The tradition for many in the US (in my experience, at least—it's far from universal, of course) is that the paper invitation is considered "official"—often eve

The tradition for many in the US (in my experience, at least—it's far from universal, of course) is that the paper invitation is considered "official"—often even more-so than an in-person invite. In-person invites are still welcome, of course, but they're often seen as informal. Since a mailed invitation is already considered by many to be the most formal route, it makes sense that electronic invites have gained popularity—especially for those looking to save money (printing fancy invitations and mailing them easily costs hundreds of dollars). When I got married in 2006, we sent paper invitations with postage-paid RSVP response cards. They were custom-printed by a local printer. Between printing and postage costs, we must have spent over $500 on invitations alone. This was for a very traditional wedding in Michigan.