RSVP conundrum - figured out!

So. I can't remember if I'd mentioned any of this before or not but, we are asking our guests to RSVP online (unless they're not computer savvy, we'll send them a reply card). Way back when, I found the WeddingWire.com wedding website, which allows you to add an RSVP page that pulls directly from the guest list you've uploaded to the site - so the guests go to that page and it asks them to enter their name, and if they're on the list they get prompted to RSVP for themselves and whatever guests we've specified, for ceremony/reception/shower/etc (whatever event(s) you want to add in there).

If they're not on the list.. They don't get to RSVP. I loved that because we're not planning to do inner envelopes and all that so I was worried there might be some confusion about who gets to bring a guest.

HOWever. I was not crazy about the look of the rest of the site as built by WeddingWire. So I went over to Google Sites and built one (we splurged and paid $10 for own domain), which I like a Lot better, but I couldn't recreate the fabulous RSVP function.

Well I just finally found the solution, which probably shouldn't have taken me this long to figure out. What I did was deactivated all the regular pages from the WeddingWire wedding site EXCEPT the Welcome screen and the RSVP page, and just renamed it our "online RSVP site." So then all it took was adding an RSVP page on our real website which links right over to the WeddingWire site.

Is this making any sense?? It might sound more complicated than it is - believe me, I am no tech junky! I do not know html or dreamweaver or any other kind of site building software (I don't even know if that's the right vocabulary). If you're not happy with your wedding website and think you might want to try to make your own - I highly recommend Google Sites!

RSVPs and the Internation Postage Update

I finally purchased the "International Reply Coupon" I mentioned a few posts back. I think that since DC is such a great mix of people from all over the US and the world, I bet there are some of you (I know one nearlywed blogger for sure!) who are sending invites overseas.

So, since some countries don't sell stamps that you can just attach to the RSVP postcard or envelopes (ex: the UK. The postage they sell online has an expiration date!), you can purchase for $2.15 the "International Reply Coupon." Essentially, so long as the country you are mailing the invitation to is part of the Universal Postal Union, the recipient of your invitation can take the international reply coupon to their post office and exchange it for the minimum postage needed to send the RSVP back. It's a lot of work, but unfortunately for me and my guests, this was my only option since I didn't want my guests to have to pay for their own postage to send my RSVPs back.

Here is what they look like (they were originally $1.85 so they had to add additional stamps to make it $2.15)

Here is my dog approving:

So I am sending instructions in the invitations for our overseas guests. I hope it works!

Miss Glen Echo: It's $1.40 to send a postcard/greeting card from Australia. You can get info and stamps here! Good luck!

Another option that I didn't think about is sending the invitations un-sealed to someone in that country and have them purchase the postage, stamp the RSVP, and then mail it out to the guests in that country. Still sounds like too much work !

But speaking of RSVPs, I got my first one in the mail this afternoon!

I think now the worse part will be waiting! What projects did you work on while waiting on RSVPs?