Response cards are such an important part of your wedding invitations and are a multifunctional piece - letting guests know not only when to respond but also reiterating who is invited as well as collecting dietary information. The cards can also be used for recording transport numbers, pre and post wedding celebration attendance, accommodation preferences and so much more!

Here are our top hints for making your Response card work effectively:

1. Response Date:

The standard reply date is 4-6 weeks before your wedding, or 6-8 weeks before destination weddings. Allow yourselves a little time (around a week) to follow up any late replies. Be sure to check with your suppliers to ensure that you allow enough time for final numbers for catering.

2. Reiterate Invited Guests:

The Response Card is a great place to reiterate to guests who and how many are invited. You can include a line that requires guests to list their full names, or have spaces to fill in for ‘Number of Adults’ and ‘Number of Children’.
This is also a great place to include any children requests, rather than on the invitation itself. Simple wording such as ‘Adults only Reception’ or ‘Children over 16 years of age only’ are great starting points for this, and can be inserted at the bottom of the card or just under the guest names lines.

3. Dietary Requirements:

With dietary restrictions being more and more common, its important to provide this information to your suppliers prior to the day. Consider including a line or space for guests to list their requirements - while small icons or tick boxes for options are cute a fill in space is much more flexible and allows for a wider range of replies.

4. Other Useful Information:

While response cards are small, there is usually room to include other preferences such as transport requirements, accommodation location, pre and post wedding celebration attendance, song requests and much more! Make the most of your cards by adding any extra information you need. Just let us know when you send through your wording if you’d like to include any of these optional extras.

.5 Address & Postage:

Often couples overlook the importance of including their return address on the envelope front - I highly recommend this as it not only saves your guests time but also means that you are more likely to receive a reply as requested. Including a stamp for return postage is optional, but is a nice touch making it even easier for your guests.

6. Numbering Your Response Cards:

This is a highly recommended method for keeping track of your responses. Allocate a number for each guest (keep a track in a spreadsheet or a printed list) and include the corresponding number on the back of each response card. This means that if the card is returned incorrectly or incompletely filled in, you’ll be able to cross reference the card to your list. A small but useful tip that can save time in the long run.

Take a look at our guide to Response card styles for more information on the options we offer. You can also find more examples on the Collection pages of our website. Feel free to get in touch if you need any other information or help.