Confused about the etiquette associated with wedding invitations? For example, how should they be addressed? When should you mail them? Do you also need to send “save the dates”? You’re not alone. When so many rules and misconceptions abound, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the task. But relax, here’s a quick list of invitation do’s and don’ts to keep you on track.

Do design and order your invitations 3-6 months prior to your wedding date.

Do mail out your invitations 6-10 weeks prior to your wedding date.

Don’t forget to order extra envelopes. When addressing your envelopes, you’re bound to make a few mistakes, such as misspelling someone’s name or accidentally using an old address. Make sure to have extras on hand.

Do include this information in your invitations: Hosts’ names (parents, the engaged couple or both, including titles, first, middle and last names), date and time, location city/state, and RSVP address and deadline (if you’re not including separate, stamped reply cards).

Don’t include attire or registry information on your formal wedding invitation. Save these details for your wedding website instead.

Do proofread your invitations prior to ordering them. Make sure to carefully read and re-read your invitations to catch any mistakes. Have a friend review them as well – a fresh set of eyes may catch something you missed.

Do address outer envelopes with your guests’ formal titles first and last names (Mr. and Mrs. John Robert Smith).

Do address inner envelopes with your guests’ titles and last names (Mr. and Mrs. Smith). Then list children’s names by first and last name.

Don’t address an invitation to only one person in a married couple. Include both names on the invitation, even if you only know one of them personally.

Do address invitations to unmarried couples to both people’s titles, first and last names. For single guests, address their inner envelopes with the person’s title, first and last name and the phrase “and Guest”.

Do remember to include reply cards, so you can keep track of your guest count. Your RSVP date should be 2-3 weeks from your wedding date, so you have plenty of time to update your venue on your final headcount and minimize any last-minute stragglers.

Don’t forget to include postage (choose Forever stamps, if possible, to avoid any unforeseen postal rate increases). Weigh your completed invitation beforehand to determine the correct postage. Also ensure that your reply envelope size doesn’t require special extra postage. On a strict budget?  Consider adding a line to your invitations that allow guests to RSVP online instead.

Do send out save-the-dates if your plan on a long engagement, destination wedding or plan to invite several out-of-town guests who’ll need plenty of time to make travel arrangements.

Don’t bother with save-the-dates if you plan on a short engagement or your wedding date is less than six months away.

Do invite anyone who attended your engagement party or wedding showers. It’s rude to invite guests to a pre-wedding event but not the actual wedding.

Been nodding off during work? Sneaking away to take naps while you’re supposed to be drawing up the reception seating chart? The wedding planning stress crunch can take its toll on even the most focused brides and grooms. And let’s face it, Red Bull or 5 Hour Energy are only causing you to crash harder. Lucky for you, there’s a new product on the market that dubs itself “energy for the brain.” Meet Elebra.

Elebra is self-proclaimed productivity in a bottle. After many late, energy drink fueled nights, the product’s creators realized that while they may have the energy,  they didn’t have the focus to put to good use.  Their unique 21-ingredient formula helps support both energy levels and concentration. Read more about how Elebra works here.

To help celebrate Elebra’s launch, we’re giving away one bottle plus a bottle of Drinkwel. There are two ways to enter:

1.) Like our Facebook page and leave a comment telling us you want to win the Elebra prize pack.

2.) Leave a comment below telling us what the most stressful part of wedding planning has been so far.

On Monday March 26, we’ll select one winner at random. Good luck to all!

Asking friends and family members to serve as members of your wedding party can be a very rewarding experience. However, location, money and other external factors can sometimes put the groom in tough spot when it comes to these decisions. Today we tackle a question from a reader who’s struggling to assemble his groomsmen.

Q — What do I do if I have no one to ask to be a groomsman?

Believe it or not, this situation isn’t as uncommon as you might think. Whether your top choices for groomsmen can’t make it to the wedding because they’ve moved away or are serving in the military, you’re an only child or your sibling passed away or you’ve had a falling out with your buds in the last couple of years, sometimes choosing the members of your wedding party isn’t so easy. If you don’t have any obvious choices for your best man and groomsmen, such as close friends or brothers, don’t sweat it. First, there’s no rule that says you have to have more than one groomsman, or any, for that matter. But if you prefer to have at least one person standing beside you on your wedding day, consider these options for groomsmen: your father or grandfather; your fiancée’s father or grandfather; your fiancée’s brother or best guy friend; a cousin, uncle or other extended family member; college roommate; neighbor or church friend. There’s also no rule that says your groomsmen must be men. If you have a close female friend or family member, she can serve as your best woman or as a “groomsperson” and stand on your side of the altar during the ceremony.

Another great choice: man’s best friend. Why not have your dog serve as your best man for the big day? Spike, donning a tux, can either sit near the altar, rules permitting, or be walked down the aisle by a family member or friend. Either way, he’ll be there to cheer you on.

If these ideas aren’t quite your style, another option is to forgo groomsmen and bridesmaids altogether. There’s nothing wrong with an intimate wedding day focusing on just the two of you. Feel free to skip this tradition and do whatever works best for you and your bride.

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Kara Horner is one of our resident groom advice bloggers. She has worked as writer and editor since 2001. She channels her passion for writing about weddings as a regular contributor to The Man Registry and GroomsAdvice. If you’ve got a burning question, you can connect with her on Twitter.

Are you struggling to find wedding party members? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Guys, by now you’ve likely heard about Pinterest—the virtual pinboard site that lets you “pin” or save images of anything you come across while surfing the web for later reference—from your sister, mom, fiancée or her friends. But trust me, this site isn’t just for women. In fact, it can be an incredibly useful social media tool for grooms.

Think of Pinterest as a massive corkboard for collecting all of the ideas you come across, but better. Pinterest lets you pin ideas, products, photos, instructions, etc. with a link to the original source, or upload items on your own, so you can reference them later on. And instead of having little scraps of paper thumb-tacked all over the place in your home office, the site organizes your pinned items into folders or “Pinboards” that you can customize to your needs. Also, users of the site can see the items other people have pinned—either on the main page or through users you “follow”—which means it’s a great place to troll for ideas you probably wouldn’t have found on your own. If you see something you like, you can “like” or “repin” another user’s pin to one of your own boards.

Ever come across a great gift idea for your groomsmen while surfing the Internet, only to forget about it later? Once you see an item you like, pin it to a board, such as “unique groomsman gift ideas,” so you can go back and check it out later on once you’re ready to start shopping for your attendant gifts.

Here are some other sample boards grooms can create that may come in handy: wedding day style & attire (think tuxes, suits, tie/vest/cummerbund colors, for you and your groomsmen – remember, your groomsmen can also pin ideas to give you their 2 cents), honeymoon ideas (such as destinations and travel gear), rehearsal dinner plans (like food and beverage ideas, venues and vendors), groom’s cake ideas (such as cake concepts, cupcakes, donut cakes, cake pops, etc.), and bachelor party gear (think t-shirts, shot glasses, etc.).

Here’s how to get started:

1.) Go to Pinterest.com and enter your email address to request an invitation.

2.) Soon after (usually within the next day or two), you’ll receive an invite to create an account. You can also log in using Facebook or Twitter (so your activity can be added to your timeline, if you want).

3.) Click on images that interest you and click on “follow people,” so Pinterest can suggest users to follow. Then, you’ll see a list of users you’re following (you can un-follow them later).

4.) Create Pinboards to group items you want to organize by subject or category.

5.) Download the Pinmarklet, which adds a “Pin It” button to your Web browser, making it easy for you to pin items you come across online.

6.) Download the Pinterest app for iPhone to better access the site on the go (this includes a camera function, so you can easily snap your own photos and pin them directly to your boards).

7.) Start pinning your rear off!

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Have you or your bride-to-be utilized Pinterest yet? If so, in what ways? Share some of your boards in the comments section below.

We’re always in for a treat when Marta Segal Block from Gigmasters comes-a-callin’ with a guest blog. This time around, she’s focusing on some of the more bizarre options for wedding reception entertainment.

When most people think “wedding entertainment” they think band or DJ. But, at GigMasters we see the possibilities as so much more! Because we connect brides and grooms to their ideal entertainment, we have a great view of what ideas are out there. Here are five unusual ideas we’ve seen.

- Caricaturists are becoming so much more common they’re almost a trend! Like silhouette artists, caricaturists are generally used to create on the spot personalized party favors or guest book entries.

- Most people hiring clowns for wedding receptions are hiring them to entertain children at the event. But, not everyone, we’ve had people hire balloon twisting clowns to make centerpieces at a carnival themed wedding, then come to the reception as well. We’ve also had people hire clowns and mimes to provide humor during band breaks.

- An enterprising Maid of Honor decided to hire Mickey Mouse for her bride’s wedding. Apparently, the bride always wanted to dance in a Disney World show. So, the MOH hired a Mickey Mouse costumed character to turn up during her MOH speech to deliver a special gift.

- Every December we get several Santa requests for weddings. One Father of the Bride wanted to sit on Santa’s lap and read a letter to his daughter. We can only hope that he cleared that idea with his daughter ahead of time and that there aren’t deeper issues that they need to work out.

- I suppose if you needed the services of a hypnotist before the wedding, that would spell trouble but many people find the idea of a hypnotist as after dinner entertainment fun. If you have a “no stripper” rule for your bachelor party, hypnotists and magicians can also make great alternative bachelor party entertainment.

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For more great wedding entertainment ideas check out GigMasters wedding blog.