So, you’ve finally found the perfect wedding invitation and now you need help with your wedding invitation wording. Look no further! We wanted to share with you some tried and true examples of invitation etiquette for all types of weddings. From the ceremony card, RSVP, accommodations, and wedding weekend event card to anything else you may need to include – we’ve got you covered! In this post, we will help you figure out how to word your main card, also known as the…
CEREMONY CARD Wedding Invitation Wording
First, Let’s look at some general tips that will apply to every ceremony card:
- Bride’s name goes first
- Spell out all dates, ex: “Saturday, the fourth of June/two thousand twenty one”
- Capitalize only the day of the week and month, not the year or day
- Spell out times instead of saying A.M. or P.M. “two o’clock in the afternoon” or “half past five o’clock in the evening”
- Spell out addresses like “Street” “Avenue” and states “Illinois” or “California”
- Remove zip codes from ceremony cards. The ceremony card is a formal invitation, and should not include a zip code. If very specific directions are needed, consider including transportation info on another insert card, or link guests to your wedding website. Also consider most guests nowadays have a smart phone or GPS.
- Remove commas or periods from the end of a line, line-breaks between phrases act as punctuation
- Do you want to set a dress code? Include an optional line somewhere on the invite such as “black tie attire” “semi-formal attire” “cocktail attire” “beach formal”
Who is Hosting the wedding?
Next, you will need to ask yourself: who is hosting the wedding? Whoever is hosting (or paying) for the wedding will determine the wording. Traditionally, the bride’s parents host the wedding, however, times have changed and that’s why there are so many variations below!
bride’s parents hosting
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Manning
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Arianna Manning
to
Dylan Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand twenty one
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois
Reception to follow
Bride’s Parents (divorced)
Mr. David Cullen and Mrs. Marie Sobina
and
Mrs. Rowena Rabinsowiz
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Arianna Manning
to
Dylan Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand twenty one
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois
bride’s parents hosting/honoring groom’s parents
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Manning
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Arianna Manning
to
Dylan Cullen
son of Mr. and Mrs. David Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand twenty one
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois
Reception to follow
both sets of parents hosting
Mr. & Mrs. Manning
and Mr. & Mrs. Cullen
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their children
Arianna Rose
to
Dylan Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand twenty one
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois
couple hosting with their families
Together with their families
Arianna Manning
&
Dylan Cullen
invite you to share in the celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand twenty one
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois
couple is hosting
Arianna Manning
&
Dylan Cullen
invite you to share in the celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand twenty one
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois
honoring parents on invite
Arianna Manning
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Manning
&
Dylan Cullen
son of Mr. & Mrs. David Cullen
invite you to share in the celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand twenty one
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois
casual
With joyous hearts
we invite you to share
in our wedding
Brittany Tompson
and
Kevin Jonathan
Saturday, August 8th, 2021
four o’clock
St. Regis Princeville Resort
Kaua’i, Hawaii
Now that you’ve figured out your ceremony card, we can figure out the rest of your wedding invitation wording. Next you will want to check out our posts on how to word your RSVP card and how to word your second insert card (wedding details card).