Wedding Invitation Wording

Wedding invitation wording needs to be selected carefully in order for your wedding to be a success. After all, your wedding invitation wording communicates many things to your guests, such as how they should dress, where the wedding and reception will be held, and whether or not your wedding will be following a certain theme. At the same time, you are limited to only a certain amount of space on your invitation. Therefore, your wording must be chosen carefully.

General Etiquette Rules

There are several general etiquette rules that should be followed with wedding invitation wording. First of all, it should be kept formal. Therefore, words such as “honor” are spelled as “honour” because this is considered to be more formal. In addition, dates and names of towns and states should be spelled out rather than abbreviated.

Your wedding invitation wording should also include the date of you ceremony, where it will take place, and the date and time. If you are planning a black tie wedding, this should also be clear in your invitation. For your reception, you should include a separate printed card providing the same information.

Etiquette for Wedding Invitation Wording When the Bride’s Parents are Paying

With a broad array in family structures and with many people getting married later in life and paying for their own weddings, there is much debate regarding wedding invitation wording. In general, it is considered proper etiquette to include the bride’s parent’s names on the wedding invitation if they are paying for the wedding.

In this case, the invitation should be worded in such a way that the bride’s parents are announcing the upcoming nuptials and requesting the honor of having others attend the ceremony. In this case, a proper wording may be:

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Holton
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sherry Elizabeth
to
Scott Brian Murphy
on Saturday, the fifteenth of July
two thousand and six
at four o’clock
Blessed Heart Church
Royal Point, Indiana

Etiquette for Wedding Invitation Wording When the Couple is Paying for the Wedding

If you have decided to pay for your own wedding, your wedding invitation wording may be a bit different. Rather than having the bride’s parents requesting the honor of the guests’ presence, you will request it on your own.

In this case, your wedding invitation wording may be:

Sherry Elizabeth Holton
and
Scott Brian Murphy
request the honour of your presence
at their marriage
on Saturday, the fifteenth of July
two thousand and six
at four o’clock
Blessed Heart Church
Royal Point, Indiana

Etiquette for Wedding Invitation Wording When the Groom’s Parents are Paying

In today’s age, it is not uncommon for the groom’s parents to pay for the wedding rather than the bride’s parents. In this case, appropriate wedding invitation wording would be:

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Murphy
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
Miss Sherry Elizabeth Holton
to their son
Mr. Scott Brian Murphy
on Saturday, the fifteenth of July
two thousand and six
at four o’clock
Blessed Heart Church
Royal Point, Indiana

Etiquette for Wedding Invitation Wording When the Bride and the Groom’s Parents are Paying

Often, the parents of the bride and the groom both decide to contribute to the cost of the wedding. If this is the case, your wedding invitation wording might be:

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Holton
and
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Murphy
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Sherry Elizabeth and Scott Brian
on Saturday, the fifteenth of July
two thousand and six
at four o’clock
Blessed Heart Church
Royal Point, Indiana

If you have a unique marriage situation, such as parents who are divorced but are paying for the wedding together, you can discuss different wedding invitation wording options with your printer. He or she will be able to help you come up with the perfect way to word the invitations for your big day.

See Also:

Using A Wedding Planning Software Program