Most weddings incorporate both tradition and new trends that are both fashionable and stylish. Essential wording has stayed pretty much the same when it comes to wedding invitation protocol, but with destination weddings, and the amount couples paying for their own wedding nowadays, the protocol sometimes necessitates some creative changes. Weddings are the one time in your life that it is more than proper to follow certain wedding invitation protocols. Your invitation is the fine line of contact between you and your wedding guests and you want to make sure it tells the complete story of your wedding day. Finding the invitation can be easy, if you look for something that shows the atmosphere of the wedding, whether it is a themed wedding, black tie event, or the ever popular destination wedding. The wedding invitation protocol suggests that you should include certain information within your invitation. This information would include: The name of the parents hosting the wedding The name of the bride and groom (with the bride’s name listed first) The date and time of the wedding The address of the wedding The time and address of the reception Whether the reception will be a full meal or just drinks and dancing Appropriate attire When designing your invitation you should know that you need to leave enough time for them to be printed. You can expect to wait anywhere from a few days to 3 months to be printed out, so it is best to order them with plenty of advance notice. They should be mailed out at least six to eight weeks ahead of time, to give your guests plenty of time to plan for your big day. Traditionally it is the parents of the bride that send out the invitations and their address should be the return address that is shown on the outer envelopes of the invitation and the RSVP card. This is the case, even if the cost is shared by both the parents and the couple as well. If you are paying for it strictly by yourself, or this is a second wedding, it is perfectly acceptable to put your own return address on the envelope. You should never send out your invitations through email. It is insulting to the guests and really does not do your day justice as it should. You should also follow the wedding invitation protocol that says you should under no circumstance include information where you are registered for gifts. That should be reserved for an insert or a follow up card.