Wedding announcements let family and friends you couldn't invite to your wedding know that you've recently been married. You should send the announcements the morning of your wedding, although sending them either the day after or the night before is appropriate, as well.

Typically, if you send modern wedding invitations, your announcements also should be contemporary wedding announcements. However, feel free to get creative and not have them match. If you would like a little less work and do not need specific people to see it, newspaper wedding announcements can work, too. Either way, you need to send an announcement of some sort if any of the following apply:

1. You need to let colleagues know you are changing your last name;

2. You had a small wedding and want friends who could not attend to know about it;

3. Your parents want to send your wedding announcements to their friends and colleagues who were not invited.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Select printable wedding announcements from the Internet

If you would like to create your own announcements but still want them to look nice, many websites allow you to make custom announcements and print them. Many people like receiving such announcements because it shows that you took some time to create, print and send them to all of those people that are special to you.

I recommend: MyGatsby.com offers several styles of wedding announcements, including destination announcements such as those for beach or mountain weddings. MyExpression.com gives you the option of printing out announcements yourself or getting them custom printed by the company.

Create photo wedding announcements to send to your friends

You can personalize your modern wedding announcements by placing a recent picture of you and your new spouse somewhere on the announcement. Many couples choose to include their engagement photo in this type of wedding announcement.

I recommend: PhotoAffections.com encourages customers to place a photo on any type of announcement, while Celebration Cottage takes pride in placing photos on elegant, yet simple announcements.

Send free wedding announcements with an e-card

Although unique wedding announcements can be fun to send, if you are low on cash, sending an e-card gets the job done. Several sites offer such announcements, while allowing you to personalize each one. This allows you to avoid spending money on stamps, envelopes or even the cards themselves.

I recommend: American Greetings offers several designs from which to choose and lets you add your own message. Card Fountain allows members to add photos and voice messages to any announcement and offers the first two weeks of membership for free.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  You can use many of the same wedding announcement tips to create contemporary wedding invitations. Many photographers will include an engagement photo session before the wedding, from which you can select a picture to place on the invitations.
• •  Many newspapers now put their issues online, so contact your local paper to find out if they do this. If so, you can simply find your announcement and send the link to friends with an e-card, making newspaper wedding announcements a little more direct and unique.