Your wedding invitations are one of the first elements of your wedding that guests will see. Designing your own invites also offers brides and grooms a chance to express their style and signal the overall vibe of the wedding to guests. Though couples tend to struggle over wording their wedding invitations, it’s not as complicated as it looks. This guide covers a range of wording options for all of your wedding stationery so they reflect your sentiments and surprise and delight your guests.
As you dive into the wedding planning process, you’ll want to match the style of your Big Day to your invitations. That includes the actual wording on your wedding announcements, save the date cards, and other notes. This guide will help you identify all of the correct elements to include in your wedding invitation wording, offer ideas to spark your own creativity, and provide formal and casual wording examples to ensure everything you send to your guests is picture perfect.
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Elements To Include In Your Wedding Invitation Wording
The truth is, there’s not a big difference between formal and casual wedding invitations. If your wedding is formal, you might want to choose classic wedding invitations, which tend to have script, foil elements, and lots of sparkle. On the other hand, if you’re going for a casual gathering, you may choose one of our rustic wedding invitations, which tend to feature muted colors, barnwood graphics, and simple typography. However you style your wedding, the “who, when, where, and why” details of your wedding are the same and they should be very clear and easy to read. Below find additional elements to include in your invitation and how to address wedding invitations. A few things to make sure to include in your wedding invitations are the names of the hosts (so guests know who to thank!), the couples’ names, specific details on the location and venue, and any post-ceremony plans your guests should be aware of.
Host Names
The first line of the invitation is dedicated to the host of the wedding, also known as the party covering the expenses. Traditionally, the bride’s parents paid for the wedding, but with changing times, the groom’s parents, bride, and groom, or a combination of all three are contributing. There is no official order or requirement to list the names. It’s all up to personal preference.
If your family has a non-traditional structure — and most families do! — don’t let the host name part of the invitation trip you up. It’s easy to accommodate situations such as step-parents or when the parents of the bride or groom are deceased. These situations just offer another opportunity for creative wording like these examples below:
Including step parents in your wedding invitation
Here is example wording for including step parents in wedding invitations:
Mr. & Mrs. Flores, Mr. & Mrs. Hill,
Mr. & Mrs. Byrne and Mr. & Mrs. Lin
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of
Talia Flores
&
Stephen Byrne
Honoring deceased parents in your wedding invitation
Here is example wording for including deceased parents in wedding invitations:
Mr. & Mrs. Jon Flores and
Mr. Tom Byrne & the late Mrs. Nancy Byrne
request the honor of your company
at the marriage of their children
Talia Flores
&
Stephen Byrne
The Couple’s Names
When listing the names of the couple in wedding invitations, the bride’s name typically precedes the groom’s. Most commonly, the bride’s first and middle names are used while the groom’s first and last names are used. This is, of course, all up to personal style. Whether you’re opting for formal or casual invitations will determine how you display your names. Sometimes, it’s good to know the etiquette rules for wedding stationery, just so you can break them with confidence!
The Details
Next to the couple’s names, the ceremony details are the most important part of your wedding invites. You want to make sure your guests have no confusion about when, where, what day and time, and any other important information. For your invitation wording, keep the details simple and stick to the basics. Include the date, time, location, and address. Include dress code information if you wish your guests to adhere to a specific style of apparel. In many formal invitations, couples will spell out the date and time. With a nod to modern GPS technology, some folks will include the latitude and longitude of the wedding ceremony location so guests can plug it into their mapping app.
- Date + time
- Location + address
- Dress code
- Any other pertinent information
Post Ceremony Plans
Let your guests know what to expect after the ceremony. It’s a great way to set the tone for your reception with clear expectations. If there’s a cocktail hour or dancing and dinner, it’s good to spell it all out here, or include your wedding website link that has all the information. You should also include the address if the reception will be held at a separate venue.
Design Elements
When guests open their wedding invitation, the first thing they see is your overall design. The fun part of creating your invitations is adding interesting design elements. There are many invitation styles to choose from, including unique ones like artistic, whimsical, and vintage. Shutterfly’s wedding stationery offers a wide range of options to customize and personalize your invitations. You can choose classic elements such as monograms and symbols. You can add visual interest with borders and patterns on the card. You may want to include engagement photos for your guests to enjoy before the wedding. Finally, sweet phrases, such as “getting hitched,” “we do,” “forever and always,” and more phrases from the list below convey even more of an emotional feeling to your invitations.
- Monograms and symbols
- Borders and patterns
- Engagement photos
- Sweet phrases
- Getting hitched
- We do
- Love
- All we need is love
- We decided on forever
- Forever and Always
- To love and to cherish
- The future Mr. & Mrs. _____
- At Last
- Mr. & Mrs.
- Share in our love
Wedding Invitation Wording Ideas
Whether you are planning a formal or informal affair, there are plenty of great wedding invitation wording options for your invites. Some weddings don’t fall into the formal or informal category, but somewhere more down the middle. Many couples like to use a hybrid of traditional and non-traditional wording. On the more formal side, you could use classic wedding invitation wording such as, “The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of” or “You are cordially invited to celebrate the marriage of,” or “We invite you to share in our joy and request your presence at the wedding of”. For more informal wedding invitation greetings and phrases, try something simple and casual such as, “You are invited to the wedding of,” or “Kindly join us at the wedding of,” or “Please come help us celebrate our love.” If you as a couple are known for a specific phrase or motto, add that to your invitations if it makes sense.
Formal Greetings and Phrases
- The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of _____
- _____ request the honor of your presence at the marriage of _____
- _____ invite you to celebrate the marriage of their children _____
- Together with their parents you are cordially invited to celebrate the marriage of _____
- _____ request the pleasure of your company at the celebration of their union
- _____ joyfully request the pleasure of your company as we exchange vows
- You are cordially invited to celebrate the marriage of _____
- You are cordially invited to attend the wedding of _____
- _____ request the pleasure of your company at their wedding
- _____ request your presence on the day of their marriage
- We invite you to share in our joy and request your presence at the wedding of _____
Informal Greetings and Phrases
- You are invited to the wedding of _____
- You are invited to celebrate the marriage of _____
- Your presence is requested at the wedding of _____
- _____ request the pleasure of your company at their wedding
- _____ joyfully invite you to share in a celebration of love and commitment
- _____ invite you to celebrate their marriage
- Together with our families we joyfully invite you to the wedding of _____
- _____ invite you to join them in the celebration of their union
- _____ invite you to join them at their wedding
- _____ invite you to share in their joy as they become husband and wife
- _____ invite you to their wedding on _____
- Join us for the wedding of _____
- Kindly join us at the wedding of _____
- Please join us for our wedding
- _____ will say “I do”
- _____ invite you to join them as they say “I do”
- Please come help us celebrate our love
- _____ request the pleasure of your company as they exchange vows
- With joyful hearts, _____ request your presence at their wedding
- The wedding day of _____
- We’re getting married, please join us
- _____ join together as husband and wife
- _____ are getting hitched
- _____ would be honored to have you present when we exchange vows
Post Ceremony Wording
If you are hosting a post ceremony celebration make sure to include that in your invitation. If your reception is at a different location, make sure that you include the additional address or direct guests to your wedding website for more information. Shutterfly offers coordinated enclosure cards to include in your invitations for any additional information you need to make sure guests know. For how to word a more casual reception, you could say something short and sweet such as, “Dinner and dancing to follow.” Options for a traditional reception include phrases such as, “An evening of celebration to follow” and “Reception to follow.”
Here are some wording options to consider:
Informal Post Ceremony Wording
- Dinner and dancing to follow
- Merriment to follow
- Followed by dinner and dancing
- Drinks and dancing to follow
- Dinner, drinks and dancing to follow
- Cocktails, dinner and dancing to follow
- Adult reception to follow
Formal Post Ceremony Wording
- Reception to follow
- An evening of celebration to follow
- Followed by an evening of celebration
Different location reception wording
- Reception immediately following at _____
- Dinner to follow at _____
- Reception to follow at _____
- Reception to follow at the residence of _____
Formal Wedding Invitation Wording Examples
Jump to a specific section to see formal wedding wording invitation according to who the host is going to be:
Couple Hosting
If the bridal couple is hosting the ceremony, here’s an example of the wedding invitation wording for a formal wedding:
The honor of your presence is requested at
the marriage of
Talia Camila Flores
and
Stephen Anthony Byrne
Saturday, the tenth of June
two thousand and seventeen
at twelve o’clock in the afternoon
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Reception to follow
Couple & Parents Hosting
Sometimes weddings are hosted by both the couple and the bride and groom’s parents. Here’s an example of how to word formal wedding invitations when the ceremony is being hosted by the couple and parents:
Together with
Mr. & Mrs. Jon Flores and Mr. & Mrs. Tom Byrne
Talia Camila Flores
&
Stephen Anthony Byrne
request the honor of your company
at the celebration of their union
Saturday, the tenth of June
two thousand and seventeen
at twelve o’clock in the afternoon
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Reception to follow
Bride’s Parents Hosting
If your wedding is being hosted by the bride’s parents, here’s an example of the wording to use in formal wedding invitations so guests know whom their hosts are.
Mr. & Mrs. Jon Flores
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Talia Camila Flores
to
Stephen Anthony Byrne
Saturday, the tenth of June
two thousand and seventeen
at twelve o’clock in the afternoon
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Reception to follow
Groom’s Parents Hosting
If the groom’s parents are hosting the wedding, here’s an example of how to word formal wedding invitations so guests know to thank the parents of the groom for the ceremony.
Mr. & Mrs. Tom Byrne
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of
Talia Camila Flores
to their son
Stephen Anthony Byrne
Saturday, the tenth of June
two thousand and seventeen
at twelve o’clock in the afternoon
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Reception to follow
Couple’s Parents Hosting
Mr. & Mrs. Flores
and Mr. & Mrs. Byrne
request the honor of your company
at the marriage of their children
Talia Camila Flores
&
Stephen Anthony Byrne
Saturday, the tenth of June
two thousand and seventeen
at twelve o’clock in the afternoon
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Reception to follow
Casual Wedding Invitation Wording Samples
Jump to a specific section to see informal wedding invitation wording inspiration according to who the host is going to be:
Couple Hosting
If you’re hosting your own wedding, here’s how to word casual invitations that specify that the couple is hosting:
Talia Flores
and
Stephen Byrne
invite you to a celebration of their
love and commitment
June 10, 2017
12:00 pm
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Dinner and dancing to follow
Couple & Parents Hosting
If the wedding is being hosted by both the couple and the parents, here’s how to word casual invitations to reflect that:
Together with their parents
Talia Flores
&
Stephen Byrne
invite you to share in their joy
as they tie the knot
June 10, 2017
12:00 pm
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Dinner and dancing to follow
Bride’s Parents Hosting
Mr. & Mrs. Flores
would love your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Talia Flores
to
Stephen Byrne
June 10, 2017
12:00 pm
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Dinner and dancing to follow
Groom’s Parents Hosting
Mr & Mrs. Byrne
joyfully invite you to
the marriage of
Talia Flores
to their son
Stephen Byrne
June 10, 2017
12:00 pm
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Dinner and dancing to follow
Couple’s Parents Hosting
When the both sets of parents are hosting the wedding, here’s an example of how to word a casual invitation:
The Flores and Byrne families
joyfully invite you to the marriage of
Talia Flores
&
Stephen Byrne
June 10, 2017
12:00 pm
Arctic Club Hotel
700 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Dinner and dancing to follow
Closing Thoughts
Sending out your custom wedding invitations is an exciting step in the wedding planning process. Don’t forget to include RSVP cards and to take advantage of RSVP functions on your wedding website in case any RSVPs get lost in the mail. Remember to hold on to a couple of invitations — they are perfect for scrapbooking, crafting, and including in a shadow box or photo book. After the wedding, make sure to send your attendees thank you cards to show them how much you value their love and support.
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