Wedding invitation wording: examples for every situation

What order does wedding invitation wording go in?

Almost every wedding invitation follows the same order: who’s hosting, the request, the couple, when, where, what follows, and when to reply. Keep to it and guests find what they need without reading twice.

1. The hosts. Traditionally whoever is paying: the bride’s parents, both families, or the couple.
2. The request line. “Request the honour of your presence”, or a warmer equivalent.
3. The couple. Full names on a formal invitation, first names on a relaxed one. When her parents host, the bride’s surname is traditionally left off.
4. The date. The day, the date and usually the year.
5. The time. “At half past three in the afternoon”, or “3:30pm” on a relaxed invitation.
6. The venue. Its name, then the suburb or town. Formal invitations traditionally leave off the postcode.
7. The reception line. “And afterwards at Hillcrest Estate”, or “Reception to follow”.
8. The reply line. “R.s.v.p. by the twentieth of February”, or “Let us know by 20 February”. There’s more in Wedding RSVPs.

Is it “the honour of your presence” or “the pleasure of your company”?

By tradition, “request the honour of your presence” is kept for a ceremony in a place of worship, and “request the pleasure of your company” is for a ceremony anywhere else: a garden, a beach, a hotel, a registry office. Many couples now use either for any ceremony, and nobody will think it wrong.

How formal should our wedding invitation be?

As formal as the day itself. A black-tie evening in a cathedral and a long lunch at a vineyard need different words: the wording is the first hint of what kind of day it will be.

How do we word it when the couple, the parents or both families are hosting?

Name whoever is really hosting, and the rest follows. Many couples now host their own wedding or share it with both families; the bride’s parents hosting alone is the traditional form, and still lovely when it’s true.

The couple hosting

Both families hosting

How do we include divorced, remarried or late parents?

Divorced parents who host together each have their own line, with no “and” between them: hosting together, but not a couple. A remarried parent shares a line with their spouse, and with a step-parent named, the bride’s full name replaces “their daughter”.

When a parent has died

Gently, and in whichever way feels right to your family. Invitations are traditionally issued only in the names of living hosts, so a parent who has died isn’t named as a host. You can name them beside their child with “the late”, or let the surviving parent host and remember the other at the ceremony itself.

How do same-sex couples word their invitation?

Exactly as any couple does: every form here works for two brides or two grooms. Whose name comes first is up to you: alphabetical, whichever sounds best aloud, or the hosting family’s child first.

What wording works for a reception only or a ceremony only?

Change the request line and leave out the part they aren’t invited to. A reception-only invitation asks guests to celebrate the marriage rather than attend it; a ceremony-only one has no reception line.

In the UK, evening guests are a long-standing custom: friends who join after the ceremony and the wedding breakfast (the meal) for the dancing. Their invitation names the evening reception and when it ends.

Who comes to which part is covered in Your wedding guest list.

How do we say “adults only” kindly?

Name the adults on the envelope, then add one warm line. A short sentence on the invitation or the details card makes it clear without sounding like a rule.

Avoid “No children” on its own: accurate, but it reads like a sign on a gate. And somebody will still ask whether their teenager counts, so decide your age line before anyone asks.

How do we word the dress code?

Give the dress code its own short line near the bottom: “Dress: black tie”. On a traditional British invitation it sits bottom right, with the reply details bottom left.

How do we mention gifts, a registry or a wishing well?

Briefly, and away from the main wording. Traditional etiquette kept gifts off the invitation; today a sentence or two on a details card, your wedding website or the invitation’s extra details is widely accepted.

In Australia, many couples ask for a wishing well: a decorated box at the reception for cards with money, often towards a honeymoon or a home. A short verse often announces it; a plain sentence is just as kind. In the US, a registry is still the usual choice.

How should the date and time be written on a wedding invitation?

In words on a formal invitation, in numerals on a relaxed one, and never a mix of the two. “Saturday, the twentieth of March, at half past three in the afternoon” and “Saturday 20 March, 3:30pm” are both right for their kind of wedding.

• “O’clock” goes only with whole hours; the half hour is “half past”.
• “In the morning” before noon, “in the afternoon” until about 6pm, “in the evening” after that.
• Write “midday” or “noon”, never “12pm”, which people misread.
• Australia and the UK put the day before the month (20 March); the US puts the month first (March 20). Written out, “the twentieth of March” works everywhere.
• Formal American invitations drop the “and” from the year (“two thousand twenty-seven”); Australian and British ones keep it.

Chinese and Middle Eastern weddings have customs of their own: see Chinese wedding invitations and Henna night, Nikah and Walima invitations.

Your wedding invitation wording with Wonderful Invites

With Wonderful Invites, your guests tap the seal, the envelope opens, your music begins and your invitation appears, with a countdown, a map to the venue and “Add to your calendar”. The dress code, gifts (a registry link, a wishing well or no gifts) and whether children are welcome sit under Good to know, so the main wording stays as simple as the examples here.

You choose each guest’s parts of the day, the ceremony, the reception or both, and each guest sees only what they’re invited to. If a time or a venue changes, change it once: every guest sees the latest version on the same link.

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