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Wording Your Wedding Invitations

How do you address your wedding invitations?  Traditionalists will tell you that there's a right and a wrong way to do it.  There are certainly a few things you need to know, but thankfully etiquette for addressing and assembling invitations has relaxed, and you can bend the rules to make your wedding invitation reflect you as a couple.

At its most basic, here is a guide:

Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Durand
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sophie Lynn
to
Jeffrey Lautrec
son of
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Lautrec
Saturday, the fourth of December
Two thousand and eight
at two o'clock in the afternoon
Fox Green Country Club
2621 Hunter Avenue
Melbourne, Victoria

Many couples consider it archaic to address everyone as a Mr. or a Mrs, so you may drop the prefix in favour of "Oliver and Lucinda Durand" and "Michael and Jessica Lautrec". 

You may also choose to relax the request line to suit the casual style of your wedding.  In this case, pen your invitation with "pleasure of your company" or "invite you to share in the marriage of".

If you are hosting the wedding alongside your parents, you may wish to save space with something like:

Sophie Lynn Durant
and
Jeffrey Lautrec
together with their parents
request the pleasure of your company at their marriage
2pm, Saturday 4 December 2008
Fox Green Country Club
2621 Hunter Avenue
Melbourne, Victoria

Whether parents names are included on the invitation or not, remember to thank each set of parents for their support with a toast at the reception.

If your family relationships are complicated, don't worry.  The key rule to follow is that the person (or people) listed on the invitation should be the host (or hosts) of the wedding reception. If divorced parents are co-hosting the event, they may both still be listed, though preferably on separate lines.

Still confused?  The Knot has a fantastic wording wizard with every possible combination to help you get your invitation right.  Or try Verseit.com, which features an array themed wording samples, including seasonal, holiday, cultural and even Shakespearean invitations!

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