Everybody’s tech-ed out these days. Cell phones, iPhone, iPod…we practically feel lost when we don’t have them with us. But what about blending the world of tech with the world of weddings? We wanted to know what you thought about the idea of passing up printed save the dates and wedding invitations and emailing or texting them instead.
So we posted a poll on our Facebook page and asked this:
“Is it ever acceptable to send out a text or email stating when your wedding is?”
And here’s what you said:
21 voters: “No, it’s tacky”
18 voters: “If a wedding is the same week, yeah quicker is better”
14 voters: “Something should always be printed”
5 voters: “It’s never acceptable”
1 voter: “I would do it”
Sounds to us like tech got out-voted! Think about it. How many texts do you get a day? (a ton) How many emails? (probably too many) The average Facebook user has 130 friends (but some of you may be in the quadruple digits). Would YOU want something as important as the announcement of your wedding date or the invitation to the big event to get lost in those inboxes or phone logs or Facebook event requests?
We didn’t think so. And neither did our Facebook brides. Here’s what some of them told us:
“Not ok! Be organized enough to know who is coming to your wedding in advance…send them a proper invite.
“is this for real?”
“It’s ok for save the dates, but not ok for a wedding invitation.”
“Personally, I don’t see what’s wrong with an email, but for more traditional guests, I would still send a proper invite. Sometimes it’s just easier/more convenient for people to have a paper invite.”
“So not acceptable. A formal invite should be sent regardless of what century we live in.”
And when it really comes down to it, wouldn’t you want your guests to see this…
…than this?
This invitation was sent to our staff insider Sarah via email about a month ago. She had this to say about the invite. “I realize that times are tough right now, but would it kill them to send even a quick note in the mail? …..Really?”
Personal information was removed to protect the guilty.
Maybe we’re missing something but we all feel that this is still unacceptable. What do you think? Want to sound off on the topic? Leave us a comment and start a conversation!
P.s. If you want to get to the bottom of a sticky wedding situation feel free to ask! We’d be happy to investigate it with you.
Happy Planning!
~Dawn
Today I received an I-Photo of a wedding invitation via text. I was pretty ingracious toward the brides mother about it, but I now realize she didn’t know any better. Incredibly tacky, and the bride isn’t. We’ve been saving the date for about a year in advance of the wedding date.
I was so offended because traveling to this outdoor farmfield wedding will cost us several thousand dollars and yet they didn’t think we deserved one of the printed formal invitations.
We always recommend sending printed wedding invitations for an occasion as special as a wedding. However, we have seen some really beautiful e-card wedding invitations worthy of the occasion. A texted photo of the invitation is a first for us but before you feel too slighted it’s important to remember mistakes happen. Perhaps the couple or mother-of-the bride miscalculated how many invitations were needed and ran out. They probably needed to get an invitation out to you as soon as possible, and texting a photo was the quickest option. Sometimes speed of delivery outweighs formality.
I sent out majority of the invitations out by standard mail. It is not uncommon for 10% of the invitations to get lost or misplaced, so after a follow up phone call for those that didn’t respond, about 2 weeks before the wedding, I sent out a text of the photo of the invitation to them ( if they mentioned they never received it). Of course there are instances with last minute weddings in which texts would be totally acceptable, but I would call the person first and let them know why the wedding is at such short notice (family/health issues/work, etc). Then I think that would be ok.
I received a texted photo of the invitation to my friend’s son’s wedding that was to occur in a month with no other warning. The statement “food not included “ at the top on the invitation.. So what, will some people be sitting at tables eating while others are standing around? It is occurring in New York, five hours away for me. My friend had discussed her son’s plans of having the dinner for a smaller selection of the invitees to save money, but it is still a sit down wedding dinner. She tried to talk him out of it but he and his bride-to-be wouldn’t hear of it. My friend took $20K out of her retirement money to pay for this wedding and the bride’s family cannot contribute. The invitation shows both parents giving him away, even though the father has been estranged from the son for many years and they don’t even know his address. I believe this young man , who appears to be making most of these decisions, is the ultimate in tacky. I am embarrassed for my friend. Any thoughts?