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It’s a blissful feeling once you’ve found your dream wedding invitation, but the quest for the perfect announcement isn’t over just yet. There’s still the small matter of deciding what to say and how to word it.
In the hope of saving you some precious time, we’ve rounded up all the tips you need – from rules of thumb to wording templates – to tell them about your big day in the most beautiful of ways.
Here comes the guide…
Traditionally this is the bride’s parents, but you can name whoever who wish – both families, you and your other half, step parents, or even your children.
Traditional and religious ceremonies call for formal wording e.g. ‘request the pleasure of your company…’. Modern and civil services lend themselves to more casual language like ‘Join us to celebrate….’
Usually, the bride’s name comes before the groom’s. Names on same-sex invitations can be arranged alphabetically or in which ever order has the best ring to it!
Formal invitations tend to list the entire address, including postcode. But with Google at our fingertips, it’s becoming a trend to simply put the venue and city – your guests will figure out the rest.
Stick to standard time and date formatting for a traditional feel or be a little more creative by writing out your dates in full, e.g. ‘Tenth of August Two Thousand and Nineteen’. You can also reference styles used by other nationalities if you’re getting married abroad.
Let your guests know where the reception will be held and what time they can expect it finish.
You can include instructions on how and when to RSVP at the bottom of your invitation, your info card or a separate RSVP card. We recommend an RSVP cut-off of 4 weeks before the wedding.
[bride’s first name] & [groom’s first name] are tying the knot!
[location]
[date]
[time]
[reception]
[bride’s full name] and [groom’s full name]
invite you to the ceremony and celebration of their marriage
[date]
[time]
[location]
[mother of the bride’s name] and [father of the bride’s full name]
request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter
[bride’s full name] to [groom’s full name]
[location]
[date and time]
[mother of the groom’s first name] & [father of the groom’s first name]
invite you to witness the love and come party at the marriage
[groom’s first name] to [bride’s first name]
[location]
[date and time]
[Together with their families or something similar]
[bride’s full name] and [groom’s full name]
Request the pleasure of your company at their marriage
[date and time]
[location]
[bride’s full name] and [bride’s full name]
Invite you to share in their love as they exchange vows
[date and time]
[location]
[child/children’s name(s)]
request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their parents
[bride’s name] to [groom’s name]
[location]
[date and time]
[father of the bride’s name and [mother of the bride’s name]
Invite you join them in celebration of the marriage of their daughter
[bride’s full name]
to
[groom’s full name]
son of
[groom’s parents]
[date]
[time]
[location]
[father of the bride’s full name] & [mother of the bride’s full name]
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
[bride’s name] option to omit surname if parents have different names
to
[groom’s name]
[date and time]
[location]
[groom’s full name] and [groom’s full name]
invite you to sunny Marrakech to share in their wedding celebration
[location]
[dates and time]
[bride’s full name]
daughter of [mother/father of the bride’s full name] and the late [deceased parent’s full name]
and
[groom’s full name]
son of [groom’s parents’ names]
request the pleasure of your presence
at their marriage
[location]
[date]
[time]
[mother/father of the bride’s name]
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of [her/his] daughter
[bride’s first name]
to
[groom’s first name]
[location]
[date and time]
Join us for the wedding of
[bride’s first name] & [groom’s first name]
[first location ]
[date and time]
And afterwards at [second location]
[bride’s first name] and [groom’s first name]
invite you to share and celebrate their wedding day
[date]
[time]
[location]
[bride’s first initial] & [groom’s first initial]
invite you to for dinner and dancing at their wedding reception
[date]
[time]
[location]
[optional note to say why you were unable to invite them to your ceremony]
All our invitations come with the option to add a matching info card – a place to add any extra details that won’t fit on your main invitation.
If you’re inviting children to your big day, then make this clear on your invitation by including their names or the parents’ names + ‘and family. If you’ve chosen not to invite children, a note such as: ‘As we have chosen an intimate service, it’s only possible to accommodate the children of immediate family.’ will politely let your guests know they need to arrange a childminder.
If your wedding venue isn’t the easiest to find, add some directions for guests. For example, “Follow signs for ‘Bramley’ on the A3 for nine miles until you reach Gate Barn House.” Or if your evening reception takes place at a separate venue to your ceremony, include directions to let guests know how to get to your second location.
You can add details of your wedding gift registry or a brief note to say: ‘No gifts please’. If you’d like to give any monetary donations to a charity that’s close to your heart, the info card is also a good place to mention this.
You can add the url of your wedding website or the hashtag you want guests to use when they share photos from your special day. (A wedding website is particularly useful for destination weddings – it enables you to share detailed travel info, such as the closest airport and affordable, nearby hotels.)
Set out whether there’s a dress code: black tie, semi-formal, cocktail attire, summer suits, etc. You can also specify (or simply leave this information off) if there’s no dress code.
Ask guests to let you know about any dietary requirements or restrictions when they RSVP.
If you’d prefer guests not to snap and share during your ceremony or even your entire wedding, you can kindly let them know. For example: ‘Please keep snaps under wraps until we’ve posted our first photo to Facebook.”
If you’re putting on a coach or other form of transportation for your guests, tell them exactly when and where they need to get picked up/dropped off.
