MASTER THE ART OF ADDRESSING YOUR WEDDING INVITATION – PART 3

Welcome back to day 2 of the quick 3 day step by step process of mastering your address list. Let’s get to work.

Today we are going to add several useful fields to your address list so that it becomes both an address list for sending off your wedding invitation and a checklist for the follow up tasks. After all, this is one of your first assets as Mr. and Mrs. Blissfully Wedded.

Before we proceed, were you able to come up with 5 or more names from yesterday's exercise? You deserve a pat on the back for that. Next, we add 2 sets of info to our address label - events and relationships. Which event are the guests invited and what is their relationship to you.

So for events column, go ahead and add the following labels:  "Save the Date"  "Invitation"  "RSVP"  "Thank You". Optional fields that could be added are Bridal Shower, Bachelorette etc

How are they connected to you? One or six degree of separation? It is important, critical really, that you identify your relationship with each guest and you'll see why. You wouldn't dream of addressing Aunt Sally as ‘hey’ would you? Meaning, some relationships are formal while others are casual.  Let's add an additional field to the address label to sort the list for future use. It helps weed to out those perfunctory invites from the BFF relationships. So, let’s add the following fields: "Relationship"  "Email"   "Mobile"  "Home". A few useful labels but not required for this project are birthdays, anniversary. These optional fields are those that will make your list a valuable treasure years after your wedding.  For now, your list should look something like this:

For practice purposes, go ahead and populate the new fields as well. Tomorrow, we will merge the field to a mailing label ready to peel and affix to an envelope.

Mastering the art of addressing your wedding invitation is part of a series, please check back tomorrow as we merge the fields in our address list to a label. If there is a field you need for your event, go ahead, add it. It’s your list. As I have stated, there is more that one way to perform any task. The goal of this series is to show you how to create a  list that can be reused for years to come.

If you cannot wait for the entire series, send me an email, let’s take care of your need right away. If you find the information in this blog useful, please consider sharing with everyone you know.

Thanks for reading. I hope to see you tomorrow.

Master the art of addressing your wedding invitation - Part 2

You came back? Great!

Let's get started with a quick 3 day, step by step process of becoming a master at creating and address lists and labels. Follow along as this is one of the easy, useful and manageable ways to create and maintain a great address list you would be proud of. Ready?

At first glance one would think an address consists of the name, address, city, state and zip. Well ...  yes and no. On paper ... Yes In software speak ... No.

Since we are going to use a software, we focus on turning that No into Awesome. To create that awesome list, it is necessary to understand that your software reads everything as a field and pulls the content.

To achieve an addressed envelope that looks like this: Mr. & Mrs. James Love 1234 Lovelace Street Suite 2002 Friendship, AR  71942

The address list setup could look something like this: Title   Name   Address1    Address2    City     State    Zip

I recommend using an Excel spreadsheet or similar software to make sorting a breeze in the future. Since this is fairly simple to do, and you are going to master this list, lets start with an assignment. 1. Enter each of the list fields above in your spreadsheet, one label per column so it looks something like this:

1. Start your very own mailing list using the labels above.
2. Enter 5 names. You do know 5 people don’t you? You don’t? Here’s a hint, start with your name, the groom, your parents, the groom's parents, all the girls in your bridal party, all the groomsmen… see how easy it is to come up with 5 names.
3. If you're on a roll, don't stop, please continue populating your list with your guest list.

Tomorrow is day 2 of the quick 3 day step by step process. We will add additional fields and populate each field. On day 3, we will create a mail merge and print to a label.

Mastering the art of addressing your wedding invitation is part of a series, please check back tomorrow as we add more useful fields to our address list. If there is a field you need for your event, go ahead, add it. It's your list. As I have stated, there is more that one way to perform any task. The goal of this series is to show you how to create a  list that can be reused for years to come.

If you cannot wait for the entire series, send me an email, let’s take care of your need right away. If you find the information in this blog useful, please consider sharing with everyone you know.

Thanks for reading.

Master the art of addressing your wedding invitation

 

Have you ever been faced with how you're going address all your wedding invitations? And its not just the invitations, it is the save the date, invitation, rsvp cards, bridal shower, thank you cards, and the list goes on and on. So was the wonderful client I am working with. The thought of addressing all those envelopes were daunting but it does not have to be. I came up with a game plan I'd love to share with you.

If your guest list is over 25, you need to create a guest list using either a word processor or a spreadsheet. I recommend a spreadsheet and I'll show you why later. Using our example of 5 sets of envelopes and labels (save the date, invitation, rsvp cards, bridal shower and thank you cards) multiplied by 25 guests, that is 125 envelopes. You wouldn't dream of not sending Thank You cards after your wedding, right? Good. Just checking!  And before you breathe a sigh of relief, don't forget your reply address. So, using our example add 125 reply addresses, that's a whooping 250 addresses.

What’s a bride and groom to do? Option 1: Hire a calligrapher to pen beautiful swirls and turn your envelopes into an elegant work of art. Option 2: Hire a small business to perform the task. Write a check and you are done. Or, Option 3: The topic of our blog, do it yourself.

If you're working on a budget as most events often do, roll up your sleeves, and create something you would be proud of.  It takes some initial work but it pays dividend in the end. What started as a guest list can turn into your baby-announcement, we-have-moved, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New-Year, just because-party-invitation list. Not to talk about family-reunions, backyard-barbecue, Super-bowl, March-madness, fill in your favorite sport championship here and you get the idea guest list.

I consider the list one of your first set of joint assets as a couple. Who knew? A guest list? Done right, you’d be amazed at the power of a great list. I mean, this is a list of folks who actually want to hear from you and not trash it. Ask corporate America what a good list means, but I digress, back to issue at hand, addressing your wedding envelopes.

To gain control of the of addressing task as a do it yourself (diy) project, how about you create an address list, whip up a mail merge, print on label and voila! You’re the proud owner of a list of addresses that can be peeled and affixed to your envelopes once it’s ready.

Huh? An address list? A mail merge? In the midst of planning a wedding? It’s not as complicated as you think, I’m here to hold your hand.

Mastering the art of addressing your wedding invitation is part of a series, so check back on Tuesday as I give you a simple, 3 day, step by step process of becoming a master at creating address lists and labels. We will focus specifically on creating the 'labels' for the address list and have a take home assignment. It is simple and fun. If you have an immediate need and cannot wait for the entire series, send me an email, let’s see how we can take care of your address list.

Did you find this information useful? Please consider sharing with everyone you know.

Thanks for reading.