You want it to feel personal. You don’t want to make any mistakes. And you certainly don’t want to leave any critical pieces of information out. But what about etiquette? Wedding invitation wording etiquette might sound old-fashioned, but hear us out.
While traditional etiquette might feel outdated, there some invitation rules that are as important as ever.
Not Very Important: Using Formal Wording
Have you ever received a wedding invitation that spells certain words in a way that makes you scratch your head? For instance –“the honour of your presence is requested” or “the favour of a reply is requested”. If you’ve wondered why honor and favor is spelled with that extra “u” on wedding invitations, we’ve got your answer.
Honour and favour are the British spellings of these words and are traditionally used on wedding invitations that are more formal. Honour is also traditionally used for weddings being held in a place of worship.
If you’re having a formal wedding, by all mean, use these spellings. If your wedding is casual or if you’re just plain weirded out by spelling those words in a way you never have before, use the Americanized versions. Better yet – use wedding invitation wording that avoids them altogether!
Pretty Important: Spell Everything Out
This is a simple one. Spell. Everything. Out! This is your wedding invitation, not a group text. The only thing this does not apply to is the spelling of Mr. & Mrs.
Most commonly, this applies to your wedding date, time and your venue’s address. Here’s a great example:
Wording with abbreviations (wrong!)
Mr. and Mrs. John Brown
invite you to the marriage of their daughter
Samiah Elizabeth
to
Marcus Nathan Filmore
On Sat. Sept. 11th, 2022 at 1:00
The Hilton Grand Ballroom
9 E. 36th Ave.
Chicago, IL
Wording without abbreviations (right!)
Mr. and Mrs. John Brown
invite you to the marriage of their daughter
Samiah Elizabeth
to
Marcus Nathan Filmore
On Saturday, the eleventh of September
At one o’clock in the afternoon
The Hilton Grand Ballroom
9 East 36th Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
Very Important: Including the Right People
Your wedding invitation wording should include your host’s names. Your hosts are the people who are paying for your wedding. That might be you and your significant other alone, but if your parents are kicking in a significant amount of cash, give them the honor of a place on your invitation.
This is done right at the beginning of your wording. Here are 4 examples that show you how to word your invites both with and without parents included:
Samiah Elizabeth Brown
and
Marcus Nathan Filmore
request the honor of your presence
or
Mr. and Mrs. John Brown
invite you to the marriage of their daughter
Samiah Elizabeth
to
Marcus Nathan Filmore
or
Mr. and Mrs. John Brown
along with Mr. and Mrs. Adam Filmore
invite you to the marriage of their children
Samiah Elizabeth
and
Marcus Nathan
or
together with our families,
Samiah Elizabeth Brown
and
Marcus Nathan Filmore
request the honor of your presence
Just Don’t: Add Registry Information
It’s one of our most asked questions and we’re sticking to traditional etiquette here. We’ve already covered all the reasons you don’t put registry information on your wedding invitations…most importantly, manners matter!
And Don’t Forget: The Envelopes
The same advice about spelling everything out applies here. You can use formal or informal addressing. Here are two examples:
Mr. and Mrs. James Hanley
183 North Elm Avenue
Somerset, Wisconsin 52019
James and Lucy Hanley
183 North Elm Avenue
Somerset, Wisconsin 52019
Happy planning, brides and grooms! xoxo
Hello,
When I was little I dream of having a big wedding but now Im grown and in the real word it seems it’s going to be pretty small and we are paying for it also well your site is such a big help to us cause we don’t really know how to put a wedding together. Thank you so much for such a helpful web site
Barbara & Leo Brownfield wedding July 13, 2013 Red, Black, White, Silver, Demask
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for commenting on our post. We’re glad to hear you find our information helpful. We do have a wedding planning guide section on our blog. Here’s the link: http://advice.annsbridalbargains.com/category/wedding-planning-guide. On the very first post there is a checklist for you to get started planning your wedding.
One piece of advice for you to remember. This is your wedding, and your fiance’s, so make sure you spend the money where you feel it is important and not where tradition or your friends and family would tell you to. We recommend picking a few items that are important to you and focusing on them. If it’s the photos, then make sure you get a good photographer and maybe an album to go with it. If it’s the food, make sure you get the food you want. If it’s the dress, make sure you get the dress you want. Just remember not everything can be on the important list. 🙂
Good luck!
Kristi – Bargain Finder