This year has been the year of wedding bells. No, I am NOT getting married…yet. Lol! But after only attending a handful of weddings as a kid, this year my boyfriend and I were invited to FOUR weddings, all in the summer months!
Now of course as a girl there are so many things I love about being invited to a wedding. The amazing venues, the food, the wedding dress, the music…I could go on and on. But there is one thing that I have grown to hate so much that even thinking about it gives me anxiety. No it is not the gift, not it is not the wedding shower, no it is not the ceremony…it is the reply card!
Yes you read that right. I actually get anxiety about Wedding Reply cards!
Okay, before you spit out your coffee laughing hear me out…
I come from a generation where technology rules. I have sat in front of a computer screen for as long as I can remember. As a child I sat on my Father’s lap playing with the computer, as I got older Facebook was introduced, and now my cell phone is basically a pocket computer.
Snail mail has become almost obsolete in my world. If I want to say thank you for a present, I text the person. If I want to send a Happy Birthday card, I craft a sweet picture post on Facebook. If I want to invite people to a party I create a Facebook event and maybe even do up a mail chimp e-vite.
Snail mail has become a place for junk. Credit card offers I don’t want, ads to stores I don’t go to. Bills that were paid online two weeks, and other various pieces of mail for tenants of the past.
Because of this, I RARELY even check the mail. When I do it is generally because I have noticed the mail box is overflowing and I feel genuinely bad for the mailman. I realize it is his job to stuff every piece of junk with my address on it in my box. Full or not. So when I notice it is full I clear it out.
Oh and one more thing, I live in an apartment complex. So more often than not, my mail gets placed in the WRONG mailbox. So often I don’t see the mail that comes to me!
All of these factors combined means that I am highly unlikely to see that dreaded reply card when it comes to me. But if I do see it…getting it mailed is still quite a process.
Since snail mail has become a non-thing in my household stamps are basically an antique. Those are pretty square pictures people keep in a collection to tell future generations about the olden days. Stamps however are not household necessities. So if the reply card does not include a stamp, I must steal one from someone else. This in itself can be a process since many people like me do not keep stamps anymore.
But lets say for this post’s sake that I find a stamp or the sender was kind enough to include one.
Now I have to mail the reply card back. Obstacle one, I don’t pass a mailbox or post office on my way to work AT ALL. Obstacle two, my mailman is so used to my mailbox being full he never looks for outgoing mail. Obstacle three, while I am trying to deal with one and two, the reply card gets lost.
Can you see now why this might cause me anxiety?!?!
Now I do understand that this is the proper way to do things. And I do even see the sentimental value in it. But as a guest of multiple weddings this year I am happy to have my last reply card sent and gone.
As for my future wedding? There will be no reply cards. On the invite will be my email address to respond with your dinner choice and number of attendees.
Done and done!
cestlavie22 