Wedding Invitation Wording

Gogo 06/04/2015 No Comments

Wedding Invitation Wording

Wedding invitation wording – What to write on your wedding Invitation.

The thought of choosing the right wedding invitation wording overwhelms you? There’s no need to panic, think of it as the business card of your wedding. It’s the first thing that announces the big event, (unless you use a “save the date” card), but it also reveals to your guests a little piece of your personality, as well as the theme and atmosphere you are planning to create at your wedding.

Don’t let yourself be intimidated by the myriad of wedding invitation types available out there these days. First and foremost, you and your husband-to-be must decide whether you want to go for a classic, modern or personalized wedding invitation. Once you have established that, you’re almost there! Just make sure you respect the do’s and dont’s of wedding invitation wording – these apply no matter what type of invitation you choose.

Wedding Invitation Wording – the Basic Rules

Make sure you mention all the dates and infos. The who, when and where details must be clearly specified in the invitation text. Write down the exact address for the venues where the wedding ceremony and/or reception will take place.

Don’t use punctuation, except after courtesy titles such as Mr. and Dr.

Use capital letters for courtesy titles and proper names, but don’t use them at the beginning of every line (capital letters on wedding invitation texts are treated as the beginning of sentences).

Include the day of the week and spell the numbers in dates (e.g.: Saturday, the first of August).

Spell the hours and mention the time of the day (e.g.: “six o’clock in the evening”, not 6:00 p.m., “two o’clock in the afternoon”, not 2:00 p.m., “half past two”, not 2:30 p.m.).

Spell contractions and abbreviations (e.g.: use “do not” instead of “don’t”, “street” instead of “st”).

Let your guests know if there will be a specific dress code at your wedding (black tie, semi-formal, cocktail attire, beach party attire, casual, red attire, country chic etc). You can write the attire line on the bottom of the wedding invitation.

Wedding Invitation Wording – the Classic Way

WEDDING INVITATION WORDING

 

Simple, elegant and timeless, the classic wedding card slipped in a simple envelope works great if you are the romantic type and you want your wedding to be traditional. Here’s how the text should look like on a classic wedding invitation:

Mr. and Mrs……… (proper name of the hosts)
request the honour of your presence (if there will be worship services or the wedding will take place in a church) or request the honour of your company (if the service will not be a worship service)
at the marriage of their daughter ……. (bride’s first name only)
to ………. (groom’s full name)
Saturday, the first of August (day of wedding)
at two o’clock in the afternoon
(time of wedding)
at………  (name of the location)

Traditionally, wedding invitation wording is written in third-person and begin with the proper names of the people hosting the event. For example:

Mr. and Mrs. Michael S. Jones (if one set of parents is hosting)

Mr. and Mrs. Michael S. Johnson
and
Mr. and Mrs. John Moore 
(if both sets of parents are jointly hosting)
Ms. Anne Marie Johnson
and

Mr. Phillip Moore (if
the couple is hosting)
Ms. Anne Marie Johnson
and

Mr. Phillip Moore
together with their parents


Mr. and Mrs. Michael S. Jones
and
Mr. and Mrs. John Moore (if
everyone is hosting)

As for the rest of the text, some of the most common lines for traditional wedding invitation wording is:

…. request the pleasure of your company/ presence…

would like you to help celebrate the marriage of…

… would consider it a blessing if you could be present at the marriage of…

  …invite you to celebrate with them at the marriage of…

 

Wedding Invitation wording – the modern way

These are slightly unexpected, yet not too rampant or theatrical wedding invitations, with semi-formal texts, but non-classical format and materials, such as embossed paper, box wrapped in silk instead of traditional envelopes, lace, ribbons,  pearls, brooches or other small jewerelly used as stylish details to make the invitation stand out etc. If you want a modern wedding that follows the latest trends in fashion and interior design, your wedding card should also be “in fashion”.

As opposed to classic wedding invitations, the modern ones are not so formal and you can personalize them by using the “we” pronoun instead of third person. You can write your full name or just your first names, you can mention your parents’ names or not. The text can also be more relaxed and playful than the traditional wedding invitation wording. Try something unpretentious, but funny and catchy, such as:

We, …….. (bride’s name) and ……… (groom’s name), met each other, liked each other and now we are getting married! As joy can only be complete when shared with the loved ones, we would like to have you by our side on the day of our wedding!

We wanted it, you awaited it. We hesitated, but still… we, ……..  and ………, are getting married! Therefore we invite you to celebrate with us the beginning of our life together on…. (date, time and location).

The rumour you have heard lately is true: ……. and ……… will say “I do” from the bottom of their hearts on…. (date, time, location).

Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy… In order to find out the rest of the story, we invite you to celebrate the wedding of ……. and ……… The ceremony will take place at …. (location, date and time).

Cancel all your plans for Saturday, the first of August 2015, because……… and ..…… are getting married and you are invited to celebrate with them! Come sing, dance, eat and drink at …….. (wedding location and time).

No matter what words and tone you are using for your wedding card, make sure you mention all the “technical data” of the event: date, time, location, whether there will be a religious ceremony, a wedding reception or both, whether there is a dress code or not.

Personalized wedding invitation wording and format:

personalized wedding invitations

If you are not into tradition, nor trends, you can forget about envelopes, fancy calligraphy on embossed paper and formal wedding texts. Let your creativity and imagination go wild and create a wedding invitation that 100% represents your couple.

What passion do you have on common? You both love art? Then create a beautiful wedding invitation using a classic movie poster or a paint palette. Are you into technology and gadgets? There are laptop-shaped wedding cards you can use. If you are rock music fans, go for concert tickets or guitar-shaped wedding invitations. Or you can always use caricatures of yourselves or amusing pics with you and your husband-to-be in order to create funny personalized wedding invitations.

Your wedding theme can also help you find inspiration to announce the big event in your own personal way. For example, if you are getting married on the beach, you can choose message in a bottle wedding invitations. If you have a travel themed wedding, you can use fridge magnets with the cities and places you love. A Spanish inspired wedding can be announced with a creative fan-shaped wedding invitation.

As for the text on your personalized wedding card, just keep it simple and to the point. The unusual format and shape of the invitation is enough to draw the attention, there is no need for over-the-top funny and tricky texts. Use simple and unpretentious words in short clear phrases and use a low-keyed tone that combines humour with courtesy and kindness.  The perfect wedding card is the one that makes you feel special for getting married, but it must also show respect and consideration for the people you want to have by your side when celebrating the big event.