Going to the chapel...

In honor of my younger brother getting engaged this weekend, I have decided to dedicate this week's posts to wedding etiquette. I actually had a question posed to me about a wedding the other day and I thought these posts might be helpful in some different situations. Please accept my apologies if any of this week's posts are offensive or shocking. I am simply guided by traditional etiquette, of course realizing that there are many acceptable forms of behavior for events such as these. Thank you.

RSVP- this is a French abbreviation for Respondez s'il vous plait (Respond if you please- literally translated). This obligates the invitee to accept or decline the invitation. This is not only true of weddings of course, but any time you see this on an invitation or send one out, you should expect a response from the invited parties. There is generally a date given for weddings when the invitee must respond by, this is so the wedding food and other preparations can be made to include you, should you attend. RSVP's should not be optional. I have, for informal events, placed "RSVP- regrets only" to help relieve my guests of the pressure of replying should they choose to come, but this is not usually the case for weddings, especially if there is a dinner or limited seating involved.

Invitation mistakes to avoid:

• Spelling errors- check your list thrice!
• No mention of gifts or listing of gift registries. Also, don't include "No gifts please".
• If you don't want children, don't invite them, the only people invited to the wedding are the persons who's names are listed in the inside envelope- for formal invitations, or on the outside envelope for informal invitations. (It is not accepted to say "No Children" or "Adults only").
  
• Dress notations are not to be included on wedding invitations unless the ceremony and reception are combined. You may however, indicate "Black tie" or "White tie" on the lower right corner of the invitation.
• References to food and drink are not included in the invitations, although food choices may be mentioned on reply cards.

On a personal note: Congratulations to my brother and his sweet fiancee. I love them both dearly and my brother is very special to me, I am thrilled for both of them.