This is a digital age—there’s no doubt about it. Some people say that print media is dead. Although this is not necessarily true, it’s difficult to argue that the advancement of technology and the rampant use of social media has not made huge changes in the way people interact with one another. If there’s one area where this is quite obvious, it’s with wedding invitations. It has become quite popular—and useful—for engaged couples to create wedding websites and event pages to make it easier for guests to access important wedding information. Does this mean it is no longer necessary to send out physical wedding invitations to physical addresses? Not really. There are still some very strong reasons to order those beautiful wedding invitations and mail them out with one of those gorgeous engagement photos.
Not Everyone Uses Social Media
Everyone who is anyone has a social media account somewhere, right? Wrong! You might think that everyone you know has an account, but there’s still bound to be one person who doesn’t. If that person happens to be someone important in your life, then restricting your invites to the Internet is going to exclude them and lead to them, or you, or both of you feeling quite bad about it.
It’s Easy for Updates, Event Invites, and Even Tags to Get Overlooked
Even if everyone you know and their cats and dogs have a social media account, that doesn’t mean they are actively engaged on the network. Or, even if they are actively engaged on social media, that doesn’t mean that they will see your post or that ridiculously tiny icon that says they have an invite to an event. Even if you tag specific people to make sure they see the event or post, that doesn’t guarantee they will see it.
You might think that the risks are just the same if you mail out a physical invitation, but at least you’ve covered your bases by doing so. In fact, why not go all out and make sure your guests are notified through both regular mail and social media? That way you’re able to show that you are making your best effort to notify the important people in your life.
Over-Sharing Gets Quickly Annoying
While it’s fairly common these days to use tools on social networks to inform people about your wedding, over-sharing and clogging up feeds with your wedding stuff can quickly get annoying—and maybe even lead to some unfriending. If you must share on social media, at least do your friends and family the kindness of keeping it to an event page rather than updating your status two or more times a day for the next year.
Paper Invitations Show Thoughtfulness
When your friends or family members receive a physical wedding invitation in the mail, they know that you thought of them. You took the time to find out their address and write it down or print an address label for the envelope. Many recipients of your invitation are likely to hang the card somewhere visible as a constant reminder that the big day is approaching. The sending of a physical invitation is a thoughtful gesture that usually does not go unappreciated.
Paper Invitations Give Some Guests Ideas
Yes, it’s possible to create beautiful digital invitations that look just like paper ones and send them out. Did you ever stop to think that monitor settings could alter the look of your invitation, especially the colors, when people view it from their computers? It might not seem like a big deal, but some guests tend to use the colors and theme of an invitation to plan on what to wear or even create a gift. At least with a physical invitation, you can ensure everyone is seeing the same color. Unless they’re color-blind, but that’s beside the point.
Physical Invitations Are a Great Reminder of Your Big Day
It might at first seem like the invitations are strictly for the sake of your guests. That’s not entirely false. However, your invitations are for you as well. If you plan on creating a scrapbook or retaining memories of this special time in your life, you will probably end up keeping some of your invitations. Somehow, the keeping of a digital invitation or an event page is not quite the same as beholding a physical invitation with your own eyes or holding it in your hands.
It’s understandable that in a digital age, many young couples are turning to social media for the dissemination of pertinent information regarding their wedding day. However, print media is not dead, especially when it comes to such important occasions. Whether or not you decide to utilize social network tools to inform people about your engagement and wedding, there are many compelling reasons to also send out a physical wedding invitation. Do yourself and your guests a favor by sending out a physical invite. You’re not likely to regret it.
Photo courtesy of proposaltomarriage.com.
Bryan Passanisi is online marketer and writer living in Redwood City, CA. He graduated from The University of San Francisco with his Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. Bryan has managed a popular wedding blog and has created viral content. He currently is a blogger for Shutterfly.
