wording your wedding invitations

how should wedding invitations be worded?

How you word your invitations is just as important as how it looks. If you’re inviting your guests to a formal event, your invitations need to be wording in a more elegant tone. If it’s a more casual wedding, you can definitely be a bit more fun with it. Above all, it’s important that it feels right to you.

Don’t worry, it’s easy.

 

here are some wording tips for your
wedding invitations, rsvp cards and details cards

  • THE HOSTING LINE
    If your parents are hosting, add their names at the top. If you are hosting along with your parents a simple “together with our families, we…” If your parents aren’t involved then you can leave this part out.

    YOUR NAMES
    Think about whether you’d like your full names or not. If you have your parents’ names at the top, it’s not necessary to have your full names. And depending on your style, you don’t have to include your last names.

    DETAILS OF YOUR WEDDING
    You will need; your DATE (with the year), the TIME the ceremony will begin, and the specific LOCATION. You don’t need the address, but rather the full name of the church or venue. (the details can be included on your details card or on your website)

    THE RECEPTION LINE
    If you’re having a reception include the details last on your invitation. If it’s happening at the same location as the ceremony following the ceremony, a simple “reception to follow” line will work well. If you’re asking your guests to go to another location at a different time, include that information. Something like; “Reception to follow at (location) at (specific time)”

  • First: Add a line that says either RSVP, or please reply by… and then the date.
    TIP: Remember that RSVP means “please reply”, so do not write “please rsvp”.

    Second: Leave a specific spot for the guest name/s.

    Third: a place for your guests to reply if they can attend or not. Accept / Decline.

    Extras: You may ask your guests to choose a meal option (if your venue needs that information), or collect any dietary restrictions.

    Sometimes you’d like to have your guests to RSVP to multiple events on the same card. That is totally okay. You don’t need a separate card for each wedding-related event.

  • This can be for anything that you want your guests to know. Here are some common things to have on the details card:
    • accommodation information
    • full addresses of the venue/s
    • map of the location
    • registry information
    • website address
    • other event information (like a morning-after brunch)

 

How should wedding invitations be addressed?

There are traditional and modern forms of addressing envelopes. Traditional addressing still includes Mr. & Mrs. and even Dr. or Drs. (if both are doctors), but it’s not necessary anymore. You can simply write out full names and if they happen to have the same last name just include it after the second name. If you are including children, they would go below the couple’s name on their own line.

Here are some more tips and common questions we get:

  • Every couple invited in a household over the age of 18 should receive their own invitation. If your 24-year-old cousin still lives at home with his parents, he should get his own invitation. 

  • If you do not include children in your addressing, it is assumed that children are not invited. If you think that your Aunt May will still bring all her children with her, it’s important to talk to your family and bridal party and let them know it’s an “adults only” event. Spreading the news is always a good way to subtly let them know. 

    You can also include this detail on your website.

  • Same-sex couples are addressed in the same way as couples with different last names (unless, of course, they have both changed their last names to be the same).