Wedding Invitation Wording

 

Once you have set the date for your wedding you will need to notify your guest of your up and coming wedding.  It is best you do this as soon as possible to allow them time to arrange for flights and time off work.  You may not have all the details of your wedding yet like the exact time or even the venue but you can still notify your guests with what is called a save the date card.  Save the date cards allow you to inform your guest of the date and location of your wedding before any of the other details are finalized.  This will give you time to plan more of the details of your wedding before you send out your wedding invitations.
When to send out the Invitations
The general rule is that wedding invitations go out six weeks prior to the wedding.
 
Choosing your words

There’s no reason to feel overwhelmed at the thought of writing your own unique and personal wedding invitations. There is often a lot of information that needs to be communicated to wedding guests, and there are just as many ways in which to do it, all depending on the tone of your wedding. Following are some basic rules and suggestions to help you create a wedding invitation where the words reflect your personality and the mood of your wedding.

Writing the invitation
  • I’ve put together some basic rules to help give consistency to your invitations and other wedding stationery. These are relevant to all types of weddings; however you may prefer to write your invitations differently.
  • Make sure you include the names of the bride and groom and of course the details of the ceremony and reception. It may also be appropriate to include the names of parents if they are hosting the wedding (usually this is the parents of the bride but you can include the groom’s parents as well).
  • Be consistent with your tone. Whether the invitation is written in a fun and casual manner or more formally, be sure to carry this across all your stationery.
  • If you are getting married in a church the traditional invitation wording of  'request the honour of your presence' should be used.
  • If you are not getting married in a church then the more casual words of ‘request the pleasure of your company’ are more suitable.
  • The word 'and' in between two names typically implies that your hosts or guests are married. If your guests are not married then place one name above the other
Tips
  • Always use the correct names of your guests, if you don’t know the name of someone’s partner, ask them so their name can appear on the invitation
  • If you have a gift registry include a small separate card with the details.
  • Check all spelling once, twice and then again and in particular check your guests names!
Writing Your Wedding Invitation Wording

Why is your wedding invitation wording so important?
Your wedding invitation wording needs to present a great deal of information to its recipients, so keep in mind not to muddle your wedding invitations with to many needless verses. Your wedding invitation wording should contain all of the significant details to your guests regarding your wedding. Your wedding invitations should contain the full names of the nuptials, the wedding date, venue and location as well as time of the ceremony. The wedding invitation wording should also contain information about the reception location, the start and end times of the event, and dress code. Don’t overlook the RSVP date and contact particulars. Maps and gift registry information can be incorporated with the wedding invitation but on a separate card not in the wedding invitation text. Make sure these are printed in the same gorgeous fonts as your wedding invitation.  
Traditionally whoever paid for the wedding were considered the hosts and were therefore given the right to have their name in print on the wedding invitation.
However with cost splitting, remarriages and re-remarriages the humble wedding invitation is beginning to read more like the wedding family tree.
Here are some suggestions for the wedding invitations opening lines:
Brides parents hosting
Brides parents name
request the honour of
wedding guest's name
presence
at the marriage of their daughter
brides name
with
grooms name
at...
Grooms parents hosting
Grooms parents
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
brides name
to their son
grooms name
Brides parents and grooms parents hosting
Brides parents
together with
Grooms parents
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Bride
with
Groom
Bride and Groom Hosting
Bride
and
Groom
request the pleasure of the company of
wedding guest's name
to share in the celebration of our marriage
at....
Bride and groom with parents hosting
Together with their parents
Bride
and
Groom
request the pleasure of the company of
wedding guest's name
at their marriage
at...
Bride's Parents together with Groom's parents as hosts
Brides parents
request the pleasure of the company of
wedding guest's name
at the marriage of their daughter
Bride
to
Groom
son of Grooms parents
at...
OR
Brides parents
together with
Grooms parents
request the honour of the company of
wedding guest's name
at the marriage of
brides name
to
grooms name
at...
Brides mother is remarried and she and her new husband are hosting
Mr and Mrs brides mothers new name
request your company at the marriage of her daughter....
Brides mother is remarried and she and her new husband are hosting the wedding together with the grooms parents and brides father is to be included
brides mothers and step fathers name
together with
grooms parents
are delighted to invite you to the marriage of
brides mothers new name and brides fathers name daughter brides name