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Haley
Expert October 2020

Addressing Save The Dates

Haley, on October 21, 2019 at 12:17 PM Posted in Etiquette and Advice 2 8

I know this has been asked a bunch but I haven't found the answers to my exact questions.


1. When addressing STD's to a family (husband, wife, kids or dad and kid or mom and kid if they're a single parent), do I address them "The Smith Family" or "Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, Tom, and Jane" or something else?


2. My FH dad is remarried and his wife did not take his last name, and she has a daughter who is not FFIL's with the same last name as her. The stepdaughter is over 18 but lives at home while she is in college. Should I send the STD to "Mr. Smith, Mrs. Doe, and Jane Doe" or "The Smith/Doe Family" or "Tom Smith, Janet Doe, and Jane Doe" or something else?


3. If you are inviting a couple where you are related to or only know one of them, do you put their boyfriend/girlfriend's name on the save the date? Or do you just wait until the invitation to indicate if they get a guest or their boyfriend is invited? Ex: I'm inviting my cousin but I know she lives with her boyfriend (who i've never met), do I send the STD to Jane Smith (and then the invite will say Jane Smith and John Doe) or send the STD to Jane Smith & John Doe?


4. If someone will be getting a +1, do you indicate that on the STD? (John Smith and Guest) or wait until the invitation to indicate they get a +1?


I think those are the only issues I've run into so far.

8 Comments

Latest activity by Kate, on October 21, 2019 at 3:52 PM
  • Caytlyn
    Legend November 2019
    Caytlyn ·
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    1.) "The Smith Family" would cover everyone in the household.

    2.) The adult child should receive her own save the date addressed to her by name.

    3.) If they're in a relationship, they should both be addressed on the save the date.

    4.) For single guests who are getting a plus one, you can choose to include "and guest" on the save the date or not, it's personal preference. We wanted our single guests to know that they could bring a date since many of them need to make travel accommodations and that will be easier if they know who exactly is coming. The only issue is, this locks you into giving them a guest and you can't really take it back.


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  • Haley
    Expert October 2020
    Haley ·
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    Thank you!

    So if 2 kids over 18 live with their parents, you should send 3 separate save the dates to that house?

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  • Caytlyn
    Legend November 2019
    Caytlyn ·
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    According to etiquette, yes. It could be a know your crowd thing. Most people wouldn't mind if you listed them as "The Smith Family," however, you will run into problems if those 18+ guests living at home have significant others.

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  • Haley
    Expert October 2020
    Haley ·
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    Ok cool. I feel like I'd think it was ok to send the STD to "The Smith Family" And then do individual invites?

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  • V
    Champion July 2019
    Veronica ·
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    I would keep it consistent rather than doing STDs one way and invitations another way. If they are over 18, then they should receive a separate STD and invitation.
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  • MrsD
    Legend July 2019
    MrsD ·
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    This is what we did, not saying it's traditional or proper etiquette:

    1. "The Smith Family"

    2. "Tom Smith, Janet Doe & Jane Doe"

    3. "John Smith & Jane Doe". We included all significant others for addressing.

    4. We didn't include "and guest" until the invites. Save the Dates just had the 1 name.

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  • Andrea
    Super May 2020
    Andrea ·
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    Agree 100% on all these.
    I had a couple cousins who I didn’t know their significant others last names so I just had my mom ask my aunt so i didn’t have to embarrass myself or them for not knowing.
    Everyone is getting a plus one to our wedding but I only addressed the STD’s to the friend or family member and will include “and guest” on their formal invitation.
    The most confusing verbage for me was my female cousin who is a Dr. and her husband is not. That’s a tricky one!
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  • Kate
    Devoted November 2019
    Kate ·
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    This website was a lifesaver for me:

    https://www.invitationsbydawn.com/content/inner-and-outer-envelopes/

    I didn't explicitly list out "and guest" on our save the dates. I saved that for the invitations. However, since we expected some people to go to our website after STDs went out, I added a note to the website that +1's would be designated on the formal invitations. I didn't get any questions about it.

    FH has a few cousins with 4-5 kids under the age of 10, where listing every family member would have taken up the entire envelope. For those, we listed the parents names "and children" on the inner envelope - for example, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and children.

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