The Modern Guide to Wedding Invitation Etiquette and Wording

When it comes to your wedding invitations, you might be a little confused as to the proper way of coming up with all that wording. Like most invitations, the typical W’s apply (Who, What When, Where and Why).  And with this basic framework in mind, we can mix a bit of style and etiquette in a format that sets the expected style and foundation for your wedding.  And remember, as with anything you do for your wedding, invitation wording can and should be modified to fit within the scope of your particular event. Ready to get started? Here we go,

Let’s take the modern invite wording in our example and break it up using the
WWWW template.

Mr. and Mrs. James Alexander
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Mary Beth
to
Darius Shane Michaels
Saturday, the fifteenth of August
Two thousand and nine
at four o'clock in the afternoon
Laguna Bellagio Hotel
29234 Isla Vista Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA

-Reception to follow-

(Who) The Host of the Party: You might notice the very first line in the wording is written in 3^rd person form. This is because you are speaking on behalf of the parents/persons hosting your wedding celebration. Typically brides choose to list their parents, but it’s not uncommon (especially these days) to include the parents of both the bride and groom - especially if both are contributing to the wedding. It’s a touchy subject whether or not to include both parents, so just remember to play it safe if in doubt. The point here is to be as inclusive as possible and walk the fine line where both families feel comfortable.
Side note: Some parents get very hurt if the invitations do not include them– in a way as if the printed words are a declaration to the world of their achievement in raising their children. So just remember, if putting both families on the invitation doesn’t matter much to you, don’t make a fuss about it and include them. It will make them that much happier in the end.

Requesting your guests:  Followed by the host line, the invitation includes a request line which can be worded accordingly. Typically if the wedding ceremony will take place in a religions setting, you might write “request the honour of your presence”. If you are having a more modern wedding that takes place in a hotel, restaurant or other similar venue, it’s perfectly appropriate to say “request the pleasure of your company.”  The possibilities are endless here.

(What) The main event!

This is the part that spells out the “what” you are inviting your guests to. If the bride’s parents will be distributing the invites, a typical example might be “at the marriage of their daughter “ . If both parents will be hosting, you might want to use “at the marriage of their children”. Also remember, if the ceremony and reception will be held at different locations you can include the reception site at the bottom (end) of the wedding invitation. It’s typical to include the reception location in the where part of the invite as well as a separate Reception Card which can be found here.

The couple

Here you write the names of the couple getting married. These days many invitations include the full name of both the bride and groom. But traditionally, if the Bride’s parents are hosting the wedding, you would include the bride’s first and middle name only. Like Mary Beth, instead of Mary Beth Daniels. In both cases however, the groom’s name is spelled out completely, such as Darius Shane Michaels.

(When)  

These few lines contain the most vital information to your guest. When and where the event will actually take place. Many modern invites choose to use numbers to denote the wedding date: like March 15, 2009. But writing the wedding date out completely looks much more professional and tasteful. For example:  Saturday the Fifteenth of August. If you decide to include a numeric value as many people do, you can try just having the date as a number. Such as:  Saturday the 15^th of August,  Two Thousand and Nine.   When writing the time of day/night you can choose to include numbers or full wording. For more formal affairs, it is generally acceptable to write the complete word, “Six o’clock in the evening”.

(Where)

The location lines of the wedding celebration are actually quite simple to write. Just be sure to verify EXACTLY how the venue name and address is spelled. As well, to prevent any confusion for your guests, we advise that you write the full names and address - no abbreviations here.  In addition, remember that the city and state should also appear on the invite in separate lines below the address.

Where’s the party?

If you are having a reception after your wedding, you might want to include the pertinent info after the wedding address.  Like:” Reception to Follow”. And don’t forget, if the reception is at a different location, be sure to include the address and time of the event in either your Reception Card or wedding invitation.

(Extras)

Many couples choose to include the url (website address) of their wedding at the bottom of invite. Since recipients usually save the invitation and direction cards only, it might be a good idea to include your website address in either card as well. Typically since we offer free wedding websites to our customers, we include the website address near the bottom of the invitation or on the back. In both cases however, we ask our customers where they want to include their website (if at all).

So what are you waiting for, check out our Wedding Invitations !