Recently worked
on a save-the-date for a November wedding and found that my couple had
a guest list conundrum. The number of guests was continuously growing and they realized that many
of their church members were now expressing interest in attending their
wedding. With no intention of inviting all, there became a need to still inform people in order
to keep the peace in their small congregation. So with a bit of technology and
some minor adjustments they converted their save-the-date from a teaser notice to
a special information request and pre-RSVP opportunity for a select group of
individuals.
Problem: Reduce guest list, while not
offending church members (also need addresses and RSVPs prior to sending
invitations)
Solution: Design a save-the-date just for church
congregation with minimal information and an opportunity to get a head count in
advance to determine who needs to receive formal invites.
The Plan: This tech savvy bride and groom set up a
wedding website with generic information and romantic story elements. I
designed a simple save-the-date for them in their colors to send out to this
specific group with limited details (date only). They set-up
an RSVP tracking mechanism and sent the announcement electronically to church
members directly using Pingg and Wedding Wire. Recipients were directed to
provide mailing addresses if they were planning to attend and were allowed to
RSVP in advance (but with a rather quick turnaround time - 8 days). Only those that
reply will receive an actual invitation or additional information. All other
guest and designated family will receive a traditional save-the-date and
invitation as planned.
The couple was
able to notify church members but with the awareness that space is limited and
further wedding details are dependent upon them providing necessary information
and RSVPing in advance. They found that many people really just wanted to know
what was going on, but not necessarily attend (nosey but non-committed). They
were anticipating potentially having 50 additional church members at their
ceremony and through this process reduced that number to 10 additional people.
Alternative
options that were in
consideration depending on response rate were to (1)invite people to the
ceremony but have the reception for close friends and family only and/or (2)
work with church members to plan a pre-wedding event in the church just for
members to celebrate and share in the love without being invited to the actual
wedding events.
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Save-the-Date designed in photo shop |
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