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When you’re ready to buy wedding invitations, you may have some questions. After all, you don’t want to make any etiquette mistakes without knowing it.
One of the big questions many couples ask is: how many wedding invitations should I order?
You don’t want to order more invitations than you need, and you don’t want to run out of invitations (or not send enough to guests who need them).
Today we’re answering this question thanks to bride-to-be, Brianne, who wrote us on the topic. She is planning a wedding for 200 guests and she wants to know how many invitations to buy, and whether she should buy extra invites. She writes,
“Hi Emmaline! How many wedding invites do I order? Is it per guest or couple? Also, should I order extra wedding invitations just in case? Currently, I am looking at how many invitations to order for 200 guests if that helps. Thank you!
How Many Invitations Should You Order?
Great question, Brianne! Ordering your invites is fun and exciting — and also filled with so many questions. Here are the top four tips to know BEFORE you order wedding invitations.
1. Order wedding invitations per couple.
As you mentioned, you’re ordering invitations for 200 guests. As an estimate, that means you’ll need to order one invitation per couple, making that approximately 100 invitations. Many brides see their guest list and freak out at the total — 200 invitations?! That’s going to cost me a fortune!
But not really. :) In reality, you’ll be ordering around half of that number.
When you are mailing wedding invitations for a family — i.e. your Aunt, Uncle, and three young cousins — you only need to send one invitation addressed to all guests within that particular household.
2. Don’t forget to include invitations for wedding attendants.
Even if people already know they’re invited, such as bridesmaids, the Best Man, groomsmen, your flower girl, her family, etc., make sure to include them on your official guest list so they receive an invitation.
All guests need to be officially invited.
3. Don’t forget extra invitations.
How many extra wedding invitations should you order?
Every couple should include at least 10 extra wedding invitations, just in case.
If you want to make sure you have more than enough, stick with the industry average of ordering 10% extra wedding invitations. For your wedding of 200 guests, you’ll want to order an extra 20 wedding invitations and envelopes.
You should buy extra wedding invitations just in case any of the following occur:
– you make a mistake when addressing the envelopes
– you forget to invite a friend from work or social circles
– you have initial cancellations and have room in your guest list to invite additional guests
It is more affordable to order extras when ordering wedding invitations than to have to re-order later since you’ll have to reprint the original and pay for shipping again. Plus, you’ll have to wait for them to arrive.
4. Before you order wedding invitations, get a sample!
Lastly, wait to place your order until you get a wedding invitation sample first.
It’s always a great idea to see the quality of paper, accents, colors, coordinating pieces, and envelopes before you order wedding invitations. You can get FREE samples here to see what you think before you buy from Minted.
Their wedding invitations come with FREE envelope addressing included, something you don’t get from other places (and it saves you tons of time).
We hope that clears up any confusion around the topic of how many wedding invitations to order. If you have any additional questions, let us know in the comment box below. We’re here to help!
Happy Planning!
xo
Emma
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