Wedding Invitation Wording Etiquette

~Say It With Class~

Wedding invitation wording etiquette is all about getting your invitations right with class. You don't want to start off with a "faux pas" on your invitations.

Your wedding invitations are your guests first look at your wedding. You want to show good wedding invitation etiquette as you word and design them. When I was in the process of finalizing our wedding invitations, I had a brain freeze on how to spell my father's name. I wanted it right, so I swallowed my pride and called to double check. After 14 years, he still gives me a hard time about it. Yet, I know it would have been worse if I had gotten it wrong. So be sure to double check everything, and I mean everything.

Wedding invitation wording etiquette used to be as simple as the families the bride and groom came from. However, tradition and families have changed over the years, along with that the wording used on wedding invitations. The questions of: Whose names appear first?, Should the parents be included at all?, What if one of my parent's have passed away? and many others will be addressed below.

The Basics

Let us start with the basics of the wedding invitation wording etiquette. When starting out, you need to decided who is hosting the event. Traditionally it has been the bride's parents because they were the ones paying for the wedding. In a more modern context, more couples are paying for their own wedding or the groom's family is paying. Whoever is paying are the ones who are hosting.

Next, you need to decided the wording you will use. In a formal wedding setting, the words could be, "...request the honour of your presence" or "...the honour or your company is requested." A less formal setting could be, "...would like you to join them in celebrating" or "...would love it if you could share our special day." These are just a couple of examples of good wedding invitation manners when it comes to wording. It is up to you and how you want the invitation to feel.

There are some rules that you will need to follow, whether your invitations are formal or informal. They include:

• Proper names and titles are always capitalized
• Numbers are always spelled out (this includes date, year and time)
• Punctuation is used after titles, i.e. Mr. or Mrs.
• Formal titles should be spelled out, such as Doctor or General
• Avoid abbreviations. It looks so much better when everything is spelled out
• The time should be spelled out as if you are describing the hands of a clock, i.e. half past four, Two o'clock in the afternoon.

The Wording

The following are some examples of proper wedding invitation wording etiquette with different scenarios:

Bride's parents hosting the wedding~

Once you have decided on the best use of wedding invitation wording etiquette, you will want to be sure to proofread the invitation before it is sent to print. There is nothing worse than getting your invitation order back to find a name misspelled or the date/time listed incorrectly. You will have peace of mind that this will go well after you take the time to  proofread.

Make sure if you would like to have the return address printed on the outer envelope, good envelope etiquette is to have one address printed. Decided which address (bride's parents or groom's parents) you will have the address to be.

When you are ready to send them, be sure to follow wedding invitation addressing etiquette, to get it just right. Your guests will be so excited to receive the beautiful invitation requesting them to share your wonderful day.