Physical or online invites

[googledidnthelp]

Unsure what to do with our invites, sending an online invite is a simple and easy way to save some money in the budget and collect rsvps without mistakes. Also a more sustainable choice.

Paper invites can be so pretty and personal but run the risk of chasing rsvps, however I do like the traditional aspect.

So can I have your opinions based on what you've received lately and did you mind an online rsvp, did you find the ease of that more convenient or have you had an invite stuck to your fridge or notice board and you were happy to send a traditional rsvp via post.

I'd really like one or the other, not keen on people texting or emailing as I don't want to lose track of where the info is stored for who.
Thanks

I like physical invites.

Its too easy to think ‘I’ll email a reply later’ and then, 37 emails later, forget. Before you know it, it’s slipped so far down your inbox it’s never made it onto your calendar.

@ReallyReallyRealThings would you really forget about an invite to a close friend or family members wedding though? We are only have a reasonably small wedding and id like to think we are of some importance to these people as they are to us for being invited?

I know you said you don’t want to do both, but have you considered sending out paper invitations but asking people to RSVP using a wedding website and adding the url or qr code to the invitation? That way the website does all the keeping track for you (so not like you have to monitor texts and emails), but you get to send out the nice invitations. All the invitations I’ve received in the last couple of years have done that and it’s worked well, presumably less work than monitoring your paper replies too.

Paper invitation, and QR code or similar for the reply, as mentioned by previous poster. Invitations sent by email might very quickly fall off my list.

Do you have older replies that won’t go online?
Persomally I’ve never heard of online invitations to weddings, seems a bit naff (sorry).

• older rellies

*personally - aargh

When we planned our wedding (three times because of covid!), we found paper invitations were absolutely essential.

People just don't really engage/ respond to things online. Maybe some of our friends/ our generation would, but most family members didn't even acknowledge anything online. I was a bit surprised!

It made a huge difference in the number of RSVP's we had with paper invites to digital (we tried both as ways to save money - planning a wedding three times is not a budget friendly activity!)

The other issue with online is that people forget about it. If it's physical, they put it up on the fridge and have a reminder of the date right there.

The best way to do it is a paper invite including both a link and a phone number for RSVP. You will still have to chase people whatever you do though, that's just how people are!

Definitely paper.

And yes, I have forgotten about a wedding that I was invited to by an online message. Embarrassing.

I'd really like one or the other, not keen on people texting or emailing as I don't want to lose track of where the info is stored for who.

This is easy to sort. You have both a website and phone number option for RSVP. If they ring/ text you, you just enter it into the website on their behalf - so everyone is stored on the website, but people have a choice.

Not everyone will engage with a website, I can guarantee it.

Either is fine. Most weddings I’ve been to recently have been a physical invitation with a link to RSVP online which I much prefer. I can easily RSVP as soon as it arrives without needing to get a pen, put it in an envelope, go to the postbox. And when it was my wedding it’s much easier to have the RSVPs in one place all logged and organised by the website they choose.

The only people who didn’t RSVP online were my 95 year old grandparents and an aunt who has learning difficulties and doesn’t do anything online. No-one else had any problem at all.

Wedding in July. We went with physical invites but I put together a website with RSVP form.

Physical, without a doubt (preferably engraved on good quality card). But then I do love stationery.
And they are "invitations", not "invites".

Yep, as everyone else said:

paper invite
Rsvp online

Thanks everyone not really what I wanted but I guessed would be most popular opinion.

@Hbh17 thank you for being the grammar police no one invited you to be, I will be sure to invite people via physical invitations.

We had posted invitations with an RSVP card enclosed. It cost a little more but gave us so much excitement in the run up to the wedding, receiving them in the post. It sounds lame but we had a little ritual of opening them after dinner each night. So many people had added little hand written comments about how excited they were and it really made the build up to the big day extra special for us.

I prefer online with all the information on the website. I don’t like all the waste associated with paper, I usually take a photo of the venue and time detail, then bin the rest.

Both! I WA my half and my partner did the same. However had lunch with some of my older relatives who asked when to expect invite ... so reading between the lines they thought the WA wasn't official

Definitely paper. I find email invitations really tacky. Reminds me of that film Bride Wars where Anne Hathaway's character fired off the email invitations in a panic! There's a lot of corners I would cut when trying to save money on wedding planning but this wouldn't be it.

If you really don't want to do postal invitations then there's really no need, especially if it will cut into your budget that much. Most people wouldn't be able to remember in a year's time it were physical or digital invitation in two years time, and fewer still would actually care. The most recent wedding invitation I had was digital and it's made no difference at all to me. And at least you will know they have arrived (unlike the thank you card I sent to my grandparents which took six weeks to arrive).

We just sent an invite we did ourselves on canva via WhatsApp!! No one forgot & everyone replied!

You said it for me.

@googledidnthelp I would prefer a proper invitation, not an online one. I don't have a phone so am only intermittently online.

Definitely physical, it doesn’t have to be too expensive.

If you search wedding invitations on Etsy you can get a design personalised for around £10 which you can download and then either print yourself or I used printed.com to have them printed on nice card for around £40 for 150ish guests.

Also if you’re creative, you can use canva.com to make your invitation design they have lots of nice templates!

I've opted for physical which I'm making myself, they look cute and rustic and I've simply said the rsvp can be returned via post, text or email. I've only got about 25 to send by the time the families are grouped so hardly 100s to manage. Thanks for your opinions.

My daughter is having a small wedding abroad . She has opted for online invitations to save money but people have also been able to easily state menu choices and food allergies etc. It was useful to be able to include information about the area and local accommodation. Elderly relatives who don’t go online have received a physical invitation .