Spread the Word with Stylish and Original Beach Wedding Invitations

You are getting married! Congratulations! Spread the word with stylish beach wedding invitations!

First impressions, as you know, are most important, and your wedding invites are exactly this – the very first hint on what your guests will experience on your wedding day. Here are some valuable tips on how to prepare your original, eye-catching and welcoming wedding invites.

Let’s start with your beach wedding invitations design

Beach weddings are so special! Wouldn’t you wish your beach wedding invitations to be special, too?

First of all, make sure that the design of the invites matches the chosen color theme of the wedding, as well as the overall beach wedding general theme. Best – go for an entire beach-theme design wedding stationery kit!

You can do a lot yourself to add some creative touches to the stationery suite and make it unique. Here are a few ideas for the wedding invites:

  • Wrap a string of raffia, cord, or thin rope around the invitation / envelope and seal it with a lovely starfish/seashell/cute seahorse (etc.) color wax seal;
  • Add a real (well, dried, of course!) small starfish, seashell, piece of coral, or any other similar sea-theme decoration, on the wedding stationery items; you can either glue the ornament directly on the paper of the invitation/envelope/decorative belly band, etc., or add it on a piece of a ribbon, thin raffia or cord;
  • Sea-theme paper quilling decorative items would look gorgeous on your wedding stationery items;
  • Consider using decorative belly bands, ribbons, etc.;
  • Why not having your wedding invitation in the shape of a flip-flop or seashell?!

In addition, here are a couple of ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas:

  • ‘message in a bottle’ invitation – easy to make even yourself, but so original and unique that your guests will be truly impressed and excited about the coming event;
  • wedding invitation placed in a holder (wooden, carton or of other suitable material) in the shape of a clam or a delicate seashell;
  • beach towel – invitation; just have the text of the invitation printed on a beach towel – How cool is that?!

Finally, consider going totally paperless and use the advantages of modern technologies by sending your wedding invites online – it’s practical, thrifty and green! Besides, electronic invites provide endless opportunities for being creative and original!

Beach wedding electronic invitation

Buy it via Beau-coup Favors

To put it short and sweet – Get creative! Give your guests a heads-up that your wedding will be unforgettable and fun by sending them an invitation that will make them go “OMG, that is so them!“

After you’ve picked the perfect design, here’s another important thing to carefully think about:

The beach wedding invitation wording etiquette

Wording very much depends on your personality, of course, but the important thing about a wedding invitation is that it should be informative enough as to ensure your guests show up at the right place and the right time.

The ‘must have’ information to include in the wedding invitation:

  • who’s hosting the event
  • who’s getting married
  • when and where the event will take place

Simple as it seems, there are quite a lot of details to pay attention to.

The ‘Host’– line: It depends on who’s hosting the event – the parents of the bride only, of the groom only, or of both. To be on the safe side and avoid hurt feelings, a line i.e. ‘Together with their families’ would be a Solomon’s solution. When the marrying couple is hosting the wedding event themselves, this line can be entirely omitted.

The ‘Names’– line: Traditionally, the name of the bride comes first, but then… the bride always comes first! Right?!

The ‘When/Where’ – line: Stick to the basics; clear indication of time, date, and location should suffice. In case the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception are to be held in different time/locations however, you’d better provide separate ‘when/where’ information about each.

This cleared, let’s speak about the style of wording.

Your wedding – your personality, your style of speech! You and only you can decide whether the text of your wedding invite is to be formal, informal, casual or even frivolously jokey.

Here’s a tip: Make your wedding invite ‘by the book’ and then customize it by adding additional small cards containing a romantic poem, quote, even a joke, the wedding venue location map, route directions, accommodation details, or any other additional information.

Your wedding invite may include a couple of additional lines/spaces:

  • requesting a response; this could be a simple line of the ‘Kindly reply by …’- type, or an extended version like: “….. Accepts with pleasure”, “…..Declines with regret”;
  • you could also provide additional space for your wedding guests to let you know who’s vegetarian, allergic to certain foods, etc.;
  • a line or two informing the guests about such “trifles” like the wedding color theme, dress code, gifts giving, etc.
  • return address (for response, etc.), and your wedding website (if any)

Here’s a tip: If your budget permits it, it’s best to extend your wedding invite into a whole invitation suite including separate Save the date, Wedding Invitation, R.S.V.P., , Reception, Program/ Activities, etc. – cards.

Finally, here are a few other general rules to take into consideration:

  • use correct names; this will make people feel truly welcome and honored;
  • names should be written in full, with appropriate social titles included (i.e. Mr. and Ms.); for that matter, etiquette does not permit any abbreviations at all, so middle names, street information, etc. should be also spelled out;
  • widows should be addressed according to their late husband’s name, with “Mrs.” as the title (i.e. Mrs. Peter Smith);
  • the word “and” in between two names traditionally implies that these people are married; names of unmarried couples should be stacked;
  • Mind the spelling!

Your wedding is a celebration of your love and happiness! Make sure your beach wedding invitations are sufficiently informative, but also welcoming, stylish and original.

That all explained, it’s time to decide

  • Who to invite to the wedding? First and foremost, remember that this is your wedding and regardless of who’s paying for it, you decide who you wish to share your happy day with. In any case, it’s best to start with the guests-list (which sometimes can be such a tricky business!).
  • How many? It’s best to come up with an approximate number of how many guests you wish to invite; this depends, of course, on your budget and on the size of the wedding venue. Traditionally, each family invites half the guests. Alternatively, you may choose to divide your list in thirds: one-third for the bride’s family; one-third for the groom’s; and one-third for the couple.
  • Separate / Eliminate. Make separate lists: List ‘A’ – close family members, close friends, people you just can’t imagine getting married without; List ‘B’ – aunts, uncles, cousins and other friends; List ‘C’ – partners, co-workers, your parents’ friends, people who’ve had positive influence on your lives and relationship, neighbors that have become good friends, etc.; List ‘D’ –distant relatives, or/and people you are not that close to. When you’re ready with these lists, you will, most probably, be surprised with the final number going way beyond and over your initial estimate and wedding budget possibilities. It’s time to start eliminating!
  • The ‘+ one’ dilemma – It will most probably happen that some of the invitees who have made it into the final lists are singles, which raises the question of whether to let them bring a date to the wedding. Again, it depends on your budget/venue limitations, but traditionally, a ‘+one’ invitation should be extended only to singles in a long-term relationship with someone. And don’t feel sorry for your other single pals! They might have much more fun coming to the wedding alone than with a ‘+one’!
  • Kids? Kids are cute, indeed, and having them at the wedding could be fun. On the other hand, however, they need a lot of attention and the guests who happen to be the parents might need a little break of parenthood and wish to just have some fun! So, think twice before letting children to the wedding! Best – give your guests a couple of options for whether or not to bring children along. Alternatively, you can hire a few babysitters/ children entertainers and organize a separate area for the children at the beach wedding venue.
  • The ‘Ex- Factor’. Usually this raises a “red flag”, but it does not have to be a taboo either! It may well be that you or your fiancé has children with the ‘ex-‘, or have just maintained friendly relations with him/her over the years. Then why not invite this person to your wedding?! Give it a careful thought and discuss it with your wife/husband to be!
  • Ceremony – only guests. If you’re having a ‘close family and friends only’ type of a wedding reception, you might be wondering whether it’d be all right to invite some additional people to the wedding ceremony only but not to the wedding reception (party) afterwards. Here’s a tip – You’d rather not do this! It’s neither polite, nor friendly.
  • When to send the wedding invitations and other important deadlines. A wedding is a special event that requires tough organization. But not on your part only! Your wedding guests should also have enough time to plan their participation – clear their schedules, make travel arrangements, do some shopping… There’s so much to do! So, you’d better set the deadlines!

Traditionally, the ‘Save the Date’ – cards are sent 6-8 months before the wedding.

The wedding invitations should be mailed out at least six to eight weeks before the date of the event.

For the RSVP-s allow at least two to three weeks prior to the wedding date; this will be of great help to your caterer and will also allow you enough time to finalize the seating chart.

All-in-all, you wish to make your special day perfect? Get organized!

It all begins with a dream – a dream of a romantic seaside wedding. Make your dream happen! You can!

Author signature

Spread the love

Advertisement

Share your thoughts