Ultimate Guide to Wedding Invitation Wording
Things You Must Include in Your Wedding Invite:
Before we even get to how you should word your invite, let’s talk about the must-haves. You’d be surprised how easy it is to forget some of the details when putting together your wedding invitations. Sometimes we focus on much on one small detail, like the wording of who is hosting the event, that we forget to put the actual start time of the ceremony. Ha! You laugh now, but I’ve actually received an invite once that completely omitted the start time! So, to help you out we put together a list of the non-negotiable elements of your wedding invite wording:
Who's hosting (This is really only important if you are going the formal route)
The request to come to the wedding
The names of the bride and groom
The date
The time it starts
The location
Reception information (unless including a details card)
Dress code (can also be included in details card)
RSVP information (unless including an RSVP card)
Wedding website (unless including an RSVP card or details card)
Formal Wedding Invitation Wording
As you probably know by know, weddings are pretty darn expensive. So, the party paying for it (or the majority of it) might care how you address the invitation. Traditionally, the bride’s family “hosts” the wedding (a.k.a. pays for the whole thing, so traditionally their names go first in the invitation. Today, not everyone follows the traditional wedding etiquette and it’s not expected that the bride’s family pays for everything. Some families split the costs and some couples opt to pay for the whole thing themselves. If you’re having trouble wording your invitations to everyone’s liking, try out these formal wording samples that are tried and true:
Parents of couple hosting together
Dr. and Mrs. David Salinger Lee
and Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Boar
Invite you to celebrate the marriage of their children
Theodora Grace Lee and Clarice Thomas Boar
Saturday, the fifth of October, two thousand and twenty
Six o'clock in the evening | The Inn at Trinity | Palo Alto, California
Reception to follow
Bride’s family hosting
Mr. and Mrs. Robert DeNiro
Invite you to join in the
Celebration of the marriage of their daughter
Claire Anne to
Jonathan Edward II
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Gage
Saturday, May 11
Two thousand twenty
at two thirty in the afternoon
St. Mary's Basilica, Chicago, IL
Reception to follow at four thirty in the afternoon, The Ivy Room
Couple hosting
Together with their families
Sadie May Smith
and
Quincy Robert Greene
Request the honor of your presence as they
Tie the knot
Friday May Seventeenth, Two Thousand Twenty
At three o'clock in the afternoon
Conservatory Garden
Central Park
New York, New York
Informal / Casual Wedding Invitation Wording
Are you over the fuss? Just looking for a fun and unique way to invite your friends to your wedding? Throwing wedding etiquette to the wind? Then look no further! Here are some simple informal ways to tell everyone about your impending nuptials are on the way:
Good food, great music, and bad dancing
Join us for a wonderful evening of merriment and marriage
Love is in the air
Join us as we say I do
We’re getting hitched!
You could also try incorporating a bible verse or some literary quotes to make the invitation more personal to you and your relationship.
Whether you are going super formal and adhering to traditional wedding etiquette, or you’re breaking the mold and going for something truly unique, we’d love to chat about how the Flourish co can help you achieve the perfect invitation for your big day! Holler at us by dropping a line to → mary@theflourish.co