How many invitations should I order??

How many households are you sending to? FH and I are inviting around 90 but only need 40 invitations.

I'm just kind of freaking out because the website that I wanted to use has a really really good sale today! I don't want to miss it!

Remember you are more than likely not sending an invite to every guest, wait till your guest list is completed and then segregate it by household and probably order 10 - 15 more invites for potential errors and you will probably like to keep one or two for keepsake.

Figure out how many households you need and then order for the guest list as it is today. You can always go back and order more if you need to (pending the template is still available), but at least you'll get the majority of them on sale today. What website are you ordering through? Our guest list is at 240 right now and we need 131.

It's okay to look at invitations, until you have your guest list finalized. Once that happens, order per household.

You really should have a guest list before ordering invitations. You do not send invites to every individual attending, just to each household. Without a guest list, you don't know how many households you have. Many websites have sales throughout the year so maybe hold off until you know who is coming.

Thanks ladies! I'm working on completing my guest lists! This is honestly one of my least favorite tasks of planning my wedding. I'm using Zazzle.com

It really doesn't matter how many people, only how many households. There could be a wedding with 150 people that needs more invites than a wedding with 300 if the bigger wedding has a lot of families with multiple kids and the smaller wedding has mainly single folks and couples. Add up your final guest list and then make a list with everyone sorted by household. That's the number you need. Personally, I'm a fan of ordering a few extras just in case something would happen. Like for example at the last minutes my father insisted on inviting just *one more* person. Maybe a parent or grandparents loses theirs and wants an extra to frame. I ordered a handful extra just so I didn't even have to think about if I would run out.

@reggie depends on family.

My fiance's family think I should send everyone over 18 a separate invite (couples receive one). I will NOT be doing that. I am sending a invite to every not married person over 30 and/or living in there own house lol. I will not send 4 invites to one address 3 of which are 18-21 going to college.

@Alana Deffinatly work on the guest list you dont have to send invites out till at least 3 months ahead of time

Well if they are adults they would be their own "household", at least how the word is often used here. It's not just one per address always.

Like a lot of people said, you need to look at the households after having your guest list. I would think that it doesn't need to be completelyyyy finalized, as in who can bring a plus one, etc. as long as you order some extra. And if it a place that may have the same styles for a while, you can get a little more than you think you need based on your approximate guest list you can order more (may be taking a chance). This may be more tacky, but worst case scenario if you order not enough, you can buy different ones for the rest (if absolutely necessary).

I'd put whatever tentative list you have into excel. Couples and families with minor children only need one invitation per coupling/group. People over 18, even if they live with their parents, should receive their own invitations. Then, count the number you need. I sent 72 for about 130 invitees; we had 100 exactly at the wedding.

Ditto what others said about people over 18 receiving their own invite.