do something like announce the marriage, include a picture, and invite them to a cocktail party celebrating the marriage.

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

agree, no save-the-dates necessary... and only use the announcement as an invitation if there''s plenty of time between. I think 6 weeks is ample time for a party invitation (depending on out of town status of your guests)

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/28/2008 9:59:00 PM
Author: Guilty Pleasure
agree, no save-the-dates necessary... and only use the announcement as an invitation if there''s plenty of time between. I think 6 weeks is ample time for a party invitation (depending on out of town status of your guests)

Agreed. And you could always call/shoot an email to anyone who is OOT and you think would want to make arrangements to come prior to the invites being sent.

 

[honey22]

WOW! You guys are so great! So, let me get this right, I would send invites immediately after the wedding, and use those as announcement/invites all in one?

So, my next question is, I guess I need to have the invites ready to go, so I can send them straight away? I guess there would leave no time for using our own photo and getting them printed (i was quoted around 2 weeks for delivery), but that would''t matter. We don''t have to use a pic of us right?

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

okay, forgive the fact that this is a graduation announcement, but it sort of gets my idea across. You could have a picture of the ceremony (so you're obviously already married). At the top where this senior's name is, you could put Mr. and Mrs. John Doe and maybe your wedding date. Then at the bottom, "Please join us in celebration of our marriage" with party information below that. Then that scrolly stuff on the right could be a beachy floral type motif instead.

If you are looking for something more formal (plain card without pictures), you can still use the "Please join us in celebration of our marriage" or you can announce the marriage and then invite them to the party. I will look for fomral wording.


ETA - oh yeah, you need to get announcements out within a few days of the wedding, so if your party is six weeks afterwards, then you wouldn't have time to use your pro pics. Usually, the announcements are already done, and a bridesmaid or trusted friend drops them in the mail the next day. I see no problem with waiting to send announcements except that your party is pretty soon after. You can always use a cute picture of you and fiance or use those pretty flowers and no picture of you at all.

 

[luckystar112]

Our post-DW party invites had a silly poem on them

Roses are red,
violets are blue,
we flew to Jamaica
to say our i dos!

Please join us for a celebratory...blah blah blah

Kind of cheesy, but got the point across! Our party wasn't very formal though.

These are the invites we used.