Send Separate Wedding and Reception Invitations

Planning a wedding can be an exciting yet arduous task - a challenge that's every bit as tedious as it is joyous. One consideration many engaged couples have is whether they should invite everyone to both the wedding and reception, or just their closest family and friends to the wedding and everyone to the reception. There are several reasons why you might want to split up your wedding and reception invitation pools. Since weddings are ceremonies that establish a commitment between two individuals and also join two larger families together through a common link, many couples prefer to only invite their closest family and friends to the wedding and then celebrate with everyone together at the reception.

Space constraints and destination weddings

Sometimes the reason is out of necessity: If the chapel or wedding location is a small venue that sits only 50 or 100 people, for example. Other times, weddings are held in remote locations such as exotic beaches where it would be unreasonable to expect 300 or more friends and family members to pay to attend. In such cases, local receptions are almost always held upon the newlyweds' return.

Thus, the answer is that yes, sometimes you should send separate wedding and reception invitation cards. But do you risk offending those who are only invited to the reception and not the wedding? Not if you make it clear on the reception invitations why the decision was made. Try something like: "Due to space considerations, the ceremony will be attended by family members and the celebration will ensue with all of our treasured friends." Or, be humorous: "Thank you for your love and support - in an effort to give something back to all of our friends, we've decided not to make you sit through another boring wedding and instead go straight to the feast and fiesta!" A little bit of tact can go a long way.

Go with a professional printer

Naturally you want to print the most elegant, high-quality wedding and reception invitation cards you can so budget might become a concern. Fortunately you can print professional wedding and reception invitation cards on the cheap through PsPrint, which offers a choice between a glossy 16-point cover stock and 13-point recycled matte cover stock so you can have a bright, brilliant invitation card or a compelling, rich card, respectively. Either way, you'll have eye-catching commemorative wedding and reception invitation cards that you can cherish in your wedding album, scrapbook and even in a frame for decades to come. Best of all, you can create your own custom design when you choose professional printing! Print low quantities for your wedding invitations on a digital press to save money, and print high quantities for your reception invitation cards on an offset press to keep costs extremely low. Or, make both cards part of your design and have your printer place a custom perforation between the two - now, all you have to do is tear off the invitations and send them to the appropriate party.