Question: How should we word our invitations if we’re paying for half of the wedding and his parents are paying for the other half?
Answer: Wording your wedding invitations can be tricky, especially with today’s couples who are often sharing financial responsibility with one or more sets of parents. Here are some wedding invitation wording examples for couples jointly paying/hosting with their parents.
Couple and One Set of Parents Hosting
FORMAL
Ms. Gloria Ann Manning
and
Mr. George Frederick Smith
together with her/his parents
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Manning/Smith
request the honor of your presence
at their wedding
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand fifteen
at half past four in the afternoon
CASUAL
Gloria Ann Manning &
George Frederick Smith
together with her/his parents
invite you to their wedding
Saturday, June 20, 2015
at 4:30 in the afternoon
Couple and Both Sets of Parents Hosting
FORMAL
Ms. Gloria Ann Manning
and
Mr. George Frederick Smith
together with their parents
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Manning &
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick C. Smith
request the honor of your presence
at their wedding
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand fifteen
at half past four in the afternoon
CASUAL
Gloria Ann Manning &
George Frederick Smith
together with their parents
invite you to their wedding
Saturday, June 20, 2015
at 4:30 in the afternoon
Sometimes You Need to Keep the Peace
If both parents contributed but the bride’s parents contributed more, you can still recognize the groom’s parents by wording your invitation as follows.
BRIDE’S PARENTS
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Manning
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Heather Marie
to
George Frederick Smith
son of
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick C. Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand fifteen
at half past four in the afternoon
Unfortunately, if it’s the other way around there’s no easy way to add the bride’s parents’ names and keep the traditional wording format of the bride’s name first. You could shake it up and forego tradition all together by listing the groom’s name first. We, however, recommend doing something casual and family-oriented if both sets of parents agree.
GROOM’S PARENTS
Together with their families
Gloria Ann Manning
and George Frederick Smith
request the pleasure of your company
at the celebration of their wedding
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand fifteen
at half after four in the afternoon
Let us know what other wording situations you would like us to address. For more tips on wording your wedding invitation, see our post on “Invitation Wording Etiquette.”
We are having 2 beautiful flowergirls. My fiance’s 2 neices. they are 5 and 3. They will be wearing beautiful ivory dresses with a purple sash and purple petals around the bottom. They will be carrying silk purple white and pink pomander balls since our church doesnt allow petals to be thrown. I have gotten them each a beautiful set of pearls (necklace, earrings and bracelet), and Tiaras to match mine!
What about when 50% of the wedding is paid for by the brides parents and the other 50% is being paid for by the groom alone? Then how should an invite be addressed so that you aren’t making it obvious that the grooms parents didn’t contribute at all?
We would suggest wording the invitation as though it’s coming from the bride’s parents.
Jane and Joe Smith
invite you to the marriage of their daughter
Katherine Elizabeth
to
Jonathon Michael Sorrenson
on Saturday…
If the bride’s parents are okay with not being specifically mentioned on the invitation, you could word the invitations as though they’re coming from the couple together with their parents.
Together with our parents
Katherine Elizabeth Smith
and
Jonathon Michael Sorrenson
invite you to share with them
a celebration of marriage
on Saturday…
Have a discussion with the bride’s parents and see what they’re most comfortable with.