Reception cards... etiquette question

[meresal]

I know that not every bride has a church wedding followed by a reception at another location anymore, so I had completely forgotten about these. (I base what I still need to do, by what threads I read on the board

). In all honesty I haven''t been to a wedding that was at two different locations in over a year, which is why I can''t remember crap about the invitations.

Anyway, small crises... about to order the invites, and noticed that my invite says "Reception to follow" at the bottom, however, my reception is not at the chruch.

Does that need to be taken off, and we need to order Reception cards as well? For those of your that are having your wedding and receptions at two different locations, what did you do?

My wedding is very formal so I know the "right" answer, but I''d rather not have to pay the extra money for another insert.

 

[Lanie]

Meresal,

Mine is in 2 different places. I included a reception card with the time and address. Like another thread on here was saying, you could buy less expensive insert cards that don''t match perfectly with your invites, but they could be very close. For instance, you could print them with a normal printer, not the thermography/engraving (I forgot what you used). With all the paper colors out there, you could find something that would look really good.

I was also at a wedding last year where they had a map to the reception site on the back of the ceremony program. People took those with them and followed the map, and that was actually very convenient. Something along the lines of "Thank you for joining us. The celebration continues at blah blah blah..."

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

I''m not a huge etiquette person, but here are my thoughts:

As long as all your guests are invited to the reception you can list it on the invite and still have it be formal. Just instead of simply "reception to follow" add a few lines in the same format as you did the ceremony location in, i.e.:

Reception to follow
six o''clock in the evening
Fancy Old Country Club
Old Town, New York
(I''m not sure about my wording, but you seem to really know your etiquette so I''m confidant you know or can find the proper wording for this

)


I think reception cards are only necessary if you are inviting a large number of people to the ceremony and a smaller portion of those to the reception.

 

[Kellybell]

Also not a huge etiquette person here, but we also ordered a separate reception card. I think you can include reception info on the invitation itself (to avoid having to order a separate card), and it should look like something similar to what Tropiqalkiwi posted above. We would have done gone with this option to save a little money, but it made our invitation look very crowded.

 

[meresal]

I''m going to try to answer all 3 at once:

- I told my mom about the separate card that we can print ourselves idea, but she didn''t seem too thrilled. We are also putting a custom direction map in with the invitation and rsvp, so she thinks another card that doesn''t match the invite will look like we just threw some pieces together.
- My invitation is 5.25x5.25 square, the only thing that I could fit if we put the reception place on the invite is:

Reception to Follow
The ???? ????? Club

There is not enough room to put the address. We are going to have the address on the map/direction card.

- We are definitely putting the Reception location on the program as well, my dad just worried that if for some reason someone can''t make it to the ceremony, they need to know where the reception is.

My mom noticed that of all the invites she saw online, none of the ones that had a separate location for the reception, mentioned the reception on the invite.

Is it worth it to put any of it on the invite, if I can''t fit anything but the name of the venue?

 

[tlh]

I think that you should go ahead and order the additional insert. Only when the ceremony and reception share the same address can you combine the card... otherwise it could give the impression that they were not invited to ceremony AND reception... even though it says reception to follow.

 

[mrowmrowsmom]

I''m going to disagree with tlh.

I am just putting on the invitation:

Reception to follow
XXX Hotel

It''s saving me either $300 (the cost of matching reception cards) or whatever the time/effort/cost of printing my own inserts is. Either way, it''s easier for me and I truly don''t believe anyone will think they aren''t invited to the reception.

 

[honey22]

Date: 3/24/2009 1:56:52 PM
Author: mrowmrowsmom
I''m going to disagree with tlh.

I am just putting on the invitation:

Reception to follow
XXX Hotel

It''s saving me either $300 (the cost of matching reception cards) or whatever the time/effort/cost of printing my own inserts is. Either way, it''s easier for me and I truly don''t believe anyone will think they aren''t invited to the reception.

Ditto, I would just state the location of the reception. I honestly wouldn''t spend more money printing another card for the reception, your guests will know what''s going on

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

If you have the address on the map insert I think the single line stating the reception venue on the invite would be enough. I would not be confused or feel like anything had been left out.

Would spacing on your invite look better if you put it on one line:

Reception to follow at The ???? ?????? Club

 

[Mediterranean]

Since my whole family is Catholic, almost every wedding I''ve been invited to has been held in the Church, with a 2nd. location for the reception. They all do formal, evening, black-tie seated dinner types of receptions, and the invites contain a footnote that said something like:

Reception to follow(or: Dinner and Dancing to Follow)(or: Reception Immediately Following)
Loewe''s Santa Monica Beach Hotel (or wherever)

(for example)

The only one I got a separate reception card for was a wedding that had a substantial amount of time/distance between the Church wedding (4:00PM) and the dinner reception (8:00PM) at a Winery which was 45 min--1 hour drive away from the Church. That had a separate little card with directions and an address...but you can see why, with the logistics and stuff...

 

[meresal]

Here is the mock-up of my invite... Also, I have the option of having the "Reception immediatley following" and "The ???? ????? Club" as two different fonts if they are on separate lines. My mom tends to think that it might look better if "R.E.F." was in the regular print and then the venue in script.

I'm honestly losing all concept of a rational thought. Everything is blurring together.

Please let me know what you think would look best.

ETA: Mediterranean, thanks for replying. I have 3 sisters that are all married, but it's been 9 yrs since the last one, and this whole reception card has thrown my mom for a loop. Good to hear!

 

[Mediterranean]

OHH, PRETTY!!! Jeez, Meresal, your taste is just so elegant! I love these! You had done a really fabulous job on the STD''s too, I remember.

Your footnote about the reception: the type will be smaller than the rest of the invite, as it appears to be on this mock-up, right? In which case, your Mom''s idea for the fonts would work perfectly.

 

[teapot]

Date: 3/24/2009 2:48:24 PM
Author: meresal
Here is the mock-up of my invite... Also, I have the option of having the ''Reception immediatley following'' and ''The ???? ????? Club'' as two different fonts if they are on separate lines. My mom tends to think that it might look better if ''R.E.F.'' was in the regular print and then the venue in script.


I''m honestly losing all concept of a rational thought. Everything is blurring together.

Please let me know what you think would look best.


ETA: Mediterranean, thanks for replying. I have 3 sisters that are all married, but it''s been 9 yrs since the last one, and this whole reception card has thrown my mom for a loop. Good to hear!

I had a catholic wedding and we used reception cards to indicate the location of the reception with a map on the card. However, I don''t think you need reception cards and the reception location added to the bottom of the invite. Also, I think that the name of the venue should be in a non-script font like the one you used for the date. You want to make sure that people know and don''t go to the wrong place.

Quick question: Are you having a wedding website? If so, you definitely don''t need a reception card

 

[Winslet]

Meresal, thank you so much for posting this. I was literally trying to figure this all out just yesterday! I think I''m going to go with a reception card and a map, but I''m also DIY-ing EVERYTHING to match - it''ll be a total headache but I can''t afford to order all the separate pieces that I need for my invites.

 

[katamari]

Will one of your existing inserts have your website on it? If so, I think just including the name of the location is fine. Then, be sure to include a map from the church to the reception hall on your website.

Plus, honestly, my guess is that guests don''t really bring invites with them to weddings (I never do, anyways), so they either find out how to get to the reception in advance (which they can do from your website) or they will ask around at the ceremony and join a caravan. Neither of these scenarios justifies buying another insert, IMO.

 

[meresal]

Date: 3/24/2009 2:57:04 PM
Author: Mediterranean
OHH, PRETTY!!! Jeez, Meresal, your taste is just so elegant! I love these! You had done a really fabulous job on the STD''s too, I remember.

Your footnote about the reception: the type will be smaller than the rest of the invite, as it appears to be on this mock-up, right? In which case, your Mom''s idea for the fonts would work perfectly.

Thank you! Yes, the type font is two points smaller that the actual size in the main body.

 

[meresal]

Date: 3/24/2009 3:09:56 PM
Author: teapot
I had a catholic wedding and we used reception cards to indicate the location of the reception with a map on the card. However, I don't think you need reception cards and the reception location added to the bottom of the invite. Also, I think that the name of the venue should be in a non-script font like the one you used for the date. You want to make sure that people know and don't go to the wrong place.

Quick question: Are you having a wedding website? If so, you definitely don't need a reception card

Thanks for the input teapot. I hadn't thought about people needing to read it. LOL!

Yes, I have a wedding website, and we set it up after sending out STD's. So, I was planning on putting it somewhere on the map we make.

Winslet- You're welcome... and as long as your doing yours, I'll just send mine over as well!!

 

[meresal]

For those of your that used Reception Cards: Did you add extra information about the attending the reception to your Reply Card as well?