* Be forewarned. Usually 7% to 10% of the guests who respond with a yes will not actually attend the wedding. Additionally, 20% to 30% won't make it to the reception. It can wreak havoc when budgeting for a sit down dinner. Instead you may want to consider a buffet style dinner.

* In some cases, you'll want to invite people to the ceremony, but not the reception or vice versa. If so, you will need two sets of invitations printed. One that comprises reception information and one that doesn't.

* If you don't receive a reply from some guests by your reply date, do not hesitate to call them.  This is important that you know how many are attending so you budget accordingly.

* If you decide to order invitations, be sure to do so at least 4 to 6 weeks before they are scheduled to be mailed. Planning on mailing your invitations around the 15th of March, order them between February 1st and 15th.

* Double, even triple check everything before it gets printed. It includes invitations, response cards, envelopes, wedding programs, etc. whether you’re doing them yourself or your having them professionally printed. Make sure for spelling errors especially.

* Always order extra invitation envelopes and response card envelopes. There will unavoidably be a few mistakes when addressing these and you’ll want to have a few extras on hand.

* You should mail your invitations at least 6 weeks before the wedding date and indicate that you would like a response at least 3 weeks before the wedding date. Thus if your wedding date is July 1st, mail your invitations by May 15th and ask that they respond by June 7th. It will give guests time to receive their invitations and reply by mail, which in turn, gives you time to firm up catering plans, seating arrangements, etc.

If your wedding is going to actually be held on a beach or other outdoor area, be sure that you let your guests know this, so they can dress appropriately.