As soon as you’ve decided on your guest list, it’s time to start thinking about your marriage invitations. The style of your wedding determines the type of invitation you choose. For a large formal wedding, a classic white or ivory paper engraved with black lettering is the most traditional. For smaller, less formal weddings, there are many options available. In any case, these general guidelines for any wedding invitation should be considered.
The sponsors of the wedding:
- Traditionally the bride’s parents, issue the invitations.
- If your parents are divorced, the person who raised you customarily issues the invitations.
- If your parents are deceased, your guardian, closet relatives or family friends may sponsor the wedding and issue the invitations.
- Today, more and more couples are sponsoring their own weddings and it is also perfectly acceptable for both the bride’s and the groom’s parents to share the responsibility.
The Formalities:
- Spell out words in full. This includes names and numbers.
- Use the wording “request the honor of your presence” for a religious service held in a house of worship. For a civil ceremony or the reception, use “request the pleasure of your company”.
- You may request a reply to the invitation using: R.S.V.P., Please respond, Kindly respond, or The favor of a reply is requested.
- The wedding date is spelled out. As is the time of the ceremony.
- Check the correct name of the ceremony site. Many cities have similar sounding venues and many guest will be unfamiliar with the location, indicate the street address beneath the site.
Wording the Invitations
- A formal wedding invitation gives the following information in this order:
This example applies when the bride’s family hosts the wedding
Mr. and Mrs. John Paul Smith
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Suzy Que
to
Steven Richard Wright
Saturday, the sixth of June
at half past three o’clock
First Baptist Church
Charleston, South Carolina
Below are examples of various other ways to word invitations.
If the bride and groom issue their own invitations:
Miss Suzy Que Miller
and Mr. Steven Richard Wright
request the honor of your presence
at their marriage
etc.
When a divorced mother or widow who has not remarried host the wedding:
Mrs. John Neil Smith (if widowed) or,
Brenda Ann Smith, or Mrs. Brenda Ann Smith (if divorced)
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
etc.
When the bride’s mother has remarried after being widowed or divorced:
Mr. and Mrs. John Neil Smith
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of Mrs. Smith’s daughter
(or, if the bride is close to her stepfather, their daughter)
etc.
When divorced parents send a joint invitation: This may be sent if parents are still friendly, but avoid using Mr. and Mrs., since they are no longer married. and list their names on separate lines.
Brenda Ann Smith (or Mrs. John Smith, if remarried)
and
Peter Andrew Miller (or Mr. Peter Andrew Miller)
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Suzy Que Miller
etc.
If the bride’s parents are deceased and the invitation is issued by an older brother or sister:
Mr. Robert Allen Miller
requests the honor of your presence at the marriage of his sister
Suzy Que Miller
etc.
If the invitations are issued by another relative such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle, they would use the same format as above with the proper relationship changes.
For an informal wedding hosted by the bride’s parents, and with the ceremony and reception at some place other than a house of worship, the following style is appropriate.
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Andrew Jones
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Suzy Que
to
Steven Richard Wright
Saturday, the sixth of June
at three o’clock
in the garden
103 Garden Way
Charleston, South Carolina
and afterward at the reception
Another approach that is informal and very personal is to send the wedding invitation in the form of a letter. A calligrapher could write the letter in elegant script and then use the service offered on this site for custom printing.
Dear _________,
We are getting married on Saturday
the sixth of June and would love
for you to share in our celebration.
The ceremony will be held at the
Charleston Battery Gazebo,
Charleston, South Carolina
at four o’clock in the afternoon,
with a reception to follow.
We hope you can join us.
Much Love,
Suzy and Steve
More informal ideas:
With Joyous Hearts
We invite you to attend
the wedding of
Suzy Que Miller
and
Steven Richard Wright
Date
Place
time
reception to follow
reception location
reception time
We joyfully invite you to our wedding celebration.
On this day we will marry the one
we laugh with, live for, dream with, love.
Please Join Us
Suzy Que Miller
and
Steven Richard Wright
Date
Place
time
reception to follow
reception location
reception time
Any of these verses can be used or combined to get the effect you desire. Feel free to contact me from the contact page for questions, assistance, or other ideas. Bookmark this page or sign up for my free bridal newletter on the contact page and be sure to put Newsletter in the subject line.
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Hope that you find this information helpful. Let us know if you have any questions and we’ll be glad to help however we can.
Warm Regards,
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