Choosing What's Right For You: Paper Wedding Invitations Vs Online Wedding Invitations

If you live on social network sites or have experienced "texting thumbs" then you know how convenient modern technology makes it to get in touch with friends, family, and acquaintances. But when it comes to most important day of your life, is it okay to use an online invitation? Or, like generations before you, should you send traditional paper wedding invitations? Here are the pros and cons:

Dollars and Sense

Paper: From invites and encolsures to envelopes and mailings, paper wedding stationery can consume a reasonable chunk of your budget. In fact, according to The Bridal Association of America, the average couple puts down nearly $700 for invites. Budgeting brides can find this cost hard to swallow.

Online: Hands down, an online wedding invitation is more budget friendly. You can search online for free invitation templates, but that could be time consuming. If there aren't enough hours in the day to send invites and organize all of the replies, consider using an online wedding invitation service. These time-savers offer a variety of invitation templates, making it easy to find an invite to suit your theme. Many online wedding invite sites also provide RSVP tracking. Some services even allow you to attach maps or create an event page that guests can visit prior to the special day. Although most services charge a fee, it's small when compared to the cost of printing and mailing paper wedding invitations.

Miss Manners

Paper: From your Grandma May to your company CEO, paper wedding invitations are the only way to properly announces impending nuptials. Even the guardian angel of all things proper, the Emily Post Institute, frowns on sending email invites unless it's an emergency, such as a sudden overseas deployment for a member of the military.

Online: Send an electronic invitation and the etiquette "expert" in the family is likely to look down her nose in disapproval. However, friends and family might not be bothered (they might even be impressed) that you were tech-savvy enough to send e-invites.

Deliver it

Paper: Postal services can be remarkably efficient. Paper wedding invites can be forwarded if the recipient has moved, and, if there's no forwarding address the invite will be sent back to you, letting you know the guest lives elsewhere.

Online: Despite their advantages, online invitations have their snags. Email addresses change; messages get lost in a sea of spam. What's more is that not everyone uses the internet. If potential guests aren't connected, you'll need to find another way to invite them. Consider using handwritten notes or extending the invitation in person.

You can have your cake and eat it, too.

Brides can blend online invites with paper wedding invitations. For instance, email is ideal for save-the-date invitations--and professional etiquette experts actually approve of electronic save-the-date announcements. When it's time to send out the invite, go the traditional--and etiquette-approved--route by mailing paper wedding invitations. You can also combine the modern and the traditional by providing your email address to give guests the option to reply electronically.