Browse the Chicago area's premiere wedding venues and services
• Bachelor, Bachlorette, Rehearsals & Showers• Beauty-Makeup, Salons, Spas, Fitness
• Bridal Accessories
• Bridal Gowns
• Bridal Registries
• Bridal Shows
• Cakes, Confections & Desserts
• Catering
• Ceremony Sites
• Dance Instruction
• Decor & Linen Rental
• Entertainment
• Event Planners
• Flowers
• Formal Wear - Men
• Formal Wear - Women
• Gifts & Favors
• Home Furnishings
• Honeymoons & Travel
• Hotels & Inns
• Housewares
• Invitations
• Music, Instrumental, DJ's
• Photo Booths
• Photographers
• Receptions - Wedding
• Transportation
• Videographers
• Wine & Spirits
Internet Invitations
Paper's still the go-to medium for the big event, but for pre-wedding events, the Web seems to work
E-mailed invitations have become the domain of birthday parties, backyard barbecues and potluck dinners, but they've also slowly won over the wedding crowd as couples-to-be turn to the digital tool for engagement parties, bridal showers and bachelor/bachelorette parties.
Electronic invitations offer a host of compelling arguments for their use, most notably their free cost or minimal expense for premium designs. They also provide ease in this Internet age for guests who spend more time online than off and gratify supporters of the eco-consciousness movement, who encourage shrinking paper usage. As a result, online invitation sites, such as Evite, the leader in the industry, along with newer startups such as Pingg, MyPunchbowl and Socializr are offering more sophisticated designs and options for this niche. The Pingg Web site lists wedding-themed designs in bold hues of magenta and orange with elegant images showing a floral bouquet in a bride's hand.
"In the last three years, I'm seeing our clientele use the Internet more and more," says Christine Baumgartner, who owns The Perfect Day wedding consultancy in Laguna Niguel, Calif. "People are using it for convenience and it's much easier to track a guest list."
The online services also help build excitement. Sites such as Evite can post all the invited guests and their responses, so partygoers can get a peek at who's attending the event.
"They satisfy curiosity ahead of time," Baumgartner says. "You can find out who's coming, who they're bringing and make a comment or two with your RSVP."
Etiquette experts suggest brides e-mail their invites at least four weeks in advance of the event, a guideline similar to sending out paper invitations. The cushion allows for the chance that guests may be on vacation or out of town or may not be an online junkie, especially older family members.
Those first-movers ready to take the plunge with electronic wedding invitations can look to sites such as www.myinvitationlink.com, which offers package rates that include save the date cards, invitations and announcements. But, manners mavens seem to chafe at the idea of using digital invites for such upper-crust affairs. They argue that going analog is still the best way to preserve the integrity of the event. Even Miss Manners cringes at the notion of including a couple's Web site address on a traditional invitation, noting in her archive that "... it does not belong on a formal invitation or even in the same envelope. Guests who accept the formal invitation may be sent this, or be notified about where to find it, in that most informal means of communication, the e-mail."
Adds Baumgartner: "It just dilutes the wedding. I think that what's wonderful, special and spiritual to the wedding could be lost. The whole feeling of an e-mailed invitation is a light-hearted event. How can you switch gears?"
Copyright © CTW Features
