Introduction

This is a primer on the basics of creating your wedding invitation wording. It highlights key situations and provides excellent examples for the body of the wording, use of locations, add-in wordings, and footnotes.

Extensive lists of wordings for almost every situation (Parents, Separated, Divorced, Deceased, Second Marriage, etc.) for every paper (Invitations, Announcements, Place Cards, etc.) for Weddings, Anniversary, Bride's Maids Party, Reaffirmation, Dinner Party, Garden Party, Tea, Benefit, Birth Announcements, Mitzvahs, Debutante, and many more social events are included on separate pages. After you understand some of the general features of the wording situations shown below, click Wordings for all Occasions.

Wedding Wordings Primer

Unless you are an expert in the social graces, you will need to select or create the proper wording. The wording depends on your social situation and the formality of the event. To some, tradition, culture, and etiquette is very important; others either do not know or care about such matters. You need not be "rich" in money to be "rich" in style. Here, you will find a starting point.

In general, the person(s) paying for the event (Brides parents, Grooms parents, or both) are "hosting" the event and thus, issue the Invitations.

Other sources for this include wedding and social consultants, mail order invitation catalogs, or books (bibliography) on etiquette.

Typical Situations

The situations listed below are quite common. A sample wording for each is illustrated. One additional situation includes a Private Cerermony followed by a Reception for invited guests. In the sample wordings shown below, you simply change "at the marriage of" to "at the wedding reception of". Be sure to examine the hundreds of detailed wordings for every social event included on this site.

CLICK on each of the following for an example of a proper wording . . .

  • Parents of Bride OR Groom issuing the Invitation
  • Bride AND Groom's parents issuing the Invitation
  • One parent deceased, other parent not remarried
  • One parent deceased, other parent remarried
  • Both parents deceased, Brother or Sister issuing the Invitation
  • Bride and Groom issuing the Invitation
  • Divorced parents issuing the Invitation
  • Double wedding of Brides who are or not Sisters
  • Second Marriages

Bride's Parents Issuing

Groom's Parents Issuing

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday, the eighth of January
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine
at one o'clock in the afternoon
Saint John's Church
Arlington, Virginia

Mr. and Mrs. Buckrand Rogers
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of
Miss Georgia Sue Washington
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .

Mr. and Mrs. Buckrand Rogers
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of
their son, John Buck
to
Miss Georgia Sue Washington
on Saturday . . .
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Bride's and Groom's Parents Issuing

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
and
Mr. and Mrs. Buckrand Rogers
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday, the eighth of January
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine
at one o'clock in the afternoon
Saint John's Church
Arlington, Virginia
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Mother or Father is Deceased and remaining parent has not remarried

Father Issuing the Invitation

Mother Issuing the Invitation

Mr. George Washington
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of his daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .

Mrs. George Washington
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .
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Mother or Father is Deceased and remaining parent has remarried

Father Remarried and Issuing

Mother Remarried and Issuing

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of his daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph W. Emerson
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .

When the Bride maintains a close relationship with the stepparent, you may change
"at the marriage of his/her daughter"
to
"at the marriage of their daughter"
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Parents Deceased, Brother or Sister Issuing

In memory of our parents
Roger Williams
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of my sister
Susan
to
Mr. James Buckley
on Saturday . . .
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Bride's and Groom's Parents Issuing

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
and
Mr. and Mrs. Buckrand Rogers
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday, the eighth of January
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine
at one o'clock in the afternoon
Saint John's Church
Arlington, Virginia
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Parents are Divorced

Father Issuing

Mother Issuing

Mr. George Washington
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of his daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .

Mrs. George Washington
request sthe honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .

Both Parents are Divorced but jointly Issuing

Mrs. Martha Washington
and
Mr. George Washington
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .
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Double Wedding Ceremony

Brides are Sisters

Brides not Sisters

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Georgia Sue
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
and
Martha Ray
to
Mr. Flash Gordon
on Saturday . . .

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington

and
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Jefferson
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughters
Georgia Sue Washington
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
and
Julia Sue Jefferson
to
Mr. Flash Gordon
on Saturday . . .
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Second Marriage for Divorcee or Widow (use Bride's married name)

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Ms. Georgia Sue Washington Gordon
to
Mr. Buckly Rogers
on Saturday . . .
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Bride and/or Groom in the Military

The Bride or Groom's military rank should be included in the wording.

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Bride or Groom in the NAVY

Ensign or Higher Rank

to
John Paul Jones
Ensign, United States Navy

Petty Officers or Seamen

to John Paul Jones
United States Navy

Bride or Groom in the ARMY, AIR FORCE, or MARINES

Captain or Higher Rank

to
Captain Flash Joseph Gordon
United States Marines

Lieutenant

to
Flash Joseph Gordon
Lieutenant, United States Army

Non-commissioned and Privates

to
Flash Joseph Gordon
United States Air Force
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Specifying Date and Time

Your event date and time are not simply, "on June 25, 2003 at 3 PM". Both must be converted to full script.

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Time preceeds Date

12 am

9 am

12 pm

5 pm

8 pm

at midnight

at nine o'clock in the morning

at noon

at five o'clock in the afternoon

at eight o'clock in the evening

June 21, 2003

on the twenty-first of June
two thousand three
(two thousand and three)

For Time not on the hour . . .

5:15 pm

5:30 pm

5:45 pm

5:20 pm

at a quarter past five o'clock in the afternoon

at half past five o'clock in the afternoon

at a quarter of six o'clock in the afternoon

DON'T DO IT!!!
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Add-in Wordings

To save the cost of a separate Reception Card, you can add-in the reception invitation below the ceremony's wording. Commercial printers add a "dingbat" symbol at the end of your invitation wording and the add-in. If you are printing your own, you might add a dash or a blank line as a separator.

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ADD-IN WORDINGS
Use an add-in wording to save the cost of a Reception Card.

Wedding Breakfast
eleven o'clock
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York

Luncheon
Twelve Noon
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York

Dinner Reception
six o'clock
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York

Reception and Dinner
six o'clock
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York

Reception
six o'clock
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York

Reception
immediately following the ceremony
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York

Adult Reception
six o'clock
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York

Reception
immediately following the ceremony
at the home and garden of
Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
Mt. Vernon, Virginia

Mr. and Mrs. George Washington
request the pleasure of your company
at the wedding luncheon
following the ceremony

Cocktails at four o'clock
Dinner at seven o'clock
Garden City Country Club
New Hyde Park, New York
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Ceremony Location

In addition to creating the "issuing" portion of the wording, you need to include the location of the ceremony. Always think of this as a location rather than an address. As such, you never include a zip code or abbreviate the state. And, if the location is well known (such as a public facility), you need not inlude the street. If the location features several rooms, you might add the "room name" if there will be no sign, direction card, or main door usher at the location to guide the guests.

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LOCATION
Wedding (or Reception) Location in the Wording

at a private residence

at a public facility

at the residence of
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Jefferson
1 Monticello Way
Charlottesville, Virginia

Saint John's Church
Arlington, Virginia

Note that the state is spelled out and that the zip code is not included.
(In the case shown, you may change the "1" to "One" but only for the number one.)

Saint John's Church
Wedding Chapel
Arlington, Virginia
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Footnotes

You may have an option of including left, centered, or right footnotes. Some printers charge extra for footnotes.

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FOOTNOTES
Use a footnote to save the cost of a Respond Card, to indicate some special requirement or feature, or as a substitute for a Reception invitation.

RSVP
RSVP by May 22nd
RSVP (123) 456-7890

R.S.V.P.
R.S.V.P. by May 22nd
R.S.V.P. (123) 456-7890

R. S. V. P.
R. S. V. P. by May 22nd
R. S. V. P. (123) 456-7890

RSVP 123 First Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 12345

R. S. V. P. by May 22nd at (123) 456-7890
R. S. V. P. before May 22nd at (123) 456-7890
Please respond by May 22nd at (123) 456-7890
Reception follows the Ceremony

Regrets Only

Black Tie

Adults Only

Buffet

Over 18 Please

Cocktails
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