Figuring out the proper wedding invitation wording can be a vexing undertaking, especially for those brides and grooms who come from blended families or are hosting the wedding themselves. Overall, though, composing your wedding invitation wording should be a simple enough endeavor when compared to wedding planning duties like creating a seating chart or choosing a wedding dress. Luckily, we’re here to help!
First, all wedding invitation wording will begin with a recitation of the names of the hosts. For brides and grooms with two original parents (i.e., no step-parents or deceased parents) each, all hosting, it will read something like “Mr. and Mrs. Male Parent 1 and Mr. and Mrs. Male Parent 2 request the honour of your presence at the wedding of their children, Bride and Groom.” If everyone possible is paying for a wedding, it could read “Together with their parents, Bride and Groom request the pleasure of your company.” For a complicated blended family that includes a deceased parent, wedding invitation wording might read like so: “Parent 1, Parent 2, and Parent 3 request the honor of your presence at the wedding of Bride to Groom, son of Parent 1, Parent 2, and the late Parent 3.” When it comes to writing names, use full names with middle names and include honorifics.
Next comes the nitty-gritty details, like the date and time and wedding venue. Pretty much everything will be spelled out in full, including numerals. Some brides and grooms buck convention and use numbers in their wedding invitation wording, simply to avoid confusion or even to save space. If you feel more comfortable writing 2 p.m. instead of “two in the afternoon,” no one will look askance at your wedding invitation wording. Make sure you include details like “Reception to follow” if your wedding reception will be held at the same venue as your wedding ceremony or the details of your wedding reception if the venue will not be the same.
For formal wedding invitations, here are some quick tips to remember:
- Write out all names in full, including middle names. It is considered proper, however, to omit a middle name rather than use a middle initial for reasons of space or brevity.
- Yes, using the British spelling of words like honor and favor is an affectation, but it’s one that people expect to see and it’s perfectly all right. Go ahead and request the honour of your guests’ presence if you like, or use the American spellings if you’d rather. Both are correct.
- Outside of A.M., P.M., St. (for Saint), and Mt. for Mount, all words should be spelled out in full. For example, a wedding ceremony might be held on “the third of January at two in the afternoon” at “Thirty-five East End Avenue.”
- For wedding ceremonies taking place in a house of worship, use “request the honour of your presence.” For wedding ceremonies taking place in a non-religious setting should say, “request the pleasure of your company.”
What you should not include in your wedding invitation wording is information about your wedding registry or anything along the lines of “adults only.” These are the kind of details the families of the bride and groom should share via word of mouth, though the bride and groom can make it clear that children are not invited to the wedding by addressing their wedding invitations using the full names of the parents without including childrens’ names or “and family.”
(Photo by Sylvar)
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