Are E-vites Better Than Paper Wedding Invitations? Let’s Discuss...

There are lots of decisions that need to be made when it comes to your big day, some quick and easy and some that need more thought and careful consideration. Weighing up the option to send traditional paper invitations versus digital invites is one of those decisions! Read on for some food for thought on whether e-vites are the way forward for your special occasion.

Pros and cons of digital wedding invitations

Paper wedding invitations could be considered to be more than simply an invite, to some they are also a keepsake, a memento of your wedding day, however physical invitations come with a whole host of factors to consider. Firstly, do you have the budget for printed invitations? And do you have time on your side to allow for printing, posting and receiving (and painstakingly organising!) the RSVP cards? You also need to think about the time it takes to decide on elements like font styles, paper and the general look and feel of your invites. Digital wedding invitations can be created quickly, easily AND can save you money.

Practical benefits of online invitations

Digital wedding invitations can be an efficient way to get all the important information sent out to your guest list in the click of a button. In fact, if you know all the details for your big celebration such as how many events you might be hosting, whether that’s a cocktail party or a summer bbq, you can create and send digital invitations out which include all your details within a couple of hours. This will ultimately save you invaluable time and money on printing, postage and quite a few trips to the post office!

Why should you send an e-invite for your wedding?

Digital wedding invitations are perfect if you’re short on time, don’t want to spend too much of your hard-earned budget on a paper invitation set and want to do your bit for saving the environment. Of course you can opt for recycled paper and sustainable ink but it’s clear that formal invitations are far less eco-friendly. The big benefit of sending digital wedding invitations is that they also enable you to include a link to a wedding website where you can host everything from your guest lists to the gift registry, venue maps and recommendations for guest accommodation.

Save money sending a digital wedding invitation

Traditional wedding invitations can make a fairly hefty dent in your budget so it’s worth weighing up how important sending out a paper invitation is to you and your partner. Much like Say I do, there are lots of user-friendly digital invitation platforms out there that can help you create a professional looking invitation to suit your taste, and more often than not these are really reasonably priced, sometimes even free!

Manage your guest list easily

Regardless of the size of your guest list, should you decide to send traditional wedding invitations you need to think about the time it takes to get your paper invites printed. Collating guest’s addresses can be time consuming, especially when you need to tick off other wedding preparations on the ever-growing to-do list! Creating a wedding website and sending digital wedding invitations through Say I do gives you all the tools you need to be able to collate your guest list information in one perfectly designed digital dashboard.

Digital RSVPs

Online wedding invitations are perfect for being able to track RSVPs. You can see who’s coming with ease, find out dietary requirements, plus ones, even send a gentle nudge to those who haven’t sent their RSVP card back yet. And when it comes to after the big day you’ve already got everyone’s details if you wanted to send digital thank you cards or a simple thank you email too.

Some guests are offline

Naturally, not all of your guests will be online and able to receive digital invitations, however this shouldn’t put you off considering going down this more eco-friendly option. Don’t feel like you have to spend lots of time searching for the perfect traditional paper counterpart, there are some gorgeous independent stores online where you can source a couple of paper invites for that small handful of guests.

RSVP with a simple click

It really is as simple as that. RSVP cards can be as simple as pressing a button and you’ll receive the reply within seconds. This will save you and your guests time and money. Your guests even have the option to write a note to you via the RSVP with extra details they may want to share such as plus ones, dietary requirements and even a dance floor song request! Design like a pro You’ll be surprised how many online invitation websites provide templates for you to work on ensuring you don’t forget to include all the necessary details such as the wedding date, time, venue details and dress code. There’s a huge amount of flexibility from being able to add photos, try out different styles, fonts and themes all to help you create the perfect invite for your big day. You really don’t need to be tech savvy to use them either, there’s step by step guides and you can preview along the way so you can see exactly what your guests will see when you eventually press send and it lands in their inbox.

Create and send from your home

It may seem obvious, but yes creating digital wedding invitations can be done from the comfort of your very own sofa. No back and forth with suppliers, tweaking the wedding wording or design, after all you’ll be doing that with enough different wedding vendors during the wedding planning process. You could even shop around and try a few different sites until you find the right style that matches your taste. Say I do have 50+ templates to choose from for free! Why not give it a go and see what you think…

Design benefits of using online invitations

You have the power! Designing your own e-vite can not only make you feel like a professional graphic designer but being able to have complete control and choosing your very own custom design can make the whole process really satisfying. Personalise the digital wedding invitations with photos, cute anecdotes and even music, this can be a really fun and creative process - get those juices flowing!

Old fashioned RSVPs

Receiving post these days is a real pleasure, well, when it’s not in a brown envelope(!) but there are a number of invitation related problems that you could encounter if you go down the traditional wedding invitation route. There’s the risk your invites get lost or damaged, but if they do get to where they are supposed to there’s the patience you have to have when waiting for your RSVP cards to be returned. Online invitations give you ALL the control whilst saving you time, money and the planet.