Adventure Wedding Invitation Wording | Tips for Adventurous Brides
Welcome to our blog series on Tips for Adventurous Brides! Today’s topic: adventure wedding invitation wording. So you’ve decided to incorporate a little more adventure into your wedding day, rain or shine? Below we discuss what to include and what to consider when sharing that little detail with your friends and family… whether you’re inviting them or not! Stay tuned for more tips such as adventure readings and quotes and don’t miss our FREE e-guide: Prioritize your planning so your wedding is a memorable adventure.
The question’s been popped. The ring is on your finger. Congratulations!! You’re thrilled, as are all of your friends and family… who are now {not so} patiently awaiting the details surrounding your big day.
So what’s next?
You could always go the traditional route of “Father and Mother of the bride… would be delighted at your presence….at the wedding of their daughter….”. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a classic and traditional wedding invitation. It’s probably what your parents did, after all.
Unless you don’t consider yourselves to be a “classic and traditional” couple (or like your parents).
If you are the type of couple who would rather spend their Saturday morning scaling a 14er than chatting over mimosas at brunch (or if you do like brunch but still don’t want your nuptials to fit the mold of every other wedding ever), a cookie-cutter invitation just won’t do.
You can make your invitations as unique as you want, but you should make sure to hit on these main points (they still apply) so your guests know what the heck is going on (and make sure to scroll all the way down for some of our favorite unique and adventurous invites):
Your guests need to know who the heck is getting married.
Obviously to you, your wedding is the most important wedding this year (see also: ever), but chances are most of your guests have a fridge covered in invites, and although your wedding is also important to them, a big and bold reminder of whose ceremony falls on which day would be appreciated.
Give credit where credit is due.
- If the wedding is being hosted by your parents, make sure your invite reflects that.
- If the wedding is being hosted by your partner’s parents, make sure your invite reflects that.
- If the wedding being hosted by you as a couple, as well as your parents, (you guessed it) make sure your invite reflects that. (You can see great examples of all of these at the bottom of this post.)
It’s important to make sure that whoever may be helping you put on your big day knows that they are appreciated, and including them in your invitation is a great way to do that.
Tell your guests when and where to be to witness your big day.
This one may seem obvious, but often in the excitement and chaos of planning details can be left out—and the last thing you want is for people to be calling you hours before you say “I do” to ask for directions. Giving people a clear time, date, and location (bonus points if you include an insert with directions to your venue) for your great aunt who doesn’t understand Google maps) will save you valuable time and sanity.
Let guests know what they can expect.
- Will you and your partner have a quick outdoor ceremony, and then dance and drink the night away with your guests?
- Should guests wear hiking boots to be able to comfortably climb up to your cliff-side ceremony?
- Will dinner be served, or just a cocktail hour?
- Should your guests be warned about just how adventurous your nuptials will be (is your location not for those afraid of heights, or those who don’t love trudging through snowbanks)?
Once again, letting people in on the order of the day will save you a great deal of headaches (and texting, emails, and phone calls from people you really do not have time to talk to right now because you’re planning a flippin’ wedding).
Give them their next steps.
Chances are, you don’t have enough space on your invite to tell people whether they should dress casually or formally (or bring their carabiners), whether you registered at Target or REI, whether they should bring their kids or not, what’s on the menu, where in town they can stay, blah, blah, blah. And, if you want to go green and don’t want your guests wasting valuable postage and paper, having them RSVP by mailing back an insert probably isn’t your speed, either (not to mention people tend to take their sweet time doing this, and you want your guest list like yesterday). And somehow, in all of this, you’re also supposed to give guests a space to fill in their preference of chicken or fish, and their dietary restrictions? If you want to send a literal novel to each of your guests and hope they finish reading your invite before your actual wedding, be our guests. But if not…
This is where a link to your personal wedding website will come in handy. The thought of building a website may seem daunting—but with site builders like WeddingWire.com, WithJoy.com, and MyWedding.com, creating your own personalized site to give your guests all of the information they might need and a spot to RSVP is easy and fun. With customizable templates and backgrounds, your site can perfectly reflect your style and personality.
P.S. We do understand the merit and fun of having guests mail back a written RSVP—we still love getting snail mail, too! You can include both an electronic and snail mail RSVP option for the ease of your guests (for those who are tech savvy, and your great aunt Bertha).
But wait… what if they’re not invited?
If you’re having an adventure wedding then there’s a possibility that NO ONE is invited to you ceremony. Or maybe you’re limiting it to just your immediate family.
While some of us dream of celebrating our lifelong commitment with all of our friends and family present (see also: your childhood friend’s hair dresser’s aunt), some imagine their vows being a little more intimate and private—and that’s okay. After all, only three people really need to be at your nuptials—and that’s you, your partner, and the person licensed to marry you.
If you and your partner happen to fall into the second category, you may need to tread lightly when it comes to the feelings of those close to you—but you also shouldn’t feel the need to justify to others why you want to keep this very intimate moment for yourselves. If you’re worried about it, you can avoid the turbulent waters of upsetting friends and family with just a few rules of thumb below:
- For those who you are close enough with that you’d be hurt if you found out that they were engaged, pregnant, etc. via social media, maybe a phone call is in order. Give them a call and explain to them that you decided to keep your ceremony small and intimate, but they mean the world to you and an invite is heading their way for the reception. (Even if you don’t plan on having a large reception, it’s never a bad idea to hold a small celebration so that those not included in the ceremony can still commemorate your union in some capacity and feel that they were important enough to you to be a part of it.)
- For everyone else, a succinct, yet lighthearted and to-the-point invite to the reception will be sure to make them smile. Who can get mad at “you’re not invited to our super small and private ceremony, but you’re one of the precious few we would like to celebrate with afterwards”? People will typically respond better to knowing that while you and your partner prefer to keep your mushy moments a little more private, you still thought of them and think they should be a part of your big day in some way.
- Finally, the age-old rule still applies: treat people how you would want to be treated. When treading the rough seas of trying not to step on anyone’s feelings, your best ally is your gut. If you feel that someone may feel hurt and left out with just an email or an invitation to the after party be sure to spend a little extra time and attention letting them know that even though you chose to keep this part of your life private, you still love and appreciate the crap out of them.
Examples:
And now, finally, here are some great examples of simple, yet totally not boring, adventure wedding invitation wording that help set expectations.
If you’re style is more trail than aisle:
And so the adventure begins…
Please join us in celebrating the union of
Girl Smith and Guy Jones
Date Time
Address
City State
Reception to follow
Gear list, fitness test, and RSVP: www.smithjonesadventure.com
These next two are courtesy of: A Thousand Threads: Wedding Invitation Working that Doesn’t Suck Check it out for more great examples.
If you want to set expectations:
no church, no aisle, no chairs…
just two crazy people in a field
vowing to each other a lifetime
of dirty jokes and random misadventures
please join us as we commit ourselves!
SOMETIME
SOMEDAY
SOMEPLACE
Visit our website for more information!
SOME WEBSITE
If you’re tossing the rule book out the window add this on:
Guests are encouraged to dress creatively and comfortably. Please keep in mind that we are planning an outdoor ceremony. High heels and uncomfortable formal wear are not recommended.
For more tips on wedding invitation wording check out this article Offbeat Bride.
Adventure wedding invitation wording:
In summary, your adventure wedding invitation wording should include some of the same guidelines as any invitation with a little extra focus on a few areas:
-
Who is getting married?
-
Who is hosting?
-
When and where?
-
What to expect? Exactly how adventurous do they need to be? Should they prepare for altitude? Conquer their fear of heights? Purchase bear spray?
-
What are the next steps to follow or prepare for? Should they dress casually, formally, or bring their carabiners? How do they RSVP or find out more?
*Or… maybe you’re not inviting anyone and you need to consider an announcement instead. Get creative, show your personality, and demonstrate why you chose to have an adventure wedding instead of planning something more traditional.
There ya have it, tons of tips and examples to make your wedding invite one that definitely will not be booted from the front and center spot of your guests’ refrigerators! A great invite is key to starting your celebration off right, and getting your guests ready for whatever level of adventure you have planned. Next up, write your nature inspired wedding vows!
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Stay tuned for more tips for adventurous brides! You can also view more of our current and most popular wedding planning advice. If there’s a question we can answer, reach out. Most of our content is built from questions from our readers.
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We are Marc and Brenda Bergreen, a husband and wife photography team specializing in outdoor weddings and other adventures. Capturing people in nature and the mountain lifestyle is a passion that became a dream that became a life.
Based in Evergreen, CO we travel throughout the state as Colorado adventure wedding photographers. We also frequently travel to California and other wedding destinations to document love and adventure in a variety of memorable settings. Don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know how we can help! Be sure to follow us (weddings instagram & adventures instagram) and/or like us (facebook) to stay tuned.
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