Evening reception wedding invites. Yes, they’re different to your ‘main’ or wedding day invitations. Why? Because they only go to those guests that you want to join you for the evening reception or party. When I meet couples at my studio they often have lots of questions about evening reception invites, so I’ve addressed some of those in this blog post. From how many you need, to whether you should include an RSVP and how much detail to put in there. I hope you find it useful.

1. Who gets an evening reception wedding invite?
Let’s be absolutely clear about this, it’s just those guests that you are asking to come to the evening party. Your guests that will be there for the wedding ceremony and reception do not need an evening invitation as well. Here’s an example:
You plan to have 60 guests at your wedding ceremony, followed by the wedding breakfast.
You’re having a total of 150 guests at your evening party.
That’s an extra 90 guests for the evening. It’s this 90 who will need an evening reception invite.
Now read the next paragraph carefully – you won’t need 90 invitations!
2. How many evening reception invites will you need?
Remember the golden rule, you’ll need one per couple or household not one per guest. So for those 90 guests that we talked about you’ll probably need 50 to 60 evening reception invitations. Experience has taught me that your evening guest list will usually include more singles than larger family groups, so the number is likely to be more than half the total guests. Always include a good number of spares too. Numbers for your evening party are likely to be a little more ‘flexible’ than those for the day, and you will almost definitely find yourself making some last minute additions to the guest list.

3. When should you send evening reception invites?
Many couples send them out at the same time as their ‘main’ ceremony invites. You can either do this, or you can wait and send your evening invites a little closer to the time. It’s completely up to you. Your guests are less likely to need to book time off work to attend an evening celebration. But his does of course depend on what they do for a living. Use your own judgement and send them when you think is best.
Click here for tips on when to send your evening reception invites
4. Do you need an RSVP with evening invites?
Yes, absolutely. You should always ask your guests to respond to let you know whether or not you can make it. You’ll need to have a good idea of numbers for catering if nothing else. You don’t need to include a separate reply card though. A simple line printed at the bottom of the card saying RSVP by ‘date’ to ‘email’ or ‘phone’ is perfectly acceptable.

5. Do evening invites need all the info that the day invites do?
In general, no your evening invites can be a much more simple design. Your guests really just need to know the date, time, venue and how to reply. If you think it would be helpful you can also give them a few extra details such as accommodation suggestions, recommended local taxi companies or information about any transport you might be putting on. I often recommend a simple flat card invitation, with a design based on your day invitations. If you need to include a little extra information, you can just slot an extra details card in with it or have the back printed (depending on the design)
So there you go. 5 things you absolutely need to know about evening wedding reception invites. You only need them for those extra guests coming to the evening party, don’t forget the ‘one invite per couple’ rule, you can send them at the same time as your day invites – or a little later if you wish. They generally won’t need as much info as the day guests, so a simplified version is great, do remember to include the RSVP details though.
If you’re ready to get in touch and have a chat about your wedding and evening reception invitations, you can book a call or studio meeting with me here. I’m always happy to talk through the options available, give you guidance on what style and design would work best and help you with wording.
Ready to find out more, book a studio visit, or arrange a call with me?
If you’re looking for some evening reception wedding invite inspiration, go check out my Pinterest board.
My evening reception wedding invites board on Pinterest
Want to find this post again later? Pin this image to your wedding planning board.
