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For many soon-to-be-wed couples, paper RSVP cards are a thing of the past. While printed invitations are still popular, many modern couples prefer that guests respond online. How can you master the art of the digital RSVP?
Christy Daly Matthews, a certified wedding consultant from the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, says couples should use a method that works for them. Millennials are more apt to go for digital RSVPs, but she’s worked with couples that collect paper RSVPs and track them on a spreadsheet, their own wedding website or RSVP website.
“Pick one that fits in with your way of staying organized,” she says. “If you are a person who wants to receive, file and note the individual RSVP card, great! If you are someone that keeps track of everything online, add a feature to your wedding website that allows guests to RSVP that way.”
Here are a few more tips to put technology to work for your wedding.
1. Go custom or tailor your site
If you choose digital RSVPs, you have two options. While custom websites can be a fancy touch – Matthews recommends Square Space to make your own — it could be more of a hassle than a help. Still want a digital space? Tailor a template on an RSVP website. Either way, you can incorporate images that convey your theme and offer details that guests can use the day of the event.
2. Consider the formality of your affair
Priscilla Erwin, a wedding and event planner from North Carolina who owns Orangerie Events, said offering a digital RSVP option should depend on how formal the wedding will be.
“If you’re planning a black-tie affair, online RSVPs might appear tacky,” she says. “However, if you’re going for a more relaxed and informal approach, responding online will ultimately save you money, time and effort. You won’t spend the money on RSVP cards, envelopes or postage.”
3. Leverage data to your advantage
Samantha Goldberg, a New Jersey-based wedding planner featured on Style Network’s “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway,” believes a digital RSVP option can be useful because it lets you format and organize a guest list. It also provides a back-up source of updated data at your fingertips.
Other response services include evite.com, rsvpify.com and mywedding.com. Send-o-matic.com has some special tools that let you quickly coordinate responses — especially those that come in at the last minute, Goldberg notes.
4. Remember you elders
If you’ve got some older folks coming to the wedding, they may not have the Internet know-how to respond online. You may want to send a paper invite to those people and mark their responses in your digital hub, Goldberg adds.
5. Mix together the old and new
Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and the owner of The Protocol School of Texas, says allowing people to choose how they want to RSVP is always a good idea.
“What keeps most people from responding digitally is the ease (or difficulty) of the online RSVP,” she says. “If people have to jump through hoops, they will put it off until later and then forget about it.”