Wedding Photographer Lawrence Kent in Columbia SC and Augusta GA

Our tip this week is all about your invitations.  Invitations are another one of the elements of your wedding that should reflect your style and personality.  The tip comes from the good folks of Favor Ideas.

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You’re well into planning your wedding, and you’ve finally decided on a design for your wedding invitations. You’ve worked out the wording, and practically have the guest list licked. Here are a few more wedding invitation tips and advice to keep in mind.

* If you want to include children as guests, write out their individual names on the addressed envelopes, or put “and family.” For example:

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Simpson, Cathy and John
or
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Simpson and Family

* If the children are older teens (say, 16 or older), you might want to send them an individual invitation, just like you would an adult.
* If you don’t want to include children at the ceremony, don’t add their names or “and family” on the outside of the envelope. Although this violates the stricter laws of etiquette, you might even add something like, “Sorry, but children are not invited”, “adults only” or a similar phrase to clarify. If you want to have children at the reception but not the ceremony, you could note this on the response card … or on the invitation itself at the bottom.
* When issuing invitations to a single guest, it’s polite to put “and Guest” on the outside of the envelope so that they have the option to bring along a companion. For example:

Mr. Ralph Jones and Guest
or
Miss Sarah Campbell and Guest

* Be forewarned: usually 7% to 10% of the guests who respond with a yes won’t actually show up at the wedding. In addition, 20% to 30% won’t make it to the reception. This can wreak havoc when budgeting for a sit-down dinner. You might want to consider a buffet-style dinner instead.
* In some cases, you’ll want to invite people to the ceremony, but not the reception — or vice versa. If so, then you will need two sets of invitations printed, one that includes reception information and one that doesn’t.
* If you don’t receive a reply from some guests by your reply date, don’t hesitate to call them. It’s important that you know how many are attending so you can budget accordingly.
* When ordering invitations, order at least 4 to 6 weeks before they’re scheduled to be mailed. If you plan on mailing your invitations around the 15th of March, order them between February 1st and 15th.
* Double and even triple-check everything before it gets printed. Borrow another pair of eyes. This includes invitations, response cards, envelopes, wedding programs, and so on, whether you’re doing them yourself or having them professionally printed. Search ruthlessly for spelling errors.
* Always order extra invitation envelopes and response card envelopes. There will inevitably be a few mistakes when addressing these and you’ll want to have a few extras on hand.
* Mail your invitations at least 6 weeks before the wedding date, and ask for a response at least three weeks before the wedding date. So if your wedding date is July 1st, mail your invitations by May 15th — and ask your guests to respond by June 7th. This will give guests time to reply by mail, which in turn, gives you time to firm up catering plans, seating arrangements, etc.
* If your wedding’s going to actually be held on a beach or outdoor area, be sure that you let your guests know, so they can dress appropriately.

This weeks tips talks about your ever important photographer.  Your photographer should be one of your top three priorities for your wedding (and I’m not just saying this because I am a photographer).  Your photography is so important.  Here’s why!  After your wedding, weeks, months, years later, what do you have to remember it by?  Your spouse of course and your photography.  The cake, the venue, the invitations, the food all fade after in a matter of days, but your photographs last a lifetime.  That’s one of the reasons why your wedding photography is so important.  Making certain to hire a professional photographer who specializes in wedding photography and matches the style of photography you want for your wedding.  I’ll have a post about choosing the right photographer for you later next week, but on with this weeks tip.  It comes from the Photographik Network.  The article was written by my dear friend from Jacksonville, Florida – Scarlett Lillian.  She entitled the article, Dear Brides: Love Your Photographer.  The article covers ten things to keep in mind to help your photographer pull of your day as nothing short of fabulous.

I’ve included three (3) things here, but click here to read the full article over at Photographik.org.

1. DO make photography a priority in your budget. Photography is an investment, and just like any investment, you get what you pay for. If you try to find someone cheap to save a few dollars, more than likely, you will be unhappy with the quality of your photos. Yes, in the digital day and age, anyone can whip out a point and shoot camera, as most of your guests will probably be doing, but true photography is an art and worth the little extra you pay for a rock star wedding photographer who delivers stunning and emotionally rich photos. If need be, pay by credit card and pay it off later. Or sacrifice the extra unnecessary frou frou decoration to pay for a few extra pages in your coffee table album. When your wedding day is over, your photos and album are the only things that remain and last forever. Remember, your grandkids will be looking at these photos one day. You want a photographer who can capture the true emotion of why their grandparents fell in love, not a photographer who can cut you the best deal right now. 

2. DON’T just look for a photographer in your market. If you can’t find a photographer you like in your area, don’t settle for one just because they are close by. Most photographers love to travel and shoot destination weddings. Don’t be afraid to pay a little extra in travel fees to be able to hire a photographer who better fits your style. Plus, you are fabulous enough to fly in only the best, right? 

3. DO your research, but DON’T compare photographers’ packages. Each photographer offers different packages to best showcase the art we create for you. Just as unique as your photos will be, a photographer’s packages are just as individualized. Photographers can be insulted when you try to insist our competitor offers A, B, and C in their package at X amount of price, and then ask us to do the same. If you want that A, B, and C package at X amount of price, then go with that photographer. We want brides who want us because they connect with our style of photography and appreciate our art, not brides shopping around for the best deal.