Bridal Luncheon Invitations: Pre-Wedding Meal Cards

Okay So Bridal Luncheon Invitations Are Their Own Thing

First off, bridal luncheon invitations are NOT the same as bridal shower invites and honestly this drives me nuts because I still get brides mixing them up all the time. The bridal luncheon is usually this more intimate, elegant thing the bride hosts for her bridesmaids and close female family members—like her mom, future mother-in-law, grandmas, maybe aunts she’s really close to. It’s typically the day before the wedding or sometimes the morning of if you’re doing an evening ceremony.

The whole vibe is different from a shower because you’re not opening gifts or playing weird games with toilet paper wedding dresses. It’s more like a thank-you meal where the bride gets to actually sit down and enjoy time with her people before everything gets absolutely chaotic. I had this bride in spring 2023 who wanted to do hers at this gorgeous garden restaurant and she was SO stressed about whether she needed formal invitations or if a group text would work, and honestly that’s the question everyone asks.

When You Actually Need Physical Cards vs Digital

Here’s my take after doing this for like forever—if your wedding is formal (think black tie, cathedral ceremony, sit-down dinner with multiple courses), you probably want physical bridal luncheon invitations. It just keeps everything cohesive and shows you put thought into it. But if you’re having a backyard wedding or something more casual, a really pretty digital invitation works perfectly fine.

I usually tell brides to match the formality level of their wedding invitations, but honestly the bridal luncheon can be slightly less formal? Like if you did engraved wedding invites, you could do letterpress or nice cardstock for the luncheon. If you did digital wedding invites, definitely go digital for the luncheon too.

The thing that annoyed me recently was this venue that told my client she HAD to send physical invitations for a luncheon with 8 people. Like, why? That’s literally a small dinner party. We sent beautiful digital ones through Paperless Post and everyone was fine, the venue manager just had weird opinions about etiquette from 1987 or something.

Timing Is Kinda Tricky

You wanna send bridal luncheon invitations about 4-6 weeks before the wedding. Not earlier because people might not have their travel plans sorted yet, and not later because some of your guests might be coming from out of town and need to coordinate their arrival time around it.

But here’s where it gets weird—technically everyone you’re inviting to the bridal luncheon already knows they’re in the wedding party or they’re immediate family, so they already know they’ll be in town. So some brides are like “why do I need to send an invitation at all” and I get that logic but trust me, you need something in writing with the actual details because people WILL forget or mix up the time or show up at the wrong restaurant. I’ve seen it happen.

What Information You Gotta Include

Alright so the basics you need on any bridal luncheon invitation:

• Who’s hosting (usually “The Bride” or your actual name)
• What it is (Bridal Luncheon or Pre-Wedding Luncheon)
• Date and time (be specific about arrival time)
• Location with full address
• Dress code if there is one
• RSVP info and deadline

The RSVP deadline should be like 2 weeks before the event so you can give final numbers to the restaurant. Some brides skip the RSVP thing because they assume everyone’s already confirmed they’re coming to the wedding so obviously they’ll come to the luncheon, but nah, you need actual headcount confirmation.

Wording That Actually Works

The wording can be pretty straightforward. You don’t need the formal “Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So request the pleasure of your company” stuff unless you really want to. Here’s what I usually recommend:

Formal version:

Sarah Elizabeth Chen requests the pleasure of your company at a bridal luncheon in honor of her wedding day. Friday, the fifteenth of June, half past twelve in the afternoon. The Garden Terrace at Willowbrook, 234 Oak Street, Charleston, South Carolina. Kindly reply by June first.

Less formal version that I honestly prefer:

Please join me for a bridal luncheon to celebrate before the big day! Friday, June 15th at 12:30 PM. The Garden Terrace at Willowbrook, 234 Oak Street, Charleston, SC. Garden party attire suggested. Please RSVP by June 1st.

You can also add a little personal note at the bottom like “I can’t wait to celebrate with you!” or whatever feels natural to you. Some of my brides write something about how much their bridesmaids mean to them but honestly if that feels too mushy for your personality, skip it.

Design Stuff That Matters

So for design, you’ve got options. If you’re doing physical cards, you can coordinate them with your wedding invitation suite—same color palette, same fonts, maybe a simplified version of your monogram or wedding logo if you have one. But they don’t have to match exactly. I’ve seen brides do wedding invites in navy and gold, then do the bridal luncheon invites in a softer blush and gold, and it looked really pretty.

Size-wise, most bridal luncheon invitations are either standard A6 (4.5 x 6.25 inches) or A7 (5 x 7 inches). You could also do a postcard style which is cute and saves money on envelopes. Or those slim DL cards are having a moment right now—they’re long and narrow and look really modern.

For digital invitations, I’m gonna be honest, Paperless Post has the best selection for this kind of thing. Greenvelope is good too if you want something more eco-friendly. You can customize colors and fonts and add photos if you want. Some brides use the same engagement photo from their save-the-dates which I think is sweet.

The Envelope Situation

If you’re doing physical invitations, the envelope doesn’t need to be as fancy as your wedding invitation envelopes. You can skip the inner envelope entirely—just use one envelope. I usually suggest a colored envelope that coordinates with your wedding colors, or if you wanna keep it simple, white or cream is always fine.

For addressing, you can handwrite them (or hire a calligrapher if you’re feeling fancy), use printed labels, or do digital calligraphy which is this thing where… okay so it’s basically printed to look like calligraphy and honestly most people can’t tell the difference and it’s way cheaper.

My cat literally just knocked over my coffee while I’m writing this, cool cool cool.

Special Considerations You Might Not Think About

One thing people don’t always consider is dietary restrictions. You could include a line on the invitation like “Please let us know of any dietary restrictions when you RSVP” or if it’s a small group and you already know everyone’s restrictions, you can just handle it directly with the restaurant.

Also if you’re inviting people from out of town, it’s helpful to include a little info about parking or whether the restaurant is within walking distance of the hotel where everyone’s staying. You could add this as a separate detail card or just include it in the main invitation if there’s room.

Some brides do a small gift for each person at the luncheon—usually the bridesmaids’ gifts or just like a little thank-you present. You don’t need to mention this on the invitation though, it should be a surprise.

What If You’re Doing Multiple Pre-Wedding Events

Okay so this gets complicated if you’re having like a welcome party the night before AND a bridal luncheon the day of the wedding. You don’t want people getting invitation fatigue or mixing up which event is which. In summer 2021 I had a bride doing FOUR different pre-wedding events and the invitation coordination was honestly a nightmare.

What worked for her was creating a weekend itinerary card that went out with the wedding invitations, listing all the events, and then she sent separate specific invitations for the events that were smaller or more exclusive. So everyone got the itinerary showing the welcome party, but only bridesmaids and moms got the separate bridal luncheon invitation.

Make sure each invitation clearly states which event it’s for and what time because I’m telling you, people will get confused. Use different colored cardstock or different designs so they’re visually distinct from each other.

Budget Reality Check

Let’s talk money for a second. Physical bridal luncheon invitations typically cost anywhere from $2 to $8 per invitation depending on what you’re doing. Basic cardstock with simple printing is gonna be on the lower end, letterpress or foil stamping is higher. If you’re only inviting like 10-15 people, even the expensive options aren’t that crazy budget-wise.

Digital invitations usually run $15-40 total for the whole set, regardless of how many people you’re sending to, which is why they’re so popular for smaller events like this. Plus you can track RSVPs automatically which is super convenient.

Don’t forget to factor in postage if you’re doing physical invites. You’ll probably need regular Forever stamps unless your invitations are oversized or heavy, then you might need additional postage.

DIY vs Ordering From Somewhere

I’ve had brides successfully DIY their bridal luncheon invitations using Canva templates and printing them at home or at a local print shop. This works totally fine if you’re crafty and have decent design sense. You can buy nice cardstock from Paper Source or even Michaels and print them yourself.

But if you’re already stressed about everything else (which, you probably are because wedding planning is A LOT), just order them from somewhere. Minted, Paperless Post, Etsy—there are so many options that aren’t super expensive. Your time and sanity are worth something.

Etsy is actually great for this because you can find designers who’ll customize a template for you, you pay like $15-30 for the digital file, and then you print it yourself or send it to a printer. It’s this middle ground between fully DIY and ordering custom printed invitations.

Common Mistakes I Keep Seeing

Biggest mistake? Sending them too late. If you send bridal luncheon invitations 2 weeks before the wedding, people’s schedules are already set and you might have conflicts you didn’t expect. Someone might have already planned to get their nails done that morning or whatever.

Second mistake is being unclear about who’s invited. I’ve had bridesmaids show up with their plus-ones thinking it was a general pre-wedding party when it was supposed to be just the bridal party. If it’s bridesmaids only, say that. If moms and grandmas are included, make that clear.

Third mistake—and this one is sorta related to the first one—not following up with people who don’t RSVP. You NEED final numbers for the restaurant. Don’t assume silence means yes or no, just text them and ask.

Alternative Formats That Work

Some brides skip the traditional invitation completely and create a private event on Facebook or use a group planning app. This works fine for very casual weddings or if your whole group is super close and communicates that way already. It’s definitely not appropriate for formal weddings though.

I’ve also seen brides include the bridal luncheon details on a weekend itinerary card that goes out with the wedding invitations, then follow up with a reminder text or email closer to the date. This is actually pretty practical because it reduces paper waste and everyone already has the info.

Another option is making it part of your wedding website. You could have a page that’s password-protected or just for the bridal party with all the details about the luncheon, and then send a simple card or email directing people to that page for full information and RSVP.

Day-Before vs Day-Of Timing

Quick note about timing because this affects your invitation wording—most bridal luncheons happen the day before the wedding, usually around lunchtime (obviously). This gives everyone time to relax before rehearsal dinner stuff starts. But some brides do it the morning of the wedding, especially if it’s an evening ceremony and they want something to do besides sit around being nervous.

If you’re doing it the morning of your wedding, make sure you’re being realistic about timing. You need to be done early enough to get to hair and makeup appointments or whatever else is on the schedule. I usually say finish by 2 PM at the latest if you have a 6 PM ceremony, but that depends on your specific timeline.

The day-of bridal luncheon has this nice energy to it though—everyone’s excited, the wedding is FINALLY happening, and it’s this calm moment before everything gets wild. Just make sure you’re not scheduling it so early that people have to rush breakfast or so late that you’re cutting it close with getting ready.

Working With Your Stationer

If you hired a stationer for your wedding invitations, ask them about adding bridal luncheon invitations to your order. They’ll probably give you a discount for ordering everything together, and it ensures everything coordinates perfectly. Most stationers are happy to design these as an add-on.

Give them at least 6-8 weeks before you need them, more if you’re doing something complicated like letterpress. And be clear about your budget from the start so they can recommend options that work for you.

If you’re doing digital invitations, you honestly don’t need a stationer unless you want custom design work. The templates on Paperless Post and similar sites are really good and easy to customize yourself. Takes like 20 minutes to set up.

Anyway, I think that covers most of what you need to know about bridal luncheon invitations. They’re really not that complicated once you figure out your format and timing, and they’re a nice touch that makes the event feel special and organized rather than just like “hey everyone meet at this restaurant tomorrow.”