When to Mail Invitations

When should invitations be mailed out?

Go to Plan/Order Invitations and Announcements, click on the light bulb on the right. This gives suggestions for when and how to mail. For example: Wedding invitations are to be mailed four to six weeks prior to the wedding date. They should all be mailed at the same time.

When to Have Engagement Party

How for away from our wedding should we be having the engagement party. None of the books give a general time.

You can have an engagement party as soon as you become engaged. Some people time it for just before or just after a newspaper announcement of the engagement. I have found one source that said no farther out than one year and no closer to the wedding than six months. Obviously this is not firm, since some people get engaged and married within a six month time frame. Also, some people have 2 years or more of engagement before the actual wedding.

The engagement party is really for both families to get together and get to know each other better. So, the earlier the better, especially if wedding finances need to be discussed and agreed on by both families.

Ceremony Order

I would like to know in what order I should have the following in my wedding ceremony: reading of a poem by a friend, a song by groom to bride, a poem by bride to groom, lighting of candles: stepmother to light votive candle, my mother and mother in law to light taper candles, and then groom and bride to light unity candle. And how many songs should I have prior to the exchange of vows?

It really is your choice on what you would like in your ceremony. I've seen many different orders of ceremony, some with several solos before the exchange of vows, some with one before and one after, etc. The unity candle is always done after the vow exchange. Probably readings/poems would also be done before. In EZ Wedding Planner (Plan/Great Ideas) there are lots of topics relating to ceremony including samples. There is a sample order of service in Ceremony Programs that will give you some ideas.