How many guests will be at your wedding? Will you have a small, intimate gathering of 30? A large bash with over 500? No matter how small or how large your guest list is, you'll need a way to communicate with everyone you've invited just in case things go awry.
Think about this scenario. Your invitations are sent, and you've crossed all your I's and dotted every last T out there. It's the day of the wedding and while your photographer is dutifully spreading out that adorable hand-calligraphed invitation suite, you glance over his shoulder, and you notice for the first time that the address for the church is listed incorrectly (even though you swear you double- and even triple-checked for errors). To make sure each guest that RSVP'd "yes" to your wedding gets to the right church on time you frantically post on Facebook the correct address of the church and hope it reaches everyone. Right? Not quite. Putting your plans on Facebook means that some people who aren't invited could see and feel left out, and let's face it, your great uncle Charlie hasn't touched a computer since the '90s. If you want word to spread -- fast -- to the right people, you better have a communication plan.
If you have a communication plan in place, this kind of thing is not really that big of a deal. In fact, it's no sweat because you've thought through this exact scenario and you know what to do. So... what do you do? Here are a few easy-to-follow tips.
How to come up with a wedding day communication plan:
1. Think of a concise message that your guests will understand quickly.
No need for a lengthy explanation of what happened. Keep your message to guests short and to the point. All they need to know is that plans have changed for some reason or another and what to do in the meantime.
2. Make sure your wedding website is accurate and up-to-date.
Your wedding website will get tons of views leading up to your wedding, because people misplace invitations or forget to bring them along when they're driving. Make sure the main page of your site contains any new information that guests should know and that all addresses are accurate.
3. Assemble a group of family members and wedding party pals who can be trusted to start a phone tree and get this information out there quickly -- especially to those who aren't likely to check your wedding website on the day of.
You'll want to delegate this kind of a task to a few members from each side of the family, so it spreads evenly and no relatives are left in the dark and to assign the task to a few friends on both sides of your wedding party to notify all non-relatives. Once they start spreading the word, and the people who heard from them spread it to everyone they know attending, word of mouth will have taken care of your little invitation snafu.
4. Use this handy wedding website trick.
Still worried you missed a couple people in getting the correct info out? No fear! There's a little known area of our wedding websites that will help you out. Did you know that apart from telling your "How They Met" story and explaining where you're registered, one feature of your wedding website actually emails every person on your guest list? From your wedding website dashboard, just press the "Share Your Site" button. You'll see an email contact form with various fields. You can use this to communicate with all your guests. Just press "Add Contacts," then "Guest List" and check the box marked "Guests with contact info." You can choose to select guests one by one, depending on their RSVP or you can select all.
Then, simply add an email subject -- something along the lines of "Important Last-Minute Update to Our Wedding Schedule!" and write out a message to all your guests telling them of your change in plans. Phew, that was easy! You can also delegate this plan to one of your bridesmaids or your parents if you're too busy getting ready or dealing with other last-minute details.
The beautiful thing about having this type of plan in place is that it applies to so many last-minute changes. Does it look like rain? Follow the communication plan and let everyone know about your "Plan B" scenario. Is there crazy traffic on one of the main routes to the reception hall? Send out your email! Medical emergency? While we hope none of these things happen to you on the road to your celebration, it never hurts to be over-prepared.
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