Wording Inspiration For Wedding Invitations
A guide to penning the perfect announcement
Its a blissful feeling once youve found your dream wedding invitation, but the quest for the perfect announcement isnt over just yet. Theres still the small matter of deciding what to say and how to word it.
In the hope of saving you some precious time, weve rounded up all the tips you need from rules of thumb to wording templates to tell them about your big day in the most beautiful of ways.
Here comes the guide
When You Are Hosting The Wedding
These days, more often than not, couples are hosting their own wedding celebrations. If you and your fiancé are hosting the wedding, here are some wedding invitation wording options to choose from:
Formal Wedding Invitation Wording Suggestions
The pleasure of your company
is requested at the marriage celebration uniting
What Should Wedding Invitations Say
Tags:wedding invitationswedding etiquette
You’ve thought long and hard about your wedding invitation design, deliberated over the theme, arranged a printer and agreed on the dates for delivery – but what should your wedding invitation actually say?
The truth is, there is no set template for a wedding card invitation, and there shouldnt be! We can’t tell you exactly what to say, but we can offer a few pointers and different options for wedding invitation wording to help you write one thats perfect for you.
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Planning Wedding Invitation Etiquette:
So, we begin with the stationary. Stationary comes in many thicknesses. The next decision is about what color of stationery comes in thousands of colors, black, or you can choose from many shades of white or the many shades of an off-white cream.
The next decision to make is what you want your wording to say on your wedding invitation. There are many options for choosing what to write. The wedding invitation needs to tell guests the time and place of the ceremony and the location for the reception.
Wedding Invitation Wording If Both Sets Of Parents Are Hosting
The couple’s parents should each be listed on separate lines, starting with the bride’s or whoever’s name falls alphabetically first. Since both last names are included in the greeting, there’s no need to use last names for the to-be-wedsunless, again, if either of them has a different last name than their parents. In that case, list out their full name, in addition to the full names of their parents.
Formal Wedding Invitation Wording Sample:
Sample 1:
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Smith &
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Franklin Kim
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Jack Alexander
at 4:30 in the afternoon
MEG COOPER PHOTOGRAPHY
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What Is Wedding Invitation Wording:
- *The names of the hosts
- *The names of the couple.
- *An explicit request to attend the wedding.
- *The names of the couple.
- *Date and time.
- *The location
- *Reception information .
- *Dress code.
- *Wedding website information (optional to include on
When ones persons parents are hosting the grand event, it is customary to leave that persons last name. But if that person has a different last name than their parents or guardian, you will want to include their full last name.
When same-sex couples or gender non-conforming can feel free to follow similar guidelines, the host of the celebration is listed first. They would then follow their childs name, followed by their childs partners name.
The Names Of The Bride And Groom:
Traditionally the name of the bride always precedes the grooms name. If the brides parents are included on the invitation and she shares their last name, then only her first and middle name are used. This same rule applies for the groom. If the couple is hosting by themselves, last names are needed.
For a same-sex marriage, you can do whatever you like. You may choose to go in alphabetical order or choose what sounds better. Whatever you place the names, its going to be lovely either way.
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Wedding Invitation Wording: The 5 Essentials
These five details absolutely, positively must be referenced in your invitation:
- The specific part of the day that the invitation covers – include whether the invite is for the wedding ceremony and reception, reception only or evening reception only.
- The name and address of the ceremony and reception venue – you want people to be able to find you!
- The date and time of the wedding. It’s a good idea to word the time as “3pm sharp” for civil ceremonies where the bride is not allowed be late.
- RSVP information – this should include details of where the reply should be sent. If you are not including an RSVP card, then an email address is the other really common option.
- RSVP deadline – this is usually 4 weeks before the wedding. When the final numbers are needed will depend on your venue or caterer.
When To Order Reception Cards:
Again, it’s best to order the reception cards with your invitations.
Not only can wedding programs provide useful information, but they also make charming mementos. Programs are often in the form of a small booklet and include information about the ceremony, such as the date, the names of the wedding party , the order of events and the titles of readings and songs. Couples may also use the program to honor deceased loved ones, to thank important people and/or to explain unfamiliar rites of the ceremony.
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The Date And The Time:
This is the one line where I strongly advise you to stick to the basics, since you want people to actually come to your wedding. Time, date, and location should all be listed. For formal weddings, everything is written out in full . For example:
four oclock in the afternoonSaturday, the second of JuneTwo thousand fourteen
What To Write On Wedding Info Cards
All our invitations come with the option to add a matching info card a place to add any extra details that wont fit on your main invitation.
Inviting children
If youre inviting children to your big day, then make this clear on your invitation by including their names or the parents names + and family. If youve chosen not to invite children, a note such as: As we have chosen an intimate service, its only possible to accommodate the children of immediate family. will politely let your guests know they need to arrange a childminder.
Directions
If your wedding venue isnt the easiest to find, add some directions for guests. For example, Follow signs for Bramley on the A3 for nine miles until you reach Gate Barn House. Or if your evening reception takes place at a separate venue to your ceremony, include directions to let guests know how to get to your second location.
Gift list
You can add details of your wedding gift registry or a brief note to say: No gifts please. If youd like to give any monetary donations to a charity thats close to your heart, the info card is also a good place to mention this.
Wedding website
You can add the url of your wedding website or the hashtag you want guests to use when they share photos from your special day.
Dress code
Set out whether theres a dress code: black tie, semi-formal, cocktail attire, summer suits, etc. You can also specify if theres no dress code.
Dietary requirements
Social media preferences
Transport info
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What Should Your Invitations Say
Most important and most obvious is that your critical information is all there. What do your guests need to know to be able to attend? Or How to address your wedding invitations? It helps to remember the old primary school who, what, when, where writing trick.
And after all that, youll need to address them check out our guide on how to address wedding invitations to help get you started. So far this might all seem pretty obvious and self-explanatory. The trick is how to include all this information. There are a few Dos and Donts which weve covered before, but when it comes to more abstract decisions about wording, it can be even more confusing.
The trick is this: The style of your wedding invitation wording is directly related to the style of your wedding.
Having a birthday?
State The Guests Of Honors Names
Okay, so whose wedding is this? Based on the formality of your wedding, you can decide how you want to feature your and your partners names. The only rule? Keep it consistent. You cant include a middle name for one partner, and not the other. In terms of the order, for different-sex couples, write the brides name first. For same-sex couples, names may be listed alphabetically or really, arranged in any way youd prefer.
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Wedding Invitation Format If Both Sets Of Parents Are Hosting:
- List the couples parents on separate lines starting with the brides, or whoevers name falls Alphabetically first.
- Since both last names for the to-be-Weds-unless, again, if either of them has a different last name than their parents.
In this case, you will list out their Full name, in addition to the full names of their parents.
Wording For Pre And Post Destination Wedding Events
Are you planning pre or post-destination wedding events at your destination? If you dont have enough room to include details in your invitation, just direct guests to your wedding website URL for more info. For my own destination wedding, I planned a welcome cocktail reception and rehearsal dinner. I included those details in my destination wedding invitation wording. Boarding Pass invitations and Passport invitations are perfect for this. Here are some examples of destination wedding invitation wording for pre and post-wedding events.
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The Dos And Donts Of Names And Titles
- DO capitalize proper names and titles.
- DO spell out the title Doctor .
- DO use both partners full legal names on the invitations. If you prefer to go by a nickname, use it on a save the date postcard or other, less formal piece of the invitation suite.
- DO include a nickname in addition to a legal first name if it is the only name that guests will recognize you by.
- DO drop the brides and/or grooms middle name if it becomes too long to fit on one line.
- DO include a host line at the top of the invitation that indicates who is doing the inviting. This generally correlates with who is funding the wedding, but can vary based on preference. Some examples:
- Mr. and Mrs. Parents invite you to the marriage celebration of their son/daughter Partner 1 to Partner 2
- Mr. and Mrs. Parents and Mr. and Mrs. Other Parents invite you to the marriage celebration of their children Partner 1 and Partner 2
- Together with their families, Partner 1 & Partner 2 invite you to
- Partner 1 & Partner 2 invite you to
- DONT use abbreviations. In general, spell everything out except courtesy titles.
- DONT use punctuation, except after courtesy titles:
- Mrs.
The Eastwick Wreath invitation design on Zola
Essential Info For Wedding Invitations
Who’s hosting the wedding
Traditionally this is the brides parents, but you can name whoever who wish both families, you and your other half, step parents, or even your children.
The request to come to the wedding
Traditional and religious ceremonies call for formal wording e.g. request the pleasure of your company. Modern and civil services lend themselves to more casual language like Join us to celebrate.
The names of the couple
Usually, the brides name comes before the grooms. Names on same-sex invitations can be arranged alphabetically or in which ever order has the best ring to it!
The location of the wedding
Formal invitations tend to list the entire address, including postcode. But with Google at our fingertips, its becoming a trend to simply put the venue and city your guests will figure out the rest.
The date and times
Stick to standard time and date formatting for a traditional feel or be a little more creative by writing out your dates in full, e.g. Tenth of August Two Thousand and Nineteen. You can also reference styles used by other nationalities if youre getting married abroad.
Reception information
Let your guests know where the reception will be held and what time they can expect it finish.
RSVP details
You can include instructions on how and when to RSVP at the bottom of your invitation, your info card or a separate RSVP card. We recommend an RSVP cut-off of 4 weeks before the wedding.
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One Set Of Parents Are Paying
If one set of parents is paying for the majority of the wedding, but the other set is still contributing its easy! Here it is customary to reserve the top of the invitation for the parents paying for the majority. You can still name the other set of parents below. It is very common to name the grooms parents as seen in the following example:
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Formal Greetings And Phrases
- The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of _____
- _____ request the honor of your presence at the marriage of _____
- _____ invite you to celebrate the marriage of their children _____
- Together with their parents you are cordially invited to celebrate the marriage of _____
- _____ request the pleasure of your company at the celebration of their union
- _____ joyfully request the pleasure of your company as we exchange vows
- You are cordially invited to celebrate the marriage of _____
- You are cordially invited to attend the wedding of _____
- _____ request the pleasure of your company at their wedding
- _____ request your presence on the day of their marriage
- We invite you to share in our joy and request your presence at the wedding of _____
