Sending Engagement Announcement Cards - Guide on Basic Steps

Need ideas and tips for sending out engagement announcement cards?

Congratulations! You just got engaged to be married, one of the biggest moments of your life to date!

While wedding locations, songs, venues, and caterers are running through your head, make sure you take time to make up some announcement cards to mail out. It's a really great idea to send these little things out, because it lets people know about your exciting news and also gives them a heads up to be expecting a wedding invitation in the near future.

Engagement announcement cards can also be used as a "Save-the-Date" card, so you may want to wait until you've got your venues booked and a date reserved for your wedding, so you can include that on the engagement announcement card, as well. This way, your family, friends, and colleagues will have plenty of time to clear out their calendars for your big day.

When you're preparing for a wedding, you're definitely going to be booking a photographer. Oftentimes, photographers' wedding portrait packages include an engagement sitting, as well. If there isn't one included in your package, ask if your photographer would be willing to do a basic sitting for the two of you at a discounted price.

On the day of your portrait sitting, choose outfits that complement each other, yet are not distracting. A simple idea are solid prints of the groom-to-be in a black button up and the bride-to-be in a soft white shirt or dress, sort of an allusion to the main event a few months down the road. And expect a few shots to feature that gorgeous engagement ring, so have it cleaned and shined up beforehand.

You're likely to be doing a few shots inside as well as a few outside, so be prepared to cope with a windy or rainy day if need be. Just relax and have fun. Your photographer is a professional and will do everything he or she can to make sure you're satisfied with the finished product.

After you are allowed to view the photos, be sure to also ask if he or she would be willing to sign a rights release, so that you may use selected images from your photo shoot in items such as your engagement announcement cards, newspaper announcements, wedding invitations, and favors. Most photographers will oblige to do so for free or a low price, and will send you a signed release that you'll need to prove you can reproduce these photos at most stores that print photo products.

Now that you've got the photographer's permission to display his work proudly on an announcement, you can get to work on your engagement announcement cards. You'll need to figure out how you want to word your news, and what information to be including on your engagement announcement cards.

You'll definitely want to say both of your full names (first and last will suffice), that way, if you're sending an invitation to one of your teachers from years ago, they're more likely to remember you! Make sure you mention that you're engaged - it seems obvious, but you really never know.

If you're using it as a save-the-date reminder as well, you will need to include the date of your wedding. It's also a smart idea to include the wording, "wedding invitation to follow".

That's what you need to include, and the engagement announcement cards can be mailed out as they are, or you could include a small love poem or romantic saying, like, "This day I will marry my best friend." If you have planned this far ahead, you could even tie in elements from your big day by using colors or song lyrics that will be featured then.

Now, you can order the finished products. Be sure to order a few more than you think you'll need, as it would be better to have a few that never get used than to possibly offend someone whom you overlooked.

At this point, you're done and ready to mail the engagement announcement cards out. Double check addresses to make sure that they're all current, and send them out on the same day. And, you're now free to move on to all of the other exciting, yet sometimes overwhelming, elements of planning your wedding.

Have fun and remember, just breathe!

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