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Welcome to our video series of the top 20 questions brides ask when planning their wedding. One of the questions I regularly get is “How Do I Word My Wedding Invitation” followed by a specific scenario. We cannot address every scenario, but we will cover the most common scenarios. All examples shown are for a formal, traditional wedding invitation.
Read along with the text below:
SLIDE ONE: It is tradition that the bride’s parents pay for the wedding. If this is what is happening in your situation, the invitation starts with the bride’s parent’s name. Formal wording is always “request the honour of your presence at the marriage of…” Notice that the groom’s name has the honorific of Mr.; the date and time is written out, not with numbers. No abbreviations are used in the address.
SLIDE TWO: If the groom’s parents are sponsoring the wedding, the wording changes. The groom’s parents names are at the top of the Notice that the honorific of Miss is used on the bride’s name, and not the groom’s name.
SLIDE THREE: If both the bride’s parents AND the groom’s parents are sharing the cost of the wedding, their names are both listed at the top of the invitation. The bride’s parents are listed first, followed by the groom’s parents. Notice that both the bride and groom have the honorific of Miss and Mr. before their names.
SLIDE FOUR: Many couples pay for their own wedding, and the wording of the invitation again changes. In this case, the invitation simple states: “The honour of your presence is requested at the marriage of Susan Margaret Alexander to James Wilson…etc. Notice that neither the bride nor groom has an honorific applied to their names.
SLIDE FIVE: Sometimes, due to the cost of the wedding reception, more people are invited to the wedding ceremony than the wedding reception. In this situation, you would send a ceremony invitation to your entire guest list. A ‘reception card’ with date, time and place is enclosed in the invitations that go to the guest who are invited to the reception. The Reception Card is placed in front of the Ceremony Invitation.
SLIDE SIX: Sometimes, the wedding ceremony is a private or family affair, and the reception is opened up to more guests. In this situation, everyone on the guest list would receive a Reception Invitation. The limited list of those who are invited to the ceremony would receive a Ceremony Card which would state the date, time and place of the ceremony. The Ceremony card is place in front of the Reception Card.
If parents are divorced, remarried, widowed, or if a family member or friend pays for the wedding, there is specific wording for each of these situations. Your printer or wedding invitation supplier has examples of wording—whether formal, contemporary, or informal. Speak with them directly, for they are the experts in their field.
Good luck, and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
