Exactly What to Include in a Wedding Invitation Suite

It's easy to grasp the purpose of a wedding invitation, save-the-date and thank-you note, but what about the countless tiny cards that you can send along with these essential paper pieces? How do you identify what to include in a wedding invitation suite? What are the must-haves and the can-skips? Our expert editor, Kim Forrest, has the answers. Find out the exact anatomy *puts on professor glasses* of a wedding invitation suite (aka what shares an envelope with the bid to your bash) and how it differs from what's included in a wedding stationery suite (yes—note they're not the same). When you're done reading, head over to The Knot Invitations to grab everything on your wedding invitation checklist.

What to Include in Wedding Invitations:
Free, Printable Checklist | Traditional Elements | Optional Elements
Plus: What Not to Include in Wedding Invitations

Printable Wedding Invitation Suite Checklist

For quick and easy reference, we created this handy list of what's included in a wedding invitation suite, covering the essential elements and the optional add-ons. Don't forget to save it to your Pinterest.

Design: Tiana Crispino

Traditional Elements of What to Include in a Wedding Invitation Suite

"The wedding invitation suite refers only to the components of the wedding invitation itself (everything that goes in the envelope). Other paper items, like menus, thank-you cards, save-the-dates, etc. are considered part of the wedding stationery suite," says Forrest. Here's everything you need to squeeze into the envelope when you send guests their official bids.

Wedding Invitation

This is an obvious one. Your wedding invitation is your first line of defense when it comes to delivering important deets to guests. The info elements that fall into the what to include on wedding invitations category should cover the who, what, when and where of the nuptials.

RSVP Card

Even if you're asking your guests to RSVP online (or giving them the option to do so) and collecting responses on your wedding website, a paper RSVP card is a must when it comes to what should be included in a wedding invitation's envelope. A physical card will be helpful for guests that prefer not to fuss with anything on the web and you can even implement some fun RSVP wording ideas to show a little more personality if your invite has minimal text.

Details Card

Depending on how much space you have on the invite itself, a single additional details card can also make an appearance amidst the other must-have wedding invitation pieces. If you have enough room on the invitation card itself to include deets like your wedding website link, then you might not need one. But we're listing it here with the traditional elements to account for all kinds of stationery designs. "The wedding invitation itself should be kept simple, with only the most essential information included," says Forrest. "A details card can provide additional information about the wedding without overcrowding the actual invitation." It's also the proper place to provide the URL to your wedding website, according to Forrest.

Outer Envelope

Another obvious one: an outer envelope. Whether you're going USPS or somehow found a functioning carrier pigeon service, you need a place to keep all of the parts of a wedding invitation together.

Addressed/Postmarked RSVP Envelope

This is a small envelope designed to fit the RSVP card and nothing more. It should be included empty, stamped and marked with your address so guests can easily mail in their enthusiastic "yes!" responses back to you.

Postage

Aaaaaand the last super self-explanatory piece of what to include with wedding invitations is a stamp. Stamp your envelope to mail it, you know this already, though depending on the weight of the envelope, you might need two or more stamps to send it off.

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FOR YOU

Wedding Invitations Details Card 101

Here's the deal with this small, but mighty part of the invitation suite.

A Guide to Wedding Details Card Wording With Examples

Let your guests know what to wear and where they'll dance the night away.

The Best Guide to Wedding Plus-Ones for To-Be-Weds

This is who should make the cut.

Optional Elements of What to Include in a Wedding Invitation Suite

We've touched on the need-to-haves, now it's time to cover the nice-to-haves. These extra cards and useful additions will help you cover all of the information to include in a wedding invitation, if you need a little extra space. Because when it comes to wedding invitations, what to include depends on the specifics or your big day and the formality of your event. Take some and leave some as you see fit.

Reception Card

You might throw your postwedding bash at a different locale than the ceremony. In this case, you should provide a reception card. This piece will note the location of the reception, the address and the time (whether it's an exact hour or just "immediately following the ceremony").

Accommodations Card

Your accommodations card lets guests know what hotel you've reserved a room block at to make booking their travel plans a little easier. It'll let them know the name and address of the hotel as well as any special codes or book-by deadlines they should be aware of.

Weekend Events Card

Especially if you're having a destination wedding or are having a handful of out-of-town guests, you probably have some additional wedding-adjacent parties going down throughout the wedding weekend. Whether it's a welcome cocktail party, a farewell brunch or both, this is the spot to list those details.

Directions Card

Whether it's adorned with a whimsical hand-painted map to your ceremony or not, a directions card could be helpful for guests without smartphones or if your nuptials are taking place in an alfresco/rural location where cell service is iffy.

Inner Envelope

An inner envelope is a practical addition to your slate of what goes in a wedding invitation. It not only further protects your stationery and keeps everything together, it also provides an easy place to list the names of exactly who you're inviting to attend your nuptials, whereas the outer envelope might say something like "The X Family" instead of multiple individual names.

Address Labels

If you aren't addressing wedding invitations by hand (honestly, my hand is cramping just thinking about it) or if you didn't get your invites from The Knot and use our free guest addressing service, using address labels will give a streamlined look to your envelope.

Envelope Liner

Envelope liners are a way to add a little aesthetic interest to the inside of your envelope, basically a little patterned pocket that makes the interior pop. You can find one that coordinates with your invitation design.

Belly Band

"Belly bands are a great way to hold all of your invitation components together if you're not including an inner envelope," says Forrest. These pieces of ribbon, quality paper or fabric hold together your cards in a neat stack.

Wax Seal

If you use a belly band or vellum inner envelope, a wax seal is a great and personalized way to hold the suite together. Use a design with a couples monogram for extra personalization.

What Should Not Be Included in a Wedding Invitation Suite?

You'll find wedding invitation suite examples that range from having one enclosure card to three or more, but knowing what content is not considered part of the invitation suite might be helpful, too. A simple way to think of it is this: Any wedding paper that's not sharing the exact same envelope with your invitation (like save-the-dates, thank-you notes, wedding programs etc.) is not part of the wedding invitation suite, but rather part of the wedding stationery suite.