How to: Wedding Invitation Wording

Your invitation is your guest’s first glimpse into your wedding

Invitations have become a creative source for the bride and groom and a special part of planning your big day. There are many variations of wording and many ways to make it personal. Here are the top three key points to remember: Make sure it’s informative, keep it simple, have as much fun with it as you want. Follow our example guide below to ensure your invitation is exactly what you want.

Host Line

Who’s hosting the wedding? There are many variations on how this line can be written, depending on the bride and groom’s families and preferences. It can also be separated between the bride and groom’s names, so the bride’s parents may come before, and the groom’s parents after. If the bride and groom's parents are hosting the wedding, but have had any history of divorce, it may be best to say "together with their families," rather than each parent and step parent.

Examples of host lines:

• Together With Their Families

• Mr. and Mrs. Shah

• Mr. and Mrs. Shah along with Mr. and Mrs. Mehta

• Mr. and Mrs. Shah and Mr. and Mrs. Mehta

• Mrs. Shah and the late Mr. Anil along with Mr. and Mrs. Mehta

  Invitation Line

  This is the line where you ask people to join you! This can come before or after names. Before Bride and Groom names would look like:

• invite you to the wedding of their daughter

  Names

  Who’s getting married? Remember your host line: if it is your parents requesting the guests to join, you may use the word “to,” as in “our daughter Allison is getting married to Jack.” If it is not a request from another party, the word “and” will join the names, as in “Sonal and Varun invite you.”

  • Sonal and Varun

  • Sonal Shah and Varun Mehta

    Invitation Line

    This is the line where you ask people to join you! This can come before or after names. Before Bride and Groom names would look like:

    Other examples include: 

    Request the pleasure of your company…

    Invite you to celebrate their marriage...

    Invites you to share in the celebration...

    Join us in celebrating...

    Information

    This line includes the date, time and location. Most formal invitations spell out the time, date, and anything else that might normally be abbreviated. For example, you would spell out:

    On Saturday, the first of December

    two thousand and twenty

    at four thirty in the afternoon

    Reception Line

    What can guests expect after the ceremony? Reception, dinner, cocktails? Get creative! This is where you’ll let your guests know. It can include a change of venue address or just a simple “Dinner and Dancing to follow” if it will remain in the same venue as the ceremony.

    Other reception wording ideas: 

    • Dinner and Dancing to follow

    • Cocktail hour and Dinner reception to follow

    • Reception to follow at (with new address)

    • Dinner, dancing and happily ever after to follow

    • Dinner and merriment to follow

    • Food and fun to follow

    • Reception to follow, bring your dancing shoes!

      Other Wording Tips

      The Bride should be listed first unless it is traditional within your culture. Why? Think of it like everything else, ladies first. This is also important if the bride's parents are listed as the host, as seen in our Host Line section.

      Let the invitations be a representation of your wedding. If you are not having a traditional formal wedding, don't feel obligated to spell out the words you normally would not, like "one o'clock" 

      Look at a variety of samples and see what fits your wedding and personality best!

      Have a wedding website? Utilize it for your detailed information instead of having it all on your invitations. This makes it easier for guests to get the important information and saves you money on extra inserts. 

      Stay tuned for more wording tips such as additional inserts, adult only weddings, and RSVP options! 

      Pin these infographics to refer back to!