Basic rules of etiquette for Wedding Invitations
- All phrasing is in the third person.
- Punctuation is not used at the ends of lines
(commas, periods, colons, etc.); however, commas are used within
lines to separate the day from the date, the city from the state and
a man’s surname from "Jr./junior/II/III", etc.
- No abbreviations are used. Either spell out a
name or leave it out: "Paige Anne Davis" not "Paige A. Davis" Also,
"Road", "Street", "Avenue", "Reverend", "Doctor", and all military
titles should be spelled out. Exceptions are: "Mr." and "Mrs." Many
etiquette specialists prefer that "junior" be spelled out. When it
is spelled out, the "j" is not capitalized.
- If both Mr. and Mrs. Jones are doctors, they can
be referred to as "The Doctors Jones."
- Days, dates, and times are always spelled out.
- Only proper nouns are capitalized (names of
people and places, cities, states, name of the day of the week,
month name, etc.) Exceptions are the year line ("Two thousand") or
where the noun is the beginning of a new sentence or thought ("T" in
"The favour of a reply is requested" or
"Reception to follow")
- Be consistent with your usage of "honour/favour"
or "honor/favor." Traditionally the formal, British spelling with
the "u" is preferred in proper wedding etiquette but whichever form
you choose, use it in both words.
- It is considered socially incorrect to write, "no
children please" on the invitation or any part of the wedding
ensemble. "Black tie" does not traditionally appear on the
invitation. If the event takes place after six o’clock, your guests
should assume that it is a formal event. If you are concerned,
however, you may write "Black tie" as a right footnote on your
reception card. Note: the "B" in "Black tie" is capitalized, but not
the "t."
Traditional Wording, line by line for wedding invitations
- Begin with the full, formal name(s) and title(s)
of the event sponsors. These are not necessarily the people who are
paying for the wedding. While the bride’s parents traditionally
sponsor a wedding, anyone can be a sponsor, including other
relatives, the groom’s parents, or the couple themselves.
- Following the name(s) is the phrase "request the
honour of your presence" for a service held in a house of worship.
The variation "request the pleasure of your company" is used for a
wedding held in any other location.
- The next line reads "at the marriage of their
daughter" or whatever the relation is between the sponsor(s) and the
bride.
- The bride’s full name follows but often excludes
her surname. If her last name is different from the sponsor name or
both sets of parents are doing the inviting, include it; otherwise,
omit it. If you use optional personal or professional titles (Ms.,
Miss., Dr., etc.), then include her last name.
- Generally "to" is used on the line separating the
bride’s name from the groom’s. The exception would be the use of
"and" when both parents are doing the inviting or for a Nuptial
Mass.
- The groom’s full name – first, middle and last-is
next. If the bride uses a personal or professional title, so should
the groom.
- On the next line, spell out the day and date with
the spelled-out number inverted before the name of the month and a
comma separating the day from the date: "on Saturday, the first of
July." Using "on" before the name of the day is optional but if you
do, do not capitalize the "o."
- Listing the year is optional. If you choose to do
so, it appears on the line following the day/date line. Only the
first letter of the first word of the line is capitalized: "The year
two thousand" or "Two thousand and ten."
- On the line after the date comes the time. List
this spelled out: "at five o’clock" with the word "at" preceding the
time.
- The name of the place goes on the next line:
"Holy Place", "The Holiday Inn" or simply the address if the wedding
is in someone’s home.
- Listing an address for the place is optional
(unless the wedding is in someone’s home). If you do include it,
place it on the line immediately below the name of the place.
- Generally the last line lists the city and state,
separated by a comma: "Saint Georges, Delaware." Note that you
never put a zip code here.
- If you are not using reception cards, you may
include the information here as the last line of the invitation:
"Reception immediately following", "Reception to follow" or "and
afterwards at the reception." These sentences indicate that the
reception is in the same place as the wedding. If it is not,
reconsider ordering reception cards so that the important wording of
your invitation will not be reduced in point size to accommodate the
several extra lines of the reception information.
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