Wedding invitations are an announcement to everyone about your big day! When creating the perfect wedding invitation, it is important to use the proper wording. There are certain things you should avoid when wording your invitations in order to make them perfect. This guide will show you how to do it step-by-step so that you are successful!
What to Include in Your Wedding Invitation Wording
Wedding invitations can be as elegant or as basic as the host wants, as long as there are certain elements included. The following criteria must be followed line-by-line by those who create their wedding cards and invites. There are a few things that are typically included in a wedding invitation. These things are the name of the person who is hosting the wedding, the request for people to attend the wedding, the names of the couple getting married, the date and time of the wedding, the location of the wedding, the location of the wedding reception, the dress code, and how to RSVP.
You can be creative and use any style that you and your partner are comfortable with. To start creating your formal wedding invitation wording, use these instructions.
When deciding on wedding invitation wording, many couples choose to go with a traditional structure. This is a guide for what to include in your wedding invitations, line by line.
Who Is Hosting
The wedding is usually hosted by the bride’s parents. The bride’s parents’ names are written at the top of the wedding invitation card. This can be used for both formal and traditional wedding ceremonies.
More couples are hosting weddings alongside their parents. Whether or not you end up inviting both of your parents to your wedding, it is always polite to include both of their names as hosts on your wedding invitations. This makes them feel more included in the event.
There is no reason for confusion if you include your divorced parents’ names. You could include both of your partner’s parents in your wedding invitations, even if they are divorced. Write your first parent’s name on one line, move to the next line, and write your other parents’ name. If they have remarried, put their name on the same line as their current partner’s.
If either you or your partner has a deceased parent, you will need to make changes to the traditional structure of wedding invitations. Although it may sound strange, it’s not uncommon for a dead parent to act as a host.
Keep in mind that the wording of the host line should be comfortable for both you and your partner. Here are a few rules to help you figure out the best host-line wording for your family dynamics:
- The word “and” in between two names traditionally implies that those people are married.
- If your parents are divorced and you want to include both as hosts, you can include them all, just keep each parent on a separate line.
- If you’re going to include the name of stepparent, keep it on the same line.
- Hosts who are not married should be on separate lines.
- Names should not be listed in order of who paid more.
If you want to include a deceased parent in your wedding, you’ll have to rearrange things a bit, as someone who has passed away can’t actually serve as a host. One way to honor a deceased parent at a wedding is to include their name alongside the name of the couple, for example: “Olivia French, daughter of Susan French,” or “Olivia French, daughter of Michael French and the late Susan French.”
Request to Come To the Wedding
It is customary to request that your guests attend your wedding by sending out invitations. Traditionally, religious ceremonies are held in a church or place of worship. Although more weddings are taking place in venues like gardens or halls, this hasn’t always been the case.
There are many different ways to ask your guests to come over. The traditional British spelling of “honor” indicates that the ceremony will be held in a church or another house of worship. Here are few options:
- “the pleasure of your company”
- “at the marriage of their children”
- “would love for you to join them”
- “invite you to celebrate with them”
- “honor of your presence”
The Couple’s Names
The names of the people getting married should be written in bold letters at the center of the wedding invitation a few lines after the host line. This cannot be forgotten when adding the wording to a wedding invitation. If this detail were not included on wedding invitations, how would we be able to tell which couple was getting married?
Whose name should come first on the wedding invite? Traditionally, the bride’s name comes before the groom’s name in most formal wedding invitation wording. However, this is optional. You haven’t done anything wrong if you prefer to list the groom’s name before the bride’s on your wedding invitations. There’s room for personal preference when it comes to how you phrase your wedding Invitations.
Even if you and your partner don’t fit the traditional bride and groom roles, you can still decide who goes first without concerning yourselves with gender. You may want to consider how the names sound in either order. Another thing to consider is who proposed marriage. If you need help figuring out your wedding invitation wording, here are some ideas to get you started.
This one might be easy at first glance, but becomes more difficult when you start thinking about the smaller details. Whose name goes first? Do you have to include last names? What about middle names? There really are no right or wrong answers, so do whatever feels most comfortable to you both, but here are a few suggestions:
- For different-sex couples, the bride’s name typically goes first, followed by the groom’s name. If the bride’s parents’ names are listed at the top, the bride’s name can just be her first and middle name (without last name), while the groom’s name is listed in full, or his first and middle names are listed, followed by the line “Son of Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Wong.”
- For same-sex couples, you can list the names in alphabetical order by last name, or in the order you choose (or perhaps in the order that looks best with the invitation design).
- For a less formal feel, you may opt to list first names only.
The Wedding Date and Time
Your wedding invitations should contain enough information about your wedding so guests can attend without any problems. It is important that the date and time on wedding invitations are clear and accurate.
There is room for personal preference. The traditional way of writing out wedding date and time is the best way to prevent confusion. When writing the date and time, it is always best to spell out the entire date and time. If you abbreviate the year on your wedding invitations, it might be confusing to some of your guests. If the wedding is happening early in the year, there is no need for it.
- Traditionally, the date and time should be spelled out in full. For example, if your ceremony is on September 15, 2021, at 4:30 p.m., the wording should read, “Saturday, the fifteenth of September, two thousand twenty-one, at half after four in the afternoon.”
- The day of the week and the month should be capitalized. The year should be lowercase.
- There is no “and” when spelling out the year.
- Time of day should be spelled out as “four o’clock” or “half after four o’clock.” Note that “half after” is the most traditional way to indicate time. However, less formal invitations can use “half past four o’clock” or “four-thirty.”
- Traditionally, there is no need to add phrases such as “in the afternoon” or “in the evening” unless the event takes place at times like 8, 9 or 10. You should then designate “in the morning” or “in the evening” for clarity. However, some stationery designers add these phrases to fill out a line to improve the overall look of the invite design. This is totally up to you and your designer.
- Evening begins at five o’clock, otherwise it is considered afternoon from noon until four o’clock.
It’s important to remember that these formal date and time rules are often broken in more modern invitation designs. For these invitations, the date and time are usually listed using numbers; this is also preferred for more informal weddings.
The Wedding Location
The wedding invitations should include the address where the wedding is taking place. This will help your guests find the wedding venue with no confusion. The city and the state should be correctly written. You want your guests to arrive on time and not be confused by a misprint on your invitations.
List the ceremony venue as follows:
- “Venue Name” on one line with “City, State” on the following line; for formal weddings, the state name is usually spelled out (instead of abbreviations).
- The venue’s street address is traditionally not included (although you may decide to list it), unless it is a private residence.
- Zip codes are not usually included.
The Reception Logistics
The reception typically begins immediately after the wedding ceremony. The reception can be at the same place as the wedding. This is usually the case if the ceremony takes place in a hall or in a garden. If the reception were to be held in a church, the couple would have a separate area for guests to drink, eat and watch the newlyweds share their first dance.
Please include this information on your invitation. You should include the location of the event on the invitations. Let your guest know where the bathroom is located. Sometimes it is always a good idea to have the wedding reception location written on a different card, especially if there isn’t enough space on the wedding invite. This way, your guests can easily reference the information and won’t have to search for it.
The Wedding Dress Code
A dress code makes your wedding more interesting. Dressing your guests in the same pattern as you adds richness and a sense of fun to your wedding. Guests can arrive at the event wearing a selected color combination. Include the dress code on your wedding invitations in the lower section, on the left or right side, depending on what you prefer.
How to RSVP
The wedding invitation card should include a RSVP card. This way, your guest can fill it out and return it to you.
A telephone number could also be included. This can be a relative from either the groom’s or bride’s side. If guests need to provide any info to the couple before the RSVP deadline, they can call the number provided.
“The honor of your presence” We would be delighted if you could join us for our special day. Please let us know if you can make it by RSVPing below.
What You Should Avoid In Your Wedding Invitations:
There are a few things to keep in mind while wording your wedding invitations to make sure they are polite and accurate. To avoid making an embarrassing mistake when inviting someone over, be sure to check out our list of tips from experts.
– Don’t Write Information Onto The Bottom Of The Wedding Invite
– The wedding invitation should only include the couple’s names and the date and location of their ceremony. All other information should be included on separate enclosure cards.
– You don’t want your guests to miss important details or information about your wedding, so it’s better not to print anything on the back of the invitation. Many guests won’t bother looking at the back.
– Don’t Write The Bride’s Married Name
– Guests often get confused about what name to use for the bride before the wedding and after she’s had an official name change.
– Don’t Put The Line “No Kids”
Some couples want to And that’s perfectly understandable. But it’s important to let your guests know. The best way to let your guests know that it is a child-free wedding is to include this information on an enclosure card and by addressing the invitation only to the couple and not to the family.
When Should our Wedding Invitations be Sent Out?
In order to send your wedding invitations in a timely fashion, aim to stick to the following timeline:
- 4–5 months before the wedding: Order wedding invitations
- 6–8 weeks before the wedding: Mail wedding invitations
If you are hosting a wedding at a location that is not local to most of your guests, or if you are getting married on a holiday weekend, you will need to factor in more time so that your guests can make travel arrangements. Mail your wedding invitations three months ahead of time.
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