With your wedding day getting closer and closer it’s time to put pen to paper and get your wedding invitations ready for your friends and family. But what information should you include in your wedding invitation?
You want to make sure that your wedding invitation doesn’t run over more than one beautiful piece of paper, but you also want to make sure that you include enough important information for your guests to prepare.
Here are some tips and tricks for what to include when writing your wedding invitations:
The names of the hosts
It’s common practice that at the top of every wedding invitation the names of the hosts, aka the couple tying the knot, should be placed at the very top in big, bold lettering. After all, you want to make sure that those reading the invitation know whose wedding it is.
There are also times when the names of the hosts are the parents of the couple, as the parents would often be the ones paying for the wedding or the wedding venue.
E.g. Mr and Mrs John Doe request the pleasure of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Jane Doe to John Smith.
The request to attend
After the hosts have been recognised it is time to make your request and ask your friends and family to attend your special day. This part is simple enough as al you have to do is figure out how to work your request for attendance.
Examples include; the pleasure of your company, at the marriage of their children, would love for you to join them, invite you to celebrate with them, the honour of your presence.
The names of the bride and groom
Even if you have the names of the bride and groom as the host, you still need to have their names in the centre of the invitation; where the spotlight will be. When it comes to whose name goes first there are different ways to go about it.
For more religious weddings the brides name precedes the grooms, when it comes to same-sex marriages there is no such rule, so the couple can choose to either write them alphabetically or not.
Date & time
Of course, you need to let your guests know when your big day is going to take place so they can plan accordingly. For formal invitations, the date and time are written out in full, with no numerals. You can also decide if you want to include the year or not, in case you can only schedule your wedding at a late date.
Time of day is spelt out using “o’clock” or “half after five o’clock.
Location, location
When mentioning the location of your wedding you don’t have to worry about writing out the street address of the venue. Only do this if your wedding is taking place at a private home or at the hosts home.
If you are having the wedding at a specific wedding venue you need to make sure you list the name of the venue properly. Make sure to also mention the region and city of the venue to make things easier for out of town guests you are inviting.
Information on the wedding reception
This is usually added onto a second card, but if you have enough space you can include it on your invitation. If the ceremony and reception are going to be held in the same venue you can add the line ‘reception immediately following’.
If the reception is taking place in a location that is separate from the ceremony then it must be written on a different line.
If the wedding reception is not going to immediately follow the ceremony then you need to include the time of the reception as well.
Dress code to impress
Like most event invitations you need to state what the dress code for your wedding will be. Some folks are leaning more towards casual clothing for modern-day weddings nowadays while others still prefer to look stylish and sophisticated.
When including the dress code on your invitation you need to make sure that it is written in the lower right-hand corner. Most guests tend to determine the dress code by the type of invitation you have. If your wedding invitation is fancy your guests will anticipate a black-tie dress code.
Don’t forget the RSVP card
There are two options you can choose from when it comes to your wedding RSVP card. There’s the classic method of including a separate RSVP card with your wedding invitation that your guests can fill in and send through the mail, or they can RSVP through your own wedding website (provided you have one).
If you have a wedding website you simply have to include the website address on a separate card just like a normal RSVP card.
Here are two examples of wedding invitations you can follow:
Jerry & Georgian Sadowski and Gary
& Georgia Byrne
invite you to celebrate with their children,
Julia & David
on their wedding day
Friday | 07 Sep 12 | 3:30 p.m.
Cortelyou Commons, DePaul University: Ceremony
Peggy Norbert Nature Museum: Reception 6 p.m.
Or
Grace and Russell Fitzpatrick
are gettin’ hitched!
August 4th 2016
Join us at 5 o’clock
The West Palm
825 Oceanside Ave
St. Petersburg
Merriment to follow
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