Choosing the right wording for your wedding invitations

You've chosen your wedding invitations... now you just need to think what to say on them...

The traditional approach

If you want to follow traditional invitation style, there are a few rules to follow:

  • Invitations are generally written in the third person.
  • The bride's name should appear before the groom's.
  • When listing the time, date and venue, the time and date should be written first and the venue last.
  • Use titles, such as. Dr, Mrs etc when appropriate.
  • 'The honour of your presence' or 'The pleasure of your company' is the normal choice of wording. The former is often used for invitations to religious ceremonies such as a church wedding; the latter for invitations to an event in a non-religious venue.
  • How you break up the lines is up to you. Generally, names, times and places are placed on separate lines.
  • Wording can be adapted to accommodate different circumstances due to death, divorce and re-marriage on the bride's side. For example:
    • (if either parent is widowed):
      Mr James Jones / Mrs Pamela Jones, requests the pleasure...
    • (parents are divorced):
      Mr James Jones and Mrs Pamela Jones request the pleasure...
    • (parents divorced, mother remarried):
      Mr James Jones and Mrs Paula Matthews request...
  • Continental Europeans and practising members of the Jewish community send cards including the names of both sets of parents eg:
    Mr and Mrs James Jones request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter Susan to Neil, son of Mr & Mrs Simonberg.

Inviting children

If children are invited, make this clear by including their names on their parents' invitation. Parents should assume that the invitation is for them alone if their children's names are not specified.

It can be tactful to include a short note to parents, such as: 'Much as we would like to invite all the children of our friends, it is only possible to accommodate the children of close family', or: 'We are sorry we are unable to accommodate children'. If you are inviting children, let parents know if you have made special childcare arrangements: 'We have arranged child-minding facilities for the duration of the service and/or reception'.

Invitations to the reception or an evening party

If space is limited at your ceremony venue, you may wish to invite more guests along to the reception afterwards. You may then decide to invite even more guests for your party in the evening.

A reception invitation will 'request the pleasure of your company'. An evening party invite can be equally formal, but can also be informal depending on the style of your wedding.

More wording examples

Who is hosting your wedding? Below are sample wordings for: