Singaporebrides | Weddings 101

March 2022

When to Send Your Wedding Invitations and Other Etiquette

By Tansey Tang

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Not sure when to send out your wedding invitations? Find out when and other wedding invitation etiquette in our guide.

When should you send your wedding invitations? What information should you include? How exactly should it be worded? Sending out wedding invites can be one of the more confusing and complicated aspects of wedding planning, but we’re here to break it down for you in our wedding invitation etiquette guide.

While your guests may already know about your wedding, your wedding invitations are the first formal piece of information about your celebration. As bearers of your good news, your wedding invitations should give your wedding guests the first insight into your unique wedding celebration.

Beyond furnishing your guests with information about your wedding, your wedding invitations can also showcase your personalities and let your guests get to know you a little better as a couple, through your choice of design and wording. Of course, while wedding invitations are a chance to have fun and get creative, you should also adhere to wedding invitation etiquette out of respect for your guests.

When to Send Wedding Invitations for Singapore Weddings

If you’re celebrating locally, a rule of thumb is to send your wedding invitations six to eight weeks in advance of your wedding date. A two-month lead time is meant to give your guests enough time to arrange their plans. If you send your invitations too early, they may not know their schedule yet or may forget about your invite. Sending your invites too late may come across as impolite, and guests may wonder if they were only invited to fill seats.

Inviting your local guests to your Singapore wedding six to eight weeks in advance will give them enough time to RSVP, and give yourselves enough time to follow up with guests and plan your seating arrangements. If you have guests who are flying in, however, you can send them Save the Dates earlier so they can make travel arrangements.

When to Start Designing Your Wedding Invitations

When you’re planning your wedding invitation timeline, remember to account for the time it takes to design and print custom wedding invitations. Start the process approximately two months before you intend to mail out the invitations, to allow you ample time to design ideas with your invitation suite designer, go through the mockups and revisions, select and print on your preferred paper, and even get custom envelope calligraphy.

RSVP Deadlines

When should you set your RSVP due date? We recommend leaving a buffer of at least two weeks in advance of when you need the information, because there will inevitably be guests who miss your deadline. An RSVP date of three to four weeks before your wedding date will allow you to follow up with guests, finalise any dietary requirements, and give you ample time to arrange (and re-arrange!) those tricky seating charts. You’ll then be able to give that information to your venue or caterers in time.

What to Include on Your Wedding Invitations

There’s a lot of important information to include on your wedding invitations! At the minimum, you should include:

• The bride’s and groom’s names
• The names of your parents, if they’re hosting
• The venues of the ceremony and reception
• The date and time
• RSVP details

Let your guests know if they’re being invited only to a ceremony, or also to a wedding reception with a phrase like “with reception to follow” and the address if it the reception is held at a separate venue. Include your dress code if you have one, or a link to your wedding website where guests can get more details about your celebration.

Wedding Invitation Wording

Here are some examples of wedding invitation wording etiquette:

Formal wedding invitation with both parents hosting:

Mr. & Mrs. John Lee and Doctor & Mrs. Anthony Tan [proper names of those hosting] request the honour of your presence [request line]
at the marriage of their children [relationship of the couple to the host]
BelindaLee [bride’s name]
&
Aaron Tan [groom’s name]
on Saturday the fifth of May, two thousand and twenty-two [day of the week, day and month of wedding]
at five o’clock in the afternoon [time of wedding and time of day]
St. Andrews Cathedral [wedding venue]
11 St. Andrew’s Road, Singapore 178959 [venue address]
Reception to follow [reception line]
at seven o’clock in the evening [time of reception and time of day]
at Spice Island Point, Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa[name of the location of reception]
2 Bukit Manis Rd, Sentosa, Singapore 099891 [reception venue address]
RSVP by the tenth of April to Anne Lee, 90123456 [RSVP line]
Black Tie [dress code, usually placed at bottom right of the card]

Casual wedding invitation with couple and parents hosting:

Together with their families [joint hosting line]
Mr. & Mrs. John Lee and Doctor & Mrs. Anthony Tan [proper names of those hosting]
BelindaLee [bride’s name]
&
AaronTan [groom’s name]
joyfully invite you to celebrate their marriage [request line]
at Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa[name of wedding venue]
2 Bukit Manis Rd, Sentosa, Singapore 099891[venue address]
on 2.2.22[date of wedding]
at 7pm [time of wedding]
with dinner and dancing to follow [reception line]
RSVP by the 1 January to Anne Lee to [email protected] [RSVP line]
belindaandaaronwed.com [wedding website line]

Chinese wedding invitation wording

If Chinese isn’t your forte, you might be feeling clueless when it comes to your Chinese wedding invitation wording. StationerNineteen Design Studiohas put together a great guide that explains the anatomy of a Chinese wedding invitation. They’ve used a typical family scenario where the wedding banquet is co-hosted by both the bride and groom’s parents.

Chinese wedding invitation wording:

1. Gregorian calendar dates
2. Chinese calendar dates
3. Order of birth of the bride and groom
4. Names of the bride and groom [If the invitation is co-hosted by both parents, the surnames of the bride and groom are excluded]
5. Names of the parents
6. Names of paternal grandparents [If the grandparents of the bride and groom are present, they will be mentioned above the names of the parent stated as 奉严慈命. If only the grandfather is present, the wording will state 奉严命, and 奉慈命 when only the grandmother is present]
7. Banquet venue
8. Time of cocktail reception
9. Time of banquet
10. RSVP information, if this is different from English invitation

Addressing Your Wedding Invitations

Spell out the full names of your guests, and include the appropriate social titles, when addressing your wedding invitations. Let your guests know whether they’re invited to bring their children or a plus one with the way you address the invites. “Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Wong and family” invites their children to come along, whereas “Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Wong” would imply that the children aren’t invited. To invite a plus one, add “and guest” to your addressee.

Sending Out Your Wedding Invitations

Mail out your wedding invitations six to eight weeks before your wedding date. If you’re mailing invites overseas, allow for more time for the post to reach your overseas guests. You might also like to personally deliver invitations to your elder relatives, as a mark of respect, and invite your loved family and friends in person instead of mailing their wedding invitations.

Do You Need a Save the Date?

Save the dates are a nice touch to send to your wedding guests if you know they are going to need more time to plan for your wedding, for example, you’re holding a destination wedding, have international guests, or are holding your celebration on a holiday or popular wedding date. You don’t need to include as much information on your save the date as on your wedding invitation. Save the dates are like a little sneak peek of what’s to come, so all you need to include are your names, your destination city, and of course your date! Send out your save the dates about six months in advance so your guests can make appropriate travel plans.

Wedding Invitation Etiquette Timeline

Let’s recap! In keeping with wedding invitation etiquette, here’s when you should be planning the steps to sending out your invites:

• 6 months before your wedding: Send out save the dates if you need to.
• 4 months before your wedding: Hire your wedding invitation suite designer so you have enough time for the design and printing process.
• 6-8 weeks before your wedding: Mail out your wedding invitations if you’re having a wedding in Singapore.
• 3-4 weeks before your wedding: This is a good RSVP deadline so you have enough time to follow up with guests who don’t respond on time, and allow yourselves time to finalise your seating plans.

: Feature image from Jennifer and Peter’s Intimate Wedding in the Presidential Suite at InterContinental Singapore by Depth of Tales

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