You can have the most gorgeous wedding invitations ever, but when it comes down to it, they need to be informative. They should spell out all essential wedding info—who’s getting married, who’s hosting and where and when the ceremony will take place. (Everything else should go on your wedding website.) If your wedding style is more unique or modern, feel free to express that by breaking a few rules. Your wedding invitation is the first impression guests will have of your wedding, so it should sound like you.
Here’s the traditional wording:
A couple of tips: If the bride’s parents are hosting, it’s customary to leave off the bride’s last name. But in the case of a bride having a different last name than her parents, her full name should be used. If the groom’s parents are involved, the bride’s last name should be included. In its simplest form, this is the standard wording template.
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Smith
request the pleasure of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Heather Marie
to
Michael Francis Jacobson
Saturday, the seventeenth of May
two thousand and nineteen
At six o’clock in the evening
Plaza Hotel
New York, New York
Reception to follow
If one set of parents is hosting:
Since you’re including the bride’s parents’ names on the invitation, you don’t need to list the bride’s last name (unless she has a different last name than her parents). On the following line, the groom’s entire name should be written out.
Formal:
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Smith
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Heather Marie
to
Michael Francis Jacobson
Saturday, the seventeenth of May
two thousand and nineteen
at half past four in the afternoon
Casual:
John and Eliza Smith
invite you to share in their joy at the marriage of their daughter
Heather Marie
to Michael Francis Jacobson
Saturday, May 17, 2019
at 4:30 in the afternoon
If both sets of parents are jointly hosting:
List the bride’s parents and groom’s parents on separate lines, starting with the bride’s. Since both last names are included in the greeting, you don’t need to use either the bride’s or groom’s last name. Of course, the same exception we mentioned above would apply here if either the bride or groom has a different last name than their parents. In that case, list out the full bride’s or groom’s name, in addition to the full names of the parents.
Formal:
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Smith &
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Franklin Jacobson
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Heather Marie
and
Michael Francis
Saturday, the seventeenth of May
two thousand and nineteen
at half past four in the afternoon
Casual:
John and Eliza Smith
along with Mark and Sally Jacobson
invite you to share and celebrate at the marriage of their children
Heather Marie
and Michael Francis
Saturday, May 17, 2019
at 4:30 in the afternoon
If you’re hosting:
If you’re paying for the wedding yourselves, the greeting skips the host line and begins with the request line.
Formal:
The honor of your presence
is requested at the marriage of
Heather Marie Smith
to Michael Francis Jacobson
Saturday, the seventeenth of May
two thousand and nineteen
at half past four in the afternoon
Casual:
Heather Marie Smith &
Michael Francis Jacobson
invite you to share in their joy at their wedding
Saturday, May 17, 2019
at 4:30 in the afternoon
If everyone is hosting:
If everyone is paying for the wedding, the invitation begins with the bride’s name, followed by the groom’s name, and finally the parent’s names, starting with the bride’s side.
Formal:
Ms. Heather Marie Smith
and
Mr. Michael Francis Jacobson
together with their parents
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Smith &
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Franklin Jacobson
request the honor of your presence
at their wedding
Saturday, the seventeenth of May
two thousand and nineteen
at half past four in the afternoon
Casual:
Heather Marie Smith &
Michael Francis Jacobson
together with their parents
invite you to their wedding
Saturday, May 17, 2019
at 4:30 in the afternoon
If you’re a same-sex couple:
Same rules apply! The host of the celebration (read: the financier) is listed first, following their partner’s information. If the couple is hosting, names are typically listed in alphabetical order.
Formal:
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Smith
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Heather Marie
to
Jennifer Anne Davis
Saturday, the seventeenth of May
two thousand and nineteen
at half past five in the afternoon
Casual:
John and Eliza Smith
invite you to share in their joy at the marriage of their daughter
Heather Marie
to Jennifer Anne Davis
Saturday, May 17, 2019
at 5:30 in the afternoon
If one of your parents is deceased:
You can, of course, still include the name of a deceased loved one on your wedding invitations. You can switch up the ordering of the format in order to incorporate the word “late” in front of the family member. (And remember that you have plenty of ways to honor a deceased parent during your ceremony.)
Together with their families,
Ms. Heather Marie Smith,
daughter of John Smith and the late Eliza Smith,
and Michael Francis Jacobson,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Franklin Jacobson,
request the honor of your presence at their marriage
Saturday, the seventeenth of May
two thousand and nineteen
At six o’clock in the evening
Plaza Hotel
New York, New York
Reception to follow
Still on the search for the perfect invites? Look here.
Not sure where to begin with your wedding planning? Take our Style Quiz and we’ll pull together a custom wedding vision and vendors to match, just for you. After that, create a free, personalized wedding website to keep your guests informed (and excited!) about your plans, and a time-saving Guest List Manager to organize your attendees. Even better? You can sync your Guest List Manager and wedding website to update everything at once.
