Wedding Invitation Wording Etiquette - Bride and Groom Inviting

Wording your wedding invitation the right way is a something you need to get right the first time. Costs of reprinting your invitations are an unnecessary expense that you don't need, on top of everything else, and a little research and planning could make all the difference. Who is paying for the wedding? The major bill payer for the event is always mentioned first. Nowadays many couples contribute the majority of costs themselves and therefore should be the names mentioned as 'hosting' or inviting the guests to witness and celebrate their wedding with them.

Make your wedding invitation personal and sincere and set the mood you are hoping for with your wordings and verses. A comprehensive wedding invitation will show all the information necessary for your guests to attend your wedding such as date, time, location, addresses, dress code and R.S.V.P. information.

Ideally your wedding invitations should be sent at least 8 weeks before the wedding date, however your may need to send out invitations or Save the Date cards to overseas guests well in advance, up to six months, before the wedding date so they may arrange flights and accommodations. Save the date cards are a great idea if you would like to inform your friends of your wedding date but as yet have not finalized the specific arrangements.

Wishing well or gift registry information should never be included in the main wording of the invitation. Separate cards are available for this which can be included within the envelope.

If a Bride and Groom are inviting only, wording example follows;

Bride name and Groom name requests the pleasure of the company of Guests names to the celebration of their marriage on Saturday 25th February, 2010 at St. Anne's Church, 25 Church St Sydney, NSW at 4.00pm and afterwards at Diamond Reception Centre 345 Pacific Hwy Hornsby, NSW ETC.

OR

Guests names The pleasure of your company is requested at the marriage of Bride name and Groom name on Saturday 25th February, 2010 at St. Anne's Church 25, Church St Sydney, NSW at 4.00pm and afterwards at Diamond Reception Centre 345 Pacific Hwy Turramurra, NSW ETC.

It may be the case that you would like to include parents names within the information and such wording could be as follows;

Bride name and Groom name Together with their parents Bride parents names and Groom parents names invite Guest names to their wedding at St. Anne's Church Church address and afterwards at Reception Venue and address. ETC.

A simpler version without mentioning parents actual names may be;

Together with their parents Bride name and Groom name would love to invite Guest names to their wedding at St.Anne's Church Church address and afterwards at Reception Venue and address. ETC.

Of course you can use a left hand margin as above, or more traditionally centre your text down the middle of the invitation.

Example of and informal letter style invitation follows;

Bride name and Groom name

C/- Reply address.

Dear Guest name,

We would be pleased to have you join us to witness and celebrate our marriage on Saturday 25th March, 2010 at St. Anne's Church, 25 Church St Sydney, at 4.00pm.

Please also join us at a reception to be held following the ceremony at 6.00pm at The Diamond Reception Centre, 345 Pacific Hwy, Turramurra NSW.

We look forward to having your company and ask you to honour us with your reply by 25th February, 2010 to the address above.

Dress; Black Tie

Yours sincerely

Bride name and Groom name.

Of course there are many versions and options to choose from depending on you own situation, and our examples should be used as a base only. Add your own special sentences and words as you see fit to make it personal and unique to you. It should be from your heart, and because you are setting a scene with your wedding invitations, it should be as casual or formal as you wish your wedding to be. This is a day you will remember for the rest of your life, and many friends and family members may like to keep their invitation as a keepsake along with photos in an album, so spending time to get your invitation right is important.

DreamDay Invitations can help with all your invitation and stationery needs with an amazing range of designer inspired wedding invitation designs and suggested wordings that can be changed or modified to suit any bride and groom in any situation.

Jenny Coleman is a writer for DreamDay Invitations, writing articles about wedding invitations ideas and wedding invitations.

Wedding Invitation Wording Samples to Use When the Bride and Groom Are Inviting

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One of the most important steps in the process of ordering your wedding invitations is writing the wedding invitation wording.

Formal wedding invitations should follow proper wedding invitation etiquette. All invites, whether formal, casual or traditional or non-traditional should include the following:

* Bride's and Groom's full names (including middle names for formal invites)
* Day and date of the wedding
* The year should be written out on the next line following the date
* Time of the wedding
* Location of the wedding (formal wedding invitations usually just include the name of the church or building, while less formal or casual wedding invitations might also include the street address)
* City and State (do not include zip code)

Those are the essentials, the things that you absolutely MUST include in your wedding invitation wording. Other than that, you can be very creative with the rest of the wording. If you are having a non-traditional wedding, do not feel like you must follow all of the rules of etiquette. You can add a favorite poem, scripture or verse. Or you could write something to reflect your own personal story of how you met and why you are getting married. You could even use a verse that relates to the season in which you are getting married.

Some other things you must think about when writing your wedding invitation wording are things like:

* Who is doing the inviting. (Bride's parents, Bride's and Groom's parents, Bride and Groom, Children of Bride and Groom, etc.)
* If the Bride's or Groom's parents are deceased
* If the Bride's or Groom's parents are divorced
* If it is a second (or third or fourth) marriage
* If the wedding is being held in a Church or at a Home or other non-church location

Here are some samples of wedding invitation wording where the Bride and Groom are doing the inviting:

With joyous hearts
we invite you to attend
the wedding of
LaJune Nashea Hamilton
and
Donovan Ramond Williamson
Saturday, the twenty-fifth of April
Two thousand and ten
at five thirty in the evening
Venetian Terrace
215 Mandalay Canal
Arlington, Texas

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Please join us
for a celebration of
Love, friendship, laughter, and family
as
Audrey Davidson
and
Donny Wolverton
Join their hands in holy matrimony
Saturday, August 22
two thousand and ten
at six o'clock in the evening
Windy Road Ranch
Lubbock, Texas

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Together With Their Parents And Family
Luanna Gutierrez
And
Ryan Jacob Dominguez
Request The Honour Of Your Presence
As They Join Hands In Holy Matrimony
Saturday, The Twenty-First Of November
Two Thousand And Nine
At One O'clock In The Afternoon
Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Hemet, California

--------------------------------------------------------------

Because you have shared in
our lives
by your friendship and love we,
Nicole Bernadette Cypert
and
Nicholas Thomas Jacobson
together with our parents
invite you to share
the beginning of our new life together
when we exchange marriage vows
on Friday, the ninth of May
two thousand eleven
at five o'clock in the evening
Paradise Country Club
Madison, Wisconson

----------------------------------------------------------

You are invited to a celebration
of the beginning of our new life together
as Mari D'Lynn Martin
and
Colton Jeremy Jamison
are united as husband and wife
Friday, the twenty-seventh of March
two thousand and ten
at two o'clock in the afternoon
First Baptist Church
Jersey City, New Jersey

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We joyfully invite you to our wedding celebration.
On this day we will marry the one
we laugh with, live for, dream with, and love.
Please join
Kathryn Marie Longbotham
and
Miles David Thornton
at seven o'clock in the evening
on Friday, June twenty-sixth
two thousand and ten
Wenten Chapel
Roanoke, Virginia

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The honor of your presence
is requested at the marriage of
Allysa Lauren Montgomery,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Paul Montgomery
and
Bodie Todd Forseman
son of Mr. and Mrs. Scott B. Forseman
Sunday, the eleventh of August
Two thousand and eleven
at two o'clock in the afternoon
Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral
Santa Fe, New Mexico

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again, these are just samples of wedding invitation wording. Brides and grooms can get creative and create their own unique wording for their wedding invitation. But these are the basics. If the wedding is more casual, rather than formal, the wording on the wedding invitation can be more casual as well and does not necessarily have to follow all of the proper wedding invitation etiquette rules. One thing to keep in mind though, is that most people are constantly in a hurry and tend to skim whatever they are reading. So, you might want to keep your wording fairly basic.

Tip: Make sure to get someone who has never seen your wedding invitation before to proof read the final copy. They will often find errors which you have missed because you have become too familiar with the wording. Ask them to check the date with a calendar to make sure the date is correct. They should also check for spelling errors as well as grammar. Have them read it out loud to see if everything flows and makes sense.

JoDitt Williams, is an invitation designer and the owner of Joyful Heart Design, an online custom wedding invitation boutique. JoDitt invites you to visit her website to view samples of her contemporary, colorful, delightfully unique, and totally customizable wedding invitations. JoDitt delights in helping her customers create the wedding invitation of their dreams. Please visit http://www.oohandaahweddinginvites.com to view her gallery of invitations that are sure to get lots of "oohs" and "aahs."

A Modern Bride's Guide to Modern Wedding Invitation Wording

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Invitation Wording and Etiquette

So you've finally picked out the perfect wedding invitation design and now you need to figure out how to make it sound like perfection too? Well don't stress, because this modern wedding invitation wording guide will help you out with that part.

Wording Your Invitation

Wedding invitation wording can be broken up into two parts. The beginning few lines that announce that a marriage is taking place and that somebody is inviting you to this marriage is part one. The rest of the logistical information is part two.

Part two is easy. Remember the 5 W's from elementary school - who, what, why, when, and where? If part two of your wedding invitation can answer these five basic questions you are pretty much good to go. As long as you mention times, places, whether or not there will be a reception, and other key information you will be fine. Some people like to long-hand the numbers and times in this section, but it's not necessary. A more formal or traditional invitation design will probably look better with long-hand numbers, whereas a modern invitation design will probably look better with regular numbers. It's really your preference. If you do long-hand the numbers, keep in mind that 33 is written as "thirty-three" with a dash included, not "thirty three". Years are written without dashes (e.g. two thousand and twelve).

Now onto Part 1 - wording those first few lines of your wedding invitations. This may seem like a daunting or painful task, but it's actually pretty straight forward. These few lines basically just announce who is inviting you to the wedding. Usually this part of the wording is based around who is hosting (or paying for) the wedding, but you don't have to follow this tradition if you don't want to. It's your wedding invitation, so feel free to get creative and make it your own. The following sections describe a few different ways to word this part - traditional, modern, and freestyle.

Traditional: Mention the parents

Traditionally, whoever is paying for or hosting the wedding is mentioned on these first few lines and subsequently "asks" the guests to attend in some sort of elegant fashion. This is definitely not required in today's modern wedding environment, however, you will probably want to have a discussion about it with your parents or in-laws so that there are no hurt feelings over whether or not they were mentioned.

Parents of the bride or groom hosting:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith

request the pleasure of your company

at the marriage of their daughter

Jane Smith to Bradley Johnson...

 
Both sets of parents hosting:

 
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith together with

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Johnson

request the honor of your presence

at the marriage of

Jane Smith to Bradley Johnson...

Parents and Families hosting:

The parents and families of

Jane Smith and Bradley Johnson

invite you to attend a wedding on...

Modern: Don't mention anyone, or mention everyone.

If the bride and groom are paying for or hosting the wedding themselves, the wording can start with something like "Celebrate the marriage of.. ", "You are cordially invited to attend the marriage of", "Join us in celebrating our marriage", or something along those lines. Some couples choose to mention their families as well which is another option. An example of this type of wording would be "Together with their families...".

Bride and groom hosting - 1:

The pleasure of your company is requested as

Jane Smith and Bradley Johnson

join together in marriage...

Bride and groom hosting - 2:

We would be delighted if you could join us

in celebrating the joyous occasion of our marriage

Jane Smith and Bradley Johnson...

Bride and groom and families hosting:

Together with their families

Jane Smith and Bradley Johnson

invite you to celebrate

the union of their marriage...

Freestyle: Just do it however you want!

This one is pretty self explanatory. Forget the rules, forget who's hosting and just go wild with whatever floats your boat. The trick is to make sure you don't go too crazy and not leave enough room for the super important details like time and place. Remember that this is an invitation, so as long as you get the point across that there is an event happening at a certain place and time and we want you to attend, feel free to get creative after that.

Freestyle example:

We would like the warmth of our family and friends

to warm our hearts during the ceremony of our marriage

John Dawlings and Kate Spryer

Intro Wording Variations

Request your presence...

Your presence is requested...

Request the pleasure of your company...

You are invited to celebrate the marriage of...

Celebrate the marriage of...

Join us to celebrate the marriage of...

Request the honor of your presence...

The honor of your presence is requested...

Join us for a celebration in honor of...

For more great examples of wedding invitation wording, visit Modern Girl Invitations

Summer Fielding is a wedding invitation expert with Modern Girl Invitations. View Modern Girl Invitations modern wedding invitations page for additional wording ideas.