Are you creating your own wedding invitations? Not sure what to write? Who’s name goes first? What information do you need to include? Do we need those extra information cards? Oh boy, it can sure get overwhelming! What do you put on your wedding invite?

The wording of your invitation should reflect the overall vibe of your wedding day. From classic, to rustic, to modern, to casual or anything in between, this sets the tone and theme for your wedding and lets your guests know what to expect. So let’s get started!

What to Include on Your Invitation

1. Who is the Hosts

The first line of the wedding invitation is where you list who’s hosting the wedding (a.k.a. who is paying for the wedding). Traditionally, this was usually the bride’s parents, so listing their names on the host line was a way of acknowledging that generosity. These days, however, more and more couples are either paying for the wedding themselves (in this case, you can omit the host line completely) or receiving financial contributions from parents on both sides—in this case, you can list all parents’ names or opt for something simpler like, “Together with their parents” or “Together with their families.”

The most important thing to keep in mind about the host line is to word it in a way that feels comfortable to you both as a couple. Here are a few rules to help you figure out the best host-line wording for your family dynamics:

• The word “and” in between two names traditionally implies that those people are married.
• If your parents are divorced and you want to include both as hosts, you can include them all, just keep each parent on a separate line.
• If you’re going to include the name of stepparent, keep it on the same line.
• Hosts who are not married should be on separate lines.
• Names should not listed in order of who paid more.
• If you want to include the name of a parent who is deceased, you’ll need to rearrange things a bit, as someone who has passed can’t actually serve as a host. A common way to honor a deceased parent is alongside a member of the couple’s name as “Missy Smith, daughter of Karen Smith,” or “Missy Smith, daughter of John Smith and the late Karen Smith.”

Host Line Wording Examples:

One Set of Parents Hosting (Married)
Include your parents’ full names. If they have different last names, write “and” to join the two names.

• Mr. and Mrs. Ken Shepherd (formal)
• Mr. and Mrs. Ken and Barbra Shepherd (formal; includes both first names)
• Ken and Barbra Shepherd (less formal)

One Set of Parents Hosting (Divorced)
Include your mother’s name first, followed by your father’s name. Do not use “and” to connect the two names; rather, each name should get their own separate line.

• Mrs. Susan Lang
  Mr. Troy White

Couple is hosting with their families
When the couple and both of their families are contributing to the cost of the wedding, many choose to add a line such as “Together with their families” as the host line.

• Together with their families
• Together with our families
• Together with their parents

Couple Is Hosting
If the couple is hosting the wedding themselves, you can skip the host line altogether or start the invitation wording with a warm and welcoming introduction, such as:

• With open hearts
• Together with full hearts
• We joyfully invite you
• You are invited
• With great joy

2. Request Them to Come Line

The request line is where you invite people to attend your wedding (a.k.a. “Please come so we can celebrate with you!!”), so use this section to set the tone for your celebration. If your wedding is formal, use more formal language to reflect the occasion (e.g., “request the honour of your presence…”); if your wedding is casual, use less formal language (e.g., “Would love for you to join them…” or “Want you to come party with us…”). Here are a few more things to keep in mind:

• “The honour of your presence” is traditionally used to denote a religious service.
• “The pleasure of your company or Wish you to join us tie the knot” (or variations on this) is used to denote a non-religious ceremony locale.

Request Line Wording Examples:

• request the honor of your presence
• request the honour of your presence (for formal, religious ceremonies)
• request the pleasure of your company
• cordially invite you to attend
• would love for you to join them
• would be delighted by your presence
• invite you to celebrate with them
• invite you to their wedding
• joyfully request the pleasure of your company
• invite you to celebrate their marriage
• invite you to join us
• invite you to the celebration of
• invite you to share in the festivities
• invite you to share in their joy
• would love your presence

3. Call to Action Line

Here, you’re outlining what you are inviting people to share in. Some examples:

• Traditionally, with the bride’s parent’s hosting, this line is usually something like, “At the marriage of their daughter.”
• If both parents are hosting, the line might read “At the marriage of their children.”
• If you’re hosting yourselves, the line could be something like “At the celebration of our union” or “As they tie the knot.”

Action Line Wording Examples:

• at the marriage of their daughter (if the bride’s parents are hosting)
• at the marriage of their children (if both sets of parents are hosting)
• at the celebration of their union
• as they tie the knot
• to joyfully join in the celebration of their marriage
• as they say “I do!”
• in celebration of their marriage
• to celebrate their marriage

4. Couples’ Name

This one might seem easy—that is, until you start thinking about the nitty-gritty details. Whose name goes first? Do you have to include last names? What about middle names? There really are no right or wrong answers, so do whatever feels most comfortable to you both, but here are a few suggestions:

• The bride’s name typically goes first, followed by the groom’s name.
• For a less formal feel, you may opt to list first names only.

5. Date & Time

• Traditionally, the date and time should be spelled out in full. For example, if your ceremony is on May 15, 2022, at 4:30 p.m., the wording should read, “Saturday, the fifteenth of May, two thousand twenty-two, at half after four in the afternoon.”
• The day of the week and the month should be capitalized. The year should be lowercase.
• Time of day should be spelled out as “four o’clock” or “half after four o’clock.” Note that “half after” is the most traditional way to indicate time. However, less formal invitations can use “half past four o’clock” or “four-thirty.”
• Traditionally, there is no need to add phrases such as “in the afternoon” or “in the evening” unless the event takes place at times like 7PM. You should then designate “in the morning” or “in the evening” for clarity.
• Evening begins at five o’clock, otherwise it is considered afternoon from noon until four o’clock.
• It’s important to note that these formal date and time rules are frequently broken in more modern invitation designs, where the date and time are listed using numerals; using numerals is also preferred for more informal weddings.

Date & Time Wording Examples:

• four o’clock in the afternoon (also acceptable)
• 4:00 p.m. (informal)
• 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon (informal)
• 4:30 p.m. can be spelled out as: half after four o’clock (traditional)
• four-thirty in the afternoon (also acceptable)
• 4:30 p.m. (informal)
• 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon (informal)

6. Location

• List the ceremony venue as follows: “Venue Name” on one line with “City, Province” on the following line; for formal weddings, the province name is usually spelled out (instead of abbreviations).
• The venue’s street address is traditionally not included (although you may decide to list it), unless it is a private residence.
• Postal codes are not usually included.

7. Reception Line

This line lets your guests know what’s happening after the ceremony so they know what to expect.

• If the reception will be at the same location as the ceremony, you can simply say, “Reception to follow” or “Dinner and dancing to follow.”
• If the reception is at a different location, you can list the venue on the following line, or you may decide to include a separate insert card (called a reception card) inviting guests to the reception, with the venue’s full address.
• If you’re not serving a full meal, this would be a great place to let guests know by saying something like, “Cake, punch, and dance to follow” or “Join us after the ceremony for cocktails, and dancing.”
• You can also use this line to get creative and set the tone for the reception with something like, “Join us for an intimate dinner following…” or “Drinks, dancing to follow.”

Reception Line Wording Examples:

• Reception to follow
• Reception immediately following the ceremony
• Dinner and dancing to follow
• Cake, punch, and merriment to follow (if you’re not serving a full meal)
• Join us after the ceremony for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and dancing. (if you’re not serving a full meal)
• A dessert reception following the ceremony (if you’re not serving a full meal)
• The celebration continues with a reception
• Join them for the reception celebration
• An evening of celebrating to follow
• A celebration with dinner, drinks, and dancing will follow
• Join us for dinner, dancing, and celebrating
• Fabulous food, fun, and festivities to follow
• Dine, dance, celebrate…
• Some dinner, some dancing, and all eternity to follow
• Feasting and merriment to follow
• Feasting and fun to follow
• Dining, dancing, and happily ever after to follow
• To share in our happiness, kindly join us for a dinner reception
• Dinner and dancing under the stars
• Shake, rattle and roll with us
• Bring your dancing shoes! Dinner and music immediately following the ceremony.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• Wedding website: Typically you don’t print your wedding website on the wedding invitation; rather, you should list it on one of the accompanying cards (like a reception card or additional information card). It’s also a good idea to have already printed your wedding website URL on your save the date card.

Completing Your Wedding Invitation Suite

RSVP Card

Good news: Wording the RSVP card (also called the reply card) is a simpler task than the invitation. Here’s what you’ll need to include:

• RSVP date: The first piece of information on the card is the reply-by date, which is typically three to four weeks before the wedding. This will give you enough time to get a final head count to the caterer (one week before) and to finalize your seating chart.
• Guest(s) names: Next is a line for guests to write their names, along with checkboxes for accepting or declining the invitation.
• Additional information you can include:
  • Meal choices may also be included on the reply card, along with checkboxes or illustrated icons.
  • It’s becoming more popular to include a song request line, something along the lines of, “We promise to dance if you play __________.”

Reception Card

If the ceremony and reception are held at the same venue, include the line “Reception to follow” at the bottom of the invitation. However, if the reception is held at a different location, it should be treated as a separate event—include a separate reception card with the event details as part of the invitation suite.

EXAMPLE: RECEPTION CARD

Please join us for an
evening reception
Cocktails at 5:00pm
Dinner will be served at 6:00pm
Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa
4 Fairford St East, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Dancing to follow

Information Card

An information card can be enclosed with your wedding invitation if you’d like to provide any additional wedding details to guests: directions, transportation information, lodging suggestions and discounts, etc.

WEDDING INVITATION ETIQUETTE FAQs

There are plenty of things to consider when it comes to writing and finalizing your wedding invitations. But here hare some frequently asked questions

How do we let guests know we’re having an adults-only wedding?

If you’ve decided not to invite kids to your wedding, here’s our advice on how to let guests know (without hurting their feelings!).

• Address your wedding invitations carefully. If you’re doing formal invitations with both an outer mailing envelope and an inner envelope, list only the names of the invited adult guests on both the inner and outer envelopes. If you’re sending outer envelopes only, only list the names of the invited adult guests. Do not write “The McDonald Family,” since that would indicate that all family members, including children, are invited. You can also write the names of each invited guest on the response card. This technique makes it very clear who is invited to the wedding and all your guests would need to do is check “will attend” or “will not attend.”
• Do include it on your wedding website. Your wedding website is the great place to share additional wedding details, such as keeping your wedding an adults-only event, links to your wedding registry, travel and transportation details, dress code, and recommended local babysitting services without having extra information in your wedding invite suite.

When should our wedding invitations be sent out?

This is a big question, and one most people wonder about! In order to send your wedding invitations in a timely fashion, aim to stick to the following timeline:

• 4–5 months before the wedding: Order wedding invitations
• 6–8 weeks before the wedding: Mail wedding invitations

If you’re hosting a destination wedding or are tying the knot over a holiday weekend, you’ll need to factor in more time so guests can make any necessary travel arrangements. Mail your wedding invitations three months ahead of time.

How much time should we give guests to RSVP for the wedding?

Set your RSVP deadline for three to four weeks before the wedding date. This timeframe will give you enough time to provide your caterer with a final head count, which is usually needed one week before the wedding and get those last minute table settings/seating chart all figured out.

If some guests still have not responded by your RSVP deadline, give them a quick phone call to follow up.

Who should get a plus-one and who doesn’t?

This is a tricky question, so be sure to tread carefully as you and your partner determine what makes the most sense for your wedding guest dynamics. Here are our general wedding etiquette rules on plus-ones and whether or not you should give guests the opportunity to bring a date to the wedding:

• Married, engaged, and cohabitating guests should get a plus-one.
• Wedding-party members (bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc.) should get a plus-one.
• Guests who have been with their partner for a lengthy amount of time should get a plus-one. This, of course, is tricky. What constitutes a long enough period of time? While this varies for everyone, in general, our rule of thumb is that anyone who has been coupled up with their partner for so long that it would be awkward not to invite them should get a plus-one.
• For everyone else, make a blanket rule, such as “only immediate family members can bring a date” and stick to it.

Thank you Minted for these tips and such great advise!! If you are looking for some invites check them out!

I would also recommend checking out Paper Ocelot Studios! I have photographer several of her invite designs and they are STUNNING!!