Ways To Word Your Invitation
As you make decisions leading up to your wedding, you will get a lot of advice. Sometimes it can seem like there are a set of wedding rules you have to follow. But like any rule, they exist to be broken. No one like you and your fiancé have ever gotten married before, so do it your way.
Below is a guide (not rules!) to help you and your darling start to come up with your perfect invitation wording.
Host Line
Invitations usually begin by introducing who is hosting your wedding. Traditionally, the parents of the bride host the wedding. Today, more and more parents of both the bride and groom co-host. In this case, the name of the parents of the groom can be added either below the parents of the bride on their own line or below the groom’s name (i.e. son of…).
If you are hosting the wedding and reception or just want to set a more casual tone, think about starting your invite with one of these options:
“Together with their families”
“Join us for a wonderful day of laughter and merriment”
“Because you have shared in our lives and supported our love story, we”
“With great joy you are invited to celebrate the marriage of”
Names
Okay, this seems obvious but there are many options. Whose name goes first? Will you list both middle names, last names, one last name or no last names? Will the names be on the same line or different lines? There are no right or wrong answers, but here is the traditional choice: the bride's first name and middle name are used, followed by the groom's first and last name (his middle name can also be included). The bride's last name can be added if preferred. The bride's last name is traditionally omitted if her parents are hosting and if she has the same last name.
Details
So when and where is this going down? Let’s start with the when. The date and time is usually written on the three consecutive lines following the couples' names in the following order: Date, Year, Time. Traditionally, you spell out numbers and capitalized proper nouns only.
• Day of the week, date, month (ie: Saturday, the third of August)
• Year (ie: Two-thousand and eighteen)
• Time (ie: five o'clock in the evening) Traditional note: times such as two-thirty should be written as "half after two in the afternoon" and all times between 1 o'clock and before 4 o'clock are considered afternoon, while anything on or after five o'clock is considered evening. Who knew, right?
Next is the where. Ceremony location name is usually followed by city and state (ie: Morning Glory Farm, Monroe, NC) The street address does not have to be included, unless it’s not easy to find using Google. If you choose to add the address, zip code isn’t needed.
Reception
What’s happening after the wedding? This is where you can have some fun and let guests know what's to come. If the reception is at another location, you can either include it here or add a reception card with those details. Here are some examples:
“Dinner, dancing and merriment to follow.”
“Wild celebration to follow.”
“Cake, punch and revelry to follow.”
“Party to follow at The Fairmont.”
Dress Code (Optional)
If you'd like to specify attire for your guests, this can be worded as follows depending on your request:
“Black tie”
“Black tie optional”
“Cocktail attire”
Have a questions not answered here? Please email us at hello@reveriepaperco.com so we can help!
