Wedding Wednesdays Q&A: Wedding Announcements

Q: I am the mother of the groom and I’m helping my son and his fiancé with their upcoming destination wedding. We are not sure about the etiquette regarding wedding announcements for the wedding and other parties. How do you tell people? Is it by save the date cards, an announcement party, notices in local magazines?

This is a great question! And not a question I get all the time, so thank you for asking! So, you actually have a few different ways you can make these wedding announcements and let people know about all the festivities. But, let’s break the wedding announcements down to the engagement, the wedding, and the other parties so that we don’t get confused.

Engagement

When you get engaged, the first people you want to tell are all of your closest family and friends. This should be done over the phone or in person. This is news is personal and it should be treated that way. Once all of your close family and friends know, then you can go to social media. Many couples like posting to social media to let the general group of friends and family know, but you don’t have to.

(Photo credit: @_jaydinh_)

Outside of that, you can also announce the engagement via announcement cards. These are very similar to save the dates, but just letting people know of an engagement. Most people don’t do this, but it’s an option if you plan on having a really long engagement. If you do send out announcement cards, make sure you only send it to those who will be invited to the wedding.

And if you want to go old school you can announce your engagement via a newspaper. Most couples don’t elect to do this nowadays, but sometimes parents or grandparents want it done in their hometown.

Then comes the engagement party. It’s not mandatory to have an engagement party, so don’t feel like you have to have one. But, it is a good way to get your families together especially if they’ve never met. This is a chance for your closest family and friends to get to know each other before the wedding.

Wedding

To announce the wedding itself, save the dates are a great way to let your friends and family that are invited to the wedding know about it. This will give them not only the date but the location as well. I also highly recommend that you have a wedding website that you put on the save the date. The website will have even more information for all your guests including travel info and your registry.

To formally announce the marriage after the wedding, you can send announcement cards or do a newspaper announcement similar to the engagement. But, most couples just post a wedding photo on social media to share with all of their friends and family.

If you’re planning on having any other destination events or activities, use your wedding website to provide the info (only if everyone is invited). You can invite guests when you invite them to the wedding or separately if you’re only inviting a small group.

Parties

For all other parties like showers or a hometown reception, stick to invites. I wouldn’t send any additional save the dates or make any other announcements. Your invites will be enough to let people know about the party.

(Photo credit: Minted)

Now the last question you might be asking is do you need engagement photos if you plan on sending a save the date or an announcement? No, you don’t have to. While you certainly can take engagement photos and use them for these pieces, you can also just use a photo you already have or choose a design without a photo at all. It’s all up to you!