Wedding Invitation Etiquette and Vaccination Messaging during Covid
It’s Your Wedding! You Can Require All You Want to!
As wedding planners who have planned weddings throughout the country, we understand that wedding invitation wording can feel like a delicate dance. You want to get your message across and make sure guests know where you stand but you don’t want to upset anyone. In today’s wedding planning world with Covid still a threat, it’s more important than ever to communicate what you need for you and your guests to feel safe. Remember: it is your wedding, your celebration and your special day. Your needs and your safety are more important than anything. Don’t be embarrassed to communicate to your guests what you need them to do in order to attend YOUR event. Below are some tips on how to navigate the delicate dance of wedding invitation etiquette messaging not only for covid but other requests you may have!
How do I Communicate my Vaccination Requirements?
For extra safety at your wedding, we highly recommend that you and your guests are fully vaccinated with a booster shot. This is your wedding and your private event, it is okay for you require any level of protection that feels right to you. For further precaution you can even have rapid testing set up onsite at the wedding. Here is a great rapid covid testing company that we have used for weddings. Below are some wording and messaging examples you can use to let your guests know that you would like them to be vaccinated and have them confirm this before the wedding day.
Wording and Messaging Examples for Covid Wedding Planning
“For the safety of our guests and our newly weds we are requesting that all in attendance have been fully vaccinated with a booster. This means you have been fully vaccinated and boosted.”
“We are so grateful to be able to celebrate in person together again! To get this party started and keep it safe we are asking that all guests are fully vaccinated and boosted.”
“We are requiring that all guests are fully vaccinated in order to attend our wedding.”
Where do I Place my Messaging Regarding my Vaccination Requirements?
You can place your messaging about vaccinations on your wedding invitations, wedding website and via email. We recommend all methods of communication to be as thorough as possible. You can even have everything set up on your website before your send your save the dates. You can place your wedding website link on your save the dates and place your messaging about vaccination on the front page!
Wedding Invitations. You can place messaging regarding your vaccination requirement directly on your wedding invitations on your RSVP card. If you would like to confirm whether the guest has in fact been vaccinated you can give them a check box. You can have a checkbox with your meal options and also have a box guests can check if they are vaccinated. You can also do this on your wedding website under your RSVPs. Many wedding websites like The Knot or Zola have it built into their website templates. WEDDING PLANNING TIP: If you are collecting RSVPs the traditional way through snail mail, make sure to always include an envelope with a stamp for your RSVP card, and always NUMBER the back of the card so you can keep track of your guests! Make sure to have a spreadsheet with all of your guests and create a column to track their vaccination status. You can create a spreadsheet yourself or if you are working with a wedding planner, we like to use a fabulous software to track RSVPs called Aisle Planner.
“Kindly Reply by Wedding Date”
Names__________________________
Fully vaccinated + boosted & attending
Fully vaccinated + scheduled to get boosted & attending
I have only received 1 shot but I am scheduled to receive my 2nd shot at least 2 weeks before the wedding date
Not vaccinated & not attending
Wedding Website. You can also place wording regarding vaccination requirements at your wedding on your wedding website. This can be in addition to placing it on your wedding invitations. If you would like it to be on your website only, place the link to your wedding website on your wedding invitations. Make sure you have an “FAQ” page on your website and place your request for vaccination at the very top with any other Covid related questions. You can also place your messaging on the front page of your website.
Email Updates. In this covid wedding planning world, we highly recommend having regular email updates. You can sign up for a free account via Mailchimp to make email communication easy. You can upload all of your guest’s emails and create amazing emails using their templates. You can have an email devoted to Covid safety practices with your vaccination requirement messaging. It can include frequently asked questions, it can link to CDC safety guidelines, it can also link to your wedding website.
How Do I Get Proof that my Guests are Vaccinated?
If the tools above don’t work for you and you want physical proof that your guests are telling the truth about their vaccination status in order to be invited to your wedding, there is a great website called Crowd Pass that allows you to securely manage and track your guests. You can learn more here. You can sign up for a fee and add the link to the site to your website and email messaging.
What Do I Say to a Guest Who is Not Vaccinated?
If you are dealing with a guest who replies with “I am not vaccinated” and expresses an interest in attending still, we recommend that you contact them and have a discussion voice to voice. You don’t need to go into why they aren’t vaccinated as this can cause conflict and debate. You can simply request that they get their vaccination in time for the wedding date. (They will need to have a 2 week window after their last shot before the wedding.) You can let them know that you are not allowing anyone who is not vaccinated at your event. If they refuse you will need to let them know they cannot attend. This may be a difficult, but after all, it is your safety and health that is at stake.
Other Frequently Asked Wedding Invitation Practices
When should I send my wedding invitations out? We recommend that you send your invitations out no later than 8 weeks or 2 months before your wedding date. For more on this, here is a great article that gives you lots of tips on wedding invitation mistakes!
When should I have the RSVP deadline for my wedding? We recommend that you set an RSVP deadline for 1 month before your wedding date. This will allow you 2 solid weeks before your guest count deadlines are due for your caterer and florist.
What if I don’t want children at my wedding? How do I word this on my invitations? You can place this on your invitations and/or your website. “We are requesting that our celebration is an Adults Only affair” or “Our wedding celebration is Adult’s only. Here are some great resources to find your support for your children if you are coming in from out of town.” “We love your little ones, but this is a strictly adults-only event.”
I don’t want to invite a plus one for everyone at my wedding. How do I word this on my wedding invitations? On your RSVP card or your wedding website you can address the guest’s names. List two people if you are inviting two people “Katie Rouse and Caryn Smith” or list just the one guest“Rose Hernandez”. If you don’t know who is going to attend and you want to give a guest a plus one, you can write their name “Rose Hernandez + Guest” Here is a great article on wedding guest invitation and plus one etiquette. In short, we recommend that you give plus ones to everyone if it works with your budget. If not, then you should give everyone in your wedding party a plus one and anyone who is in a long term committed relationship.
My wedding is non-traditional. We aren’t doing formal seating. How do I explain this to guests? You can place the timeline of events on your wedding website. You can also build this into your program on the day of the event via the wedding ceremony program or a fabulous poster on an easel that you place at the top of cocktail hour by your escort cards or seating chart. This kind of wedding is also called a “New Orleans” style reception if you want to give it a name and reference. In New Orleans, there aren’t seated dinners - just a party with cocktail style seating!
We are wedding planners based in Chicago and Miami. We plan weddings around the country as well! We have navigated wedding planning throughout the pandemic and beyond. If you have any other questions regarding wedding planning or etiquette feel free to CONTACT US for a complimentary consultation!