How to Word Wedding Invitations
A fresh spring tulip adorns this rosa pink colored invitation. The silkscreened art is worthy of framing. And what's that on the RSVP card? Why, it's a bumble bee! So fresh, so pretty.
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You should purchase the invites once you have both the reception and ceremony locations confirmed. It is important to include the start time for your reception in-case there is an extended time gap between the ceremony and reception. This is common due to the time involved with driving between the two locations.
There is a small variance in pricing when browsing the different styles, this cost will fluctuate from vendor to vendor. It is typical to pay a 50% retainer to place an order, with the outstanding balance to be paid when delivered. Try to order 5% more invites for situations with last minute guests or mistakes.
How to Write Wedding Invitations
When placing the order for your invites, formally recognize the people giving the wedding. The standard is the full name of the couple, with their date, time and ceremony site address. Are you searching for an example of how to write wedding invitations? Check out our advice below:
If the wedding is given by your mother & father:
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy K. Gregor
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sarah Gregor
to
Jeffery Scott Bradley
(etc.)
If the wedding is given by you and the groom:
Sarah Gregor
and Jeffery Scott Bradley
request the honor of your presence
at their marriage
(etc.)
If the wedding is given by your mother, and your father is deceased,
Mrs. Timothy K. Gregor
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Sarah Gregor
(etc.)
If your mother has remarried, use her present husband’s name:
Mr and Mrs. James C. Fountain
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Sarah Gregor
(etc.)
If the wedding is given by your mother, and your parents are divorced, use your mother’s maiden name plus your fathers last name:
Mrs. Bethany Cravin Gregor
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Sarah Gregor
(etc.)
If the wedding is given by your father, and either your parents are divorced or your mother is deceased:
Mr. Timothy K. Gregor
requests the honor of your presence
at the marriage of his daughter
Sarah Gregor
(etc.)
If your father has remarried:
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy K. Gregor
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of his daughter
Sarah Gregor
(etc.)
If the wedding is given by your divorced parents, and each has remarried,
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy K. Gregor
and
Mr. and Mrs. Albert S. Price
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sarah Gregor
(etc.)
How to Write Wedding Invites
When finalizing the wording our your wedding invitations, and content style, remember that ‘the honor of your presence’ typically references a formal or religious service and ‘the pleasure of your company’ references a civil or casual service. This is when you should have a consultant help you with wording the finished invites.
The tell tale sign between a civilian and military wedding is the usage of service titles. I’ve included an example below:
~ army, marine corps: rank of captain or higher
~ navy: rank of commodore or higher
Their rank precedes their name, and the service designation follows on the next line under their name:
Commodore Jeffery Scott Bradley
United States Navy
For officers whose ranks are below those listed above, list their name on a single line, with the line below showing their rank and service designation:
Jeffery Scott Bradley
Lieutenant, United States Navy
For military personnel without rank, list their name on a single line, with the line below showing their service designation:
Jeffery Scott Bradley
United States Marine Corps
A bride in the service can refrain from using her own rank and military designation on the invites, unless she would like to be married in her uniform.
Addresses should be done personally by hand. Typically this is done in black ink; however you can stick with the same colors for the printing.
Invites tend to come with (2) envelopes:
When addressing outer envelopes:
~ formal titles such as doctor, captain, and reverend are not abbreviated.
~ Semi-formal titles such as Ms., Mr., and Mrs. can use abbreviation.
~ Avenue, street, road, city, state, etc., are not abbreviated.
When wording your inner envelope, include both the titles and last names of the invited adults only. If you would like to invite children 18 years of age and under, write their first names on a line below their parents on the inner envelope. Children over the age of 18 that are invited receive their own invitations. Try to avoid the phrase ‘and family’, it should be avoid as it can be considered too impersonal.
Mr. and Mrs. Timberland
Joseph, Barbara, and Alexis
After you have addressed your invites, place all cards into your envelopes like this:
~ Put the reception card into your invite
~ Place your RSVP card in its envelope, and put it inside the invite
~ Put map, if necessary, inside invite
~ Put tissue over printed words on invite to avoid ink from smudging
~ Tuck the invitation, have the folded edge facing down into your inner envelope.
- Put your inner envelope into the outer envelope so the wording on your inner envelope faces the flap.
Before buying postage, have all your invites with envelopes weighted to figure out the cost of buying stamps.
Mail your invites all at once, using only first class stamps.
Have the return envelope postage prepaid by include a stamp on your envelope for the response cards.
Refer to the below ex. when wording the response card. This will helps to minimize miscommunication and a prompt response.
The favor of a reply
is requested before
March first.
M_____________________________
will _________ will not _______ attend.
Number of persons: _______________
When purchasing invites, also order any miscellaneous stationery you require:
~ Reception cards, showing times and location of the reception.
~ RSVP cards printed with reply address envelopes; enclose this with your invite to help with planning for head count prior to your big day.
~ Quick thank-you letters have the name of the bride or the bride and groom on the front, leave the inside blank to write a thank you message.
~ Thank-you notes, with a standard message to recognize that a gift is received.
~ Name engraved Napkins/matches available as keepsakes for your family and friends.
~ Announcements, to be mailed to guests that are unable to attend your celebration, but really want to.
~ Pew cards, not commonly used, but appropriate for super-formal environments e.g., with celebrities and dignitaries: pew cards are enclosed with the invites or mailed once their reservation has been received to ensure the appropriate number of seats.
~ Wedding programs show the processional order and naming all those involved. These can be folded even rolled like a scroll and sealed by a ribbon. The wedding program serves as a outline for your formalities and also a nice keepsake for guests.
Programs can even be engraved, printed with an offset printing, or produced by computer with a laser printer, with calligraphy added down the road.
Program covers can easily be purchased from printing companies that have a vast inventory of paper stock. You can also check with wedding invite manufacturers to see more samples of styles. Religious supply companies of bookstores also stock an assortment of church program covers. You can even create your own cover with a special photo of you and your fiancé.
Programs can include the date, time and address, names of the VIPs, their role in your wedding, how they relate to the guests of honor, processional order, mentions of readers or poems. You can also express appreciation on behalf of the families for the guest’s involvement in your special day.
You can expect to make last minute changes. This is why we recommend printing your programs (2) weeks prior to the big day. Give yourself enough time to proof read the wording to prevent and spelling errors.
Keep your thank you cards sweet and to the point. Remember that you will have to write dozens of personal thank-yous for your guests. Thank you cards sent after the wedding can use the couple’s name as being married ex. Mr. & Mrs. Jeffery Scott Bradley. Notes sent prior to the wedding date should be worded to include both their first and last names ex. Mr. Jeffery Scott Bradley and Ms. Sarah Gregor. It is wise to use blank thanks you over the print, this will make your message more meaningful. Try to apply this method to the process:
~ Mention your spouse’s name
~ Mention the gift
~ Tell them what you enjoy about their gift
~ Briefly say how you will use the gift.
Unfortunately we all know that things happen, and if the engagement is broken off after the invites have been mailed, you can mail out a printed announcement discussing the change of plans. Please refer to the below:
Mr. and Mrs. _____________
announce that the marriage of their daughter,
__________ to Mr. ______________,
will not take place.
If the change of plans happens the week of the wedding, then you will have to personally telephone every invited guest. You don’t have to go into details as to why the wedding was called off. Those that sent gifts should have them returned.
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A rich fern green cover stock is the background for the beautifully silkscreened pine graphic. A warm and elegant invitation for your winter wedding.
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For an elegant beach wedding. A shimmering card bordered with rattan is revealed when this invitation is opened. Sealed with a matching medallion.
An iridescent zinfandel card is beautifully pearl-embossed for an opulent feeling. This is a very pretty invitation, setting a sophisticated mood for winter, spring, summer or autumn weddings.
Exquisite quality and fine craftsmanship of our printing combine for a beautiful finished product, the perfect way to announce to the world the details of your very special celebration.
This brown suede "tuxedo" pocket invitation is an industry award winner. Truly unique, stunningly memorable, the brown suede pocket folds over to show "lapels" of shimmering espresso.
