Wedding Invitation Wording
Having the proper wedding invitation wording is critical and essential to any wedding. When deciding on your wedding invitation phrases, the formality and structure depends on what kind of wedding you’re having, and even where the wedding is taking place.
In the following examples, the wording will reflect a traditional and typically standard format, in which the parents of the bride or groom, or the bride and groom themselves, are the ones inviting.
For a church wedding, the wording should be at it’s most formal, and there are typically two ways of structuring it, as follows:
Mr. and Mrs. George William Anderson
request the honor of
.......................
presence at the marriage of their daughter
Lindsey Marie
with
Mr. Stephen Johnson
Thursday, the first of May
Two thousand and nine
at two o'clock in the afternoon
St. Mary's Church
3601 N. Division
Spokane, WA
Mr. and Mrs. George William Anderson
request the honor of your presence
at the ceremony at which their daughter
Lindsey Marie
and Mr. Stephen Johnson
Will be united
in the Sacrament of Holy
Matrimony
On the first of June
Two thousand and nine
at six o'clock in the evening
Presbyterian Church
100 First Ave
Boise, ID
In the first example, the names of the person or persons being invited will be hand written in the space provided for that purpose. On formal invitations such as this, forgo using the initials of R.S.V.P., and use the phrase “Please Reply,” instead.
For a home wedding, the invitation wording structure will remain about the same, but the phrase “request the honor of your presence,” is replaced by, “request the pleasure/honor of your company.” Whether you use the term pleasure or honor is a matter left to personal preference.
If you’re having your wedding in the country or at a resort in which you’ll be providing alternate transportation to the reception, your wedding invitations should be supplemented with an additional note with instructions, something along the lines of:
A shuttle to the reception will be available
Leaving every fifteen minutes from
The Sheraton Hotel
3601 E. Main Street
If the wedding is going to take place at a friend or relatives home, the wedding invitation wording should contain that information:
The pleasure of your company is requested
at the marriage of
Miss Lindsey Marie Anderson
to
Mr. Stephen Johnson
on Monday, the tenth of September
at twelve o'clock
at the residence of
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Christopher Daniel
1235 W 19th Street
For a “quiet” wedding, which may be the result of a recent death in the family or other personal preferences, in which only immediate family and very close friends are invited, the only invitation necessary is a short note written by the bride-to-be or her mother. In this situation, the wedding invitation wording would be less formal, in letter form:
Dear Carol:
Three weeks from Sunday, on the twenty-second of March, Mr. Johnson and I are to be married. We are asking only a few of our most intimate friends to be present, and would be very glad to have you among them. The ceremony will take place at three o’clock.
With kindest regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
Lindsey M. Anderson
Wedding Announcement cards are sent after the wedding has taken place, often to those who did not receive invitations, and in some cases in lieu of wedding invitations. The wording can be plain and simple, as displayed on these samples:
Beach Swirl Just Married Photo Card
Lavender Flourish Just Married Wedding Announcement
Blue Nameplate Just Married Photo Card
Or the wording can be just as formal as an invitation might be, as follows:
Mr. and Mrs. George William Anderson
announce the marriage of their daughter
Lindsey Marie
to
Mr. Stephen Johnson
on Thursday, February the fifth
two thousand and nine
