Wedding Invitations

Wedding Invitations Tips

By Anna Lynn Sibal

Wedding invitations function as announcements that the bride and groom are getting married at a certain time and a certain place. They also serve as requests to people deemed special by the bride and groom for them to witness the ceremony of their union. It is always considered an honor to be invited to a wedding.

There are many ways to word wedding invitations. If you are writing one, here are a few pointers that you should bear in mind when wording your wedding invitation.

The Necessary Information

It does not matter whether or not the wedding is going to be casual or formal, whether it is going to be held during the day or in the evening, or whether or not it is to be held locally or is a destination wedding, a wedding invitation should always contain the necessary information:

• Who are going to be married
• Where is the ceremony going to take place
• Where is the reception, if it is to be in a separate venue
• The date and the time of the wedding
• The names, phone numbers and email addresses of the people to contact for RSVP

These bits of information should always be included in a wedding invitation.

Degree of Formality

wedding invitations always fall into two distinct categories: formal and informal. Formal wedding invitations always take the traditional form. An example would be:

Anna Marie Hall and Thomas Evans
request the honor of your presence
at their wedding on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

If it is going to be an informal wedding, the wording of the wedding invitation could take many other forms, such as this one:

We are going to have the journey of a lifetime.
Anna Marie Hall and Thomas Evans
ask you to see them off as they embark on this journey on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

Who is Hosting?

Who is hosting the wedding may also factor in on how the wedding invitation is to be worded. It could be the parents of the bride or the bridal couple themselves. The wording further depends on whether or not the parents are still together, which of them is really hosting the wedding, and if they have remarried.

For weddings hosted by the bridal couple themselves, here is the usual format of the invitation:

Anna Marie Hall and Thomas Evans
request the honor of your presence
at their wedding on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

If the wedding is to be hosted by the bride's parents and they are still together, the wording could be like this:

Mr. and Mrs. James Hall
request the honor of your presence
at the wedding of their daughter
Anna Marie Hall
to
Thomas Evans
on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

If one of the bride's parents is already deceased, only the surviving parent's name appears on the invitation.

Mr. James Hall (or Mrs. Nina Hall, if the husband is the one deceased)
requests the honor of your presence
at the wedding of his (her) daughter
Anna Marie Hall
to
Thomas Evans
on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

The same format applies if the parents are divorced and only one of them is hosting the wedding.

If the bride's parents are divorced and they have since remarried, they could jointly host the wedding and their names would all appear on the invitation.

Mr. and Mrs. James Hall
and
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Lawrence
request the honor of your presence
at the wedding of their daughter
Anna Marie Hall
to
Thomas Evans
on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

If it is just the mother of the bride and the stepfather of the bride who would be hosting the wedding, then the invitation would be like this:

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Lawrence
request the honor of your presence
at the wedding of their daughter
Anna Marie Hall
to
Thomas Evans
on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

Not a First Wedding

It can be difficult to word a wedding invitation if this is not the first time that the bride has married and if there are already children from a previous marriage. There are nonetheless many ways to get it done.

If the parents of the bride are the ones hosting, then the wedding invitation would be worded in this way:

Mr. and Mrs. James Hall
request the honor of your presence
at the wedding of their daughter
Anna Marie Hall Peters
to
Thomas Evans
on
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

If it is the bride and groom who are hosting the wedding and they would like to emphasize the union of their two families, the wedding invitation could be like this:

Ms. Anna Marie Peters
and her children, Jennifer Peters and Joanna Peters
and
Mr. Thomas Evans
and his son, Andrew Evans
request the honor of your presence
at the union of their families
[date of wedding]
[time of wedding]
[venue of wedding]
[address of the wedding venue]

Other Considerations

It is really up to you how you would word your wedding invitations. You can write them just as you like them; after all, it is your wedding.

However, do not order and send out your wedding invitations until you have confirmed the venue of the ceremony and the reception. It would be a waste of time and money to order new ones or to call up everyone you have invited to inform them of the changes in the venues.