There are many types of invitations you can choose from, according to your style and the type of wedding you are holding. Here are some of them:

• Save the date: This is a card which you send out to your guests a year prior to your wedding. This becomes an official announcement that you are getting married soon. Later on when you finalize the dates of your wedding, you can send out ‘Save the Date' cards to give everyone a heads up about the date of the occasion and to reserve that date. In this card, the name of the bride and the groom have to be included with the venue and all the details.
• Wedding invitations: These are the normal invitations that are printed a few months prior to the wedding so that enough time is given for production and the distribution. If you have chosen customized or engraved invitations, make sure you confirm with the printers about the time it will take to be printed. You need to send out invitations at least two months prior to the occasion so that your guests have enough time to plan their dates and arrange for transport in advance.
• Bridal shower: The maid of honor can work with the bride to design her invitations. You can also maintain the same theme of the bridal shower in the rest of your invitations. These are to be sent out at least one month before the date of the wedding shower. Let one of your family members organize the shower for you. This avoids the impression that you are trying to ask for gifts from your family.
• Thank you cards: These cards are a must; it will be impolite of you to not send thank you cards to people who have brought wedding gifts. When you are ordering the wedding cards, order the thank you cards at the same time, so that they are of the same theme. While opening the gifts write down who gave that gift. Now, start writing the thank you letter by acknowledging the gift the person brought for you. Once you are back from the honeymoon start sending out the thank you notes to everyone. Try to do this soon before you forget who gave you the gifts.

Wedding invitation etiquette

If you have organized a formal event, then there are some rules of etiquette, which one must observe while writing an invitation. In a less formal situation, try to be creative. Here are a few things that you must remember while writing a formalwedding invitation:

• Write the full name and write the middle name as well. Instead of using an initial for the middle name you can omit it also.
• It is always appropriate to use the British spellings for ‘favour' and ‘honour', unless you want to spell it in the American way.
• Always remember to spell out every word like year, hour and date. You will also have to spell everything in the address the avenue, street name and the road. However, there are only two exceptions in the spellings such as Mount (Mt.) and Saint (St.)
• Remember that you must always use the roman numerals in the names, instead of using the ‘3rd', you should write ‘the third'.
• If the ceremony is happening in a religious or holy place then you will have to write "request the honor of your presence". Ceremonies, which take place at a non-religious setting you can say, "Request the pleasure of your company".