Okay, there’s really no “decoding” that we need to do here, but we do need to make sure everybody understands wedding card RSVP wording.
The good news is that your wedding RSVP cards can be as funny, elegant or fancy as you want them to be. Having a traditional formal wedding? Great-we can show you the ropes. Plus, those RSVP cards can show you how many meals you need to plan for, as well as the seating diagram you would like everybody to follow.
Even if you are having a casual backyard wedding where hotdogs and hamburgers will be your main dish, it still helps knowing how many will come-after all, folding chairs can’t reproduce by themselves.
Let’s get into the rules!
RSVPs and Invitations
If you haven't chosen your wedding invitations yet please check our website here:
Invitations should be sent out about 6-8 weeks before your actual wedding day. This will be enough time for guests to make arrangements to come-asking off work, finding childcare, making travel plans. If you are having a destination wedding, send them out about three months ahead of time so everybody can plan.
Now is where you include the RSVP card. This little card should have a deadline printed on it that is about 2-4 weeks before the date of the wedding. This will give you:
- plenty of time to contact anybody who has not responded,
- give the catering company or restaurant your head count, and
- make any seating chart revisions.
Appropriate Wording for RSVP Cards
In this portion, we are now going to discuss:
- Wording for formal wedding RSVPs
- Wording for Funny Wedding RSVPs
- Wording for Online Wedding RSVPs
- Wording for Destination Wedding RSVPs
Basic Wedding RSVP Wording
You can be as formal or as informal as you like with this part. No matter what you go with, there are some pieces of info that have to be included no matter what.
The RSVP Date
There are plenty of ways you can request the response from your guests. You might do something like this:
- RSVP by the 13th Of May
- The favor of a reply is requested by May 13th
- Kindly respond by May 13
- Your reply is requested by the 13th of May
- Please Respond by May 13
Next, you have to have a Name Space.
You usually put “M.” here, and that is where the guest will write his or her name. You can also just put “Name” or “Names” and then a line.
Afterward, you need a checkbox. This checkbox will be for “accept” or “decline” and this wording is one spot on your RSVP card where you can be as creative or formal as you like. We will provide some examples.
Following your checkbox, you must have a part where you allow your guests to choose their food. If your menu is already pre-planned like a buffet or a cookout, then you can avoid this altogether.
But, if you are serving a sit-down meal that features more than one option for an entree, this is where you will let your guests make their selection about their food.
Some Ideas:
- Small, elegant clip-arts of the meals offered-for instance, a carrot for the vegetarian entree, a cow for the beef entree, or a chicken leg for the chicken entree.
- A list of the meals offered and a space to write the name of the person who would like that meal next to it-e.g. Suppose you are offering steak, alfredo, and chicken cordon bleu. Your guest would write their name on the lines underneath these meals.
- Alternatively, you can have your guests initial next to their meal choices. For formal RSVP cards, you might write “vegetarian” “steak” or “chicken” and your guests simply place their initials next to the right choice.
RSVP Card Wording by Style
Now that we have covered the absolute basics of what every card needs, regardless of its level of formality, we can now talk about the formal, funny, destination and online side of things.
There will be the checkbox on your RSVP cards and how it is worded should correspond to your wedding. Here are our suggestions.
Formal Wedding Examples
This is the style of wording we recommend for those of you having a traditional or formal wedding. These word choices are perfect and elegantly fit any RSVP card.
- Graciously Accepts
- Respectfully Decline
- Accepts with Joy
- Declines with Regret
- Will Be Attending
- Unable to Attend
- Happily Attending
- Respectfully Declining
No matter which one you choose, your guests will be impressed with the elegant nature of your cards.
Funny Wedding
Here it is for all you brides and grooms who know you want to make your guests smile a bit when they open up their cards. These can be lighthearted and fun in their delivery.
Text on the card might read “RSVP...C’mon, It’ll Be Fun!” Or whatever message you desire.
Example checkboxes:
- Yes, I’m ready to party
- No, I will not make it
- Yes, let’s party down!
- No, and I will forever regret this
- Cheers and let’s have some beers!
- Tears, I will be stuck here!
- Will be there. Am not square.
- Will not be there. Am therefore a square.
- Heck yes, I will come
- Aw heck, I can’t come.
These will certainly bring a smile to the face of your guests as they respond, even if they sadly cannot come that day.
Online Wedding RSVP Wording Ideas
Doing things online is the name of the game nowadays. We are all connected to our devices nearly 24 hours and we communicate effectively and quickly with each other.
This is great for busy brides that need answers….and fast.
That being said, you should be sure your paper invitations have the response link clearly marked using an RSVP card.
This prevents your invitations from looking a tad awkward with a long website written on the end, and your guests can tuck it into a wallet or purse so they can get on their desktop or smartphone later and respond.
Your response cards might have things like this written on them:
- Kindly reply by May 13th
- Using the following website
- RSVP Online to [Your Link Here]
- RSVP online by May 13th
- RSVP Online to [Your Link Here]
- Please visit our Wedding Website to Respond by May 13th
- RSVP Online to [Your Link Here]
Destination Wedding Wording Ideas
If you will be having your special day in a faraway land, then your cards should reflect your spirit of travel and the fun of getting there. Here are some ideas for making sure your cards look their best when you send them out to your guests.
- Bags are packed
- I will think of you at home
- Here we come!
- I will be staying home
- Anchors Aweigh!
- Sorry, I’m docked!
- Fasten your seatbelts-ready for takeoff!
- We are grounded!
As you can see, the wording examples vary based upon your kind of wedding. The most important thing to remember is to choose what YOU really want-if you want to mix and match words and styles go for it.
After all it is your special day, and everybody is sure to have fun no matter what.
A Note on Envelopes
The envelopes for your RSVP cards should have your name and address in the front, or the name and address of who will be handling the responses. This is sometimes a bridesmaid or the bride’s parents.
It is also customary and good taste to include a stamp on the front of the envelope.
If you are handling the responses, you can simply write your address on the front of the stationery envelopes and leave it at that- with a stamp of course.
You can choose to write out your full names, or you can just use your name if you do not live together yet. You might even say something cute like “The Future Mrs. Brown” or “The Future Mr. and Mrs. Daniels.”
If somebody else is getting your cards, you can use the following methods to address them:
- Mr. and Mrs. Jones
- The Joneses
- Sara and Steven Jones
- Mr. and Mrs. Steven Jones
In Closing
Now that you have all your invitations ready to go, and you know what they should look like, the next step is to get them put together. Be sure that you go over the samples and proofs of your invitations so that they are exactly what you want them to look like.
Once that is complete, be sure that you assemble them in the correct way-that is, invites go on the bottom of the stack, and then enclosures go on top in order of the largest item to the smallest.
The RSVP card should be tucked into the flap of the reply envelope so that it covers part of the text.
Put everything in the inner envelope so that text faces outward. In this manner guests can read the invitation as they take it out. Put the unsealed inside envelope, if part of your invite, inside the outer envelope with guest names facing out.
Now that that’s all done, go to the post office, drop them off, and wait for the RSVPS. Get excited-it’s wedding time!
Leave a comment