Wording Wedding Invitiations

Momma Kettle and I working out wedding invitation wording. It took a whole night of sitting at the dining room table at her house. We bugged Daddy Kettle, Mr. Kettle, and both Mima and Poppa Kettle about spellings for the invitation. But we got it worked out.

I know she and I are both very particular about certain things, but I really didn't think it would take that long. Naive and foolish I was. I want to go over what we came up with, without revealing our actual wording, of course. And I need your help hive.

Host Line

Image of host line on invitation via Epiphany Events edited by me

People choose all sorts of ways to do this part of the invitation. My parents are paying for the whole wedding, so they're names are definitely going on the host line, but Mima and Poppa Kettle are helping out financially and so many other ways that they're going on the invite too. It was a pretty easy decision as it's been important to all of use since the engagement was official to be all in it together and really join together as a family.

Reception Card

Reception card image via custompaper.com

Our ceremony and reception are going to be in the same place, requiring no travel. We figure that's best since our wedding is in Illinois in February. So, we decided not to have a reception card. It would be a waste of money and paper.

RSVP Cards

Image via Photocard Chef

This RSVP card is lovely, but it's far too simple for our needs with our wedding. We have to give people a date to RSVP by otherwise they won't bother (our engagement party showed us me that). We have to tell them how many seats are reserved for their household so they don't bring extra guests who won't have food at the reception.

We have to have lines for them to write out the names of all attending guests since... ahem... we don't actually know how to spell all the names of invited guests (like some of Mr. Kettle's cousins' kids... and some significant others of my cousins...). We also have to have them choose a food selection so we know what to order. Having an exact food order will make a difference of up to $1000 in price for reception food, so We.Need.To.Know!

And lastly, I really want some cute and fun wording for the RSVPs or to leave a space for guests to write notes. I've seen it in so many bee invitations and I want it! But how do I make that fit on an already overstuffed card? I've hand-drawn the basics for you to see what I'm visualizing. I apologize for the crappy blackberry phone, but I had no other options at the time of this post.

Personal extra crappy photo. I tried to adjust the photo so you could see it better. You can get the basics, right?

1. So I need something better than Accept/Decline, but I don't have a lot of room for extra words. I want something clever. This is where you come in hive. I need suggestions that are fun, but not so cheeky that Momma Kettle and Mr. Kettle veto them immediately. Please help!

2. Yes, we really do need that many lines. Most of our households have at least 4 people in them, and several have more. 4 was splitting the difference. None of us are going to make hundreds of phone calls to track these people down for name spelling. And we need it so we have it for once and all. Also, we have to have a seating chart, which means place cards, which means we need lines for names.

3. What should I put on the back? Should I leave room for notes? How about a drawing? How should I word my request that I want people to get creative with their responses? Will it be overkill since I'm requesting something similar for our guestbook at the wedding?

Hive, I know you can help me. You will save me from myself and my desires that don't have a creative support.