At Hoopla House Creative, there are hundreds of wedding invitation designs and styles to choose from, but what is the proper etiquette or guidelines for what to include on the invitation?
There are a lot of traditions that goes into the preparation of your special day, and we take pride in helping the bride and groom with choosing their unique style, that mirrors the personality of one of the most important day’s in a couples life.
We put this article together to discuss some of the different wording options you have when you’re putting your wedding invitations together as well as the etiquette, so you don’t accidentally offend someone or forget to mention something. You can have a beautiful invitation that draws big emotions when people see it, but if the essential information is not included you can end up confusing your guests.
Use this as a guide to include the proper wording and reflect your style on your wedding invitations.
The main features of a wedding invitation is who’s getting married, who is hosting and where and when is the ceremony and reception. We will get into all the details that are commonly included in wedding invitations as we get deeper into this article.As tradition goes the bride’s parents host the wedding, but of course that’s not always the case. Below are a few traditional guidelines, depending who’s hosting your wedding.
- If the bride’s parents are paying for the majority (more than ½) of the wedding costs, it’s proper etiquette to include their names on invitation.
- If the groom’s parents are paying for the majority, include their names instead.
- If both parents are contributing (we don’t want to get too technical as to who’s paying more and offend anyone) include the names of both parents.
- If the couple is paying for the majority of the wedding, then the couple is hosting the wedding.
- You can honor both sets of parents by including their names after naming the bride and groom, such as John P. Smith “son of Jack P. Smith.”
Traditional Wedding Invitation Wording Options When Parents Are Hosting
- The proper names of those hosting.
- Followed by the request line.
- Then the relationship of the bride to the host(s).
- Bride’s first and middle name only.
- Grooms full name.
- Day of the week, followed by the month and year.
- Time of the ceremony and state and include if it is in the morning or evening.
- Location of the ceremony.
- City and state of where the ceremony is going to take place.
- Reception line that includes the name of reception venue, time and location.
Bride’s Parents Are Hosting
*Bride’s parents first, followed by bride’s first and middle name, then groom’s full name.
Mr. and Mrs. David S. Jones
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Jill Ann
and
Jack Paul Smith
Saturday the fourth of August
at two o’clock in the evening
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
New York, New York
Reception to immediately follow
Prince George Ballroom
15 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016
Bride’s Last Name Etiquette
When the bride’s parents are hosting, the tradition is to include only the bride’s first and middle name. When the groom’s parents are hosting or co-hosting you should include the bride’s last name.
Groom’s Parents Are Hosting
*Grooms parents first, followed by groom’s full name then brides full name.
__________
Mr. and Mrs. Jack P. Smith
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their son
John Paul Smith
and
Jill Ann Jones
Saturday the fourth of August
at two o’clock in the evening
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
New York, New York
Reception to immediately follow
Prince George Ballroom
15 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016
__________
Couple Is Hosting
*Bride’s full name first, followed by groom’s full name, followed by honoring both sets of parents is optional.
__________
Ms. Jill Ann Jones
and
Mr. Jack Paul Smith
request the honor of your presence
at their marriage
Saturday the fourth of August
at two o’clock in the evening
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
New York, New York
Reception to immediately follow
Prince George Ballroom
15 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016
__________
Everyone Is Hosting
*Bride’s full name first, followed by groom’s full name, followed by bride’s parents and groom’s parents.
__________
Ms. Jill Ann Jones
and
Mr. Jack Paul Smith
together with their parents
Mr. and Mrs. David S. Jones
and
Mr. and Mrs. John P. Smith
request the honor of your presence
at their marriage
Saturday the fourth of August
at two o’clock in the evening
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
New York, New York
Reception to immediately follow
Prince George Ballroom
15 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016
__________
Dissecting the Invitations
A few things need to be mentioned regarding the above wedding invitation examples.
Proper Name Etiquette
The names of married parents should be mentioned on the same line with the husband’s last name, such as Mrs. and Mr. John Smith.
Addressing The Expected Attire Never assume your guests know if the wedding is casual or formal. Some weddings on a beach can be formal and other weddings in a fancy reception hall can be casual. So it’s always a good idea to mention the expected attire at the somewhere toward the bottom of the invitation. You can include this; Dress: Formal, Dress: Casual, Dress: Beach Casual
When To Send Your Invitations:
At the very minimum, send your invitations at least six weeks before the date. It’s best to send them eight weeks in advance of the date for a traditional wedding.
Save The Dates:
Traditionally, save the dates are sent out six months before the wedding and can be sent out as much as eight months before the date for a destination wedding.
Destination Weddings:
For destination weddings, it’s a good idea to send save the dates, however, you should be contacting people even before that to let them know your wedding is a destination wedding and let them know some details. Between eight and six months before the destination wedding you should get information about wedding group hotel deals and rates, rental car rates, etc. You don’t want to invite guests to your destination wedding and later find out there is a big event going on at the same time as your wedding and all hotel rooms are booked.
I hope this helps you clarify some of the general traditions and etiquette that goes into creating and sending out wedding invitations. If you know someone that is getting married and would like to help them in any way, send them a link to this article. And bookmark this page, so you can return to it, when it’s time for you to create your wedding invitations and have fun with expressing your style and personality.
Leave a Reply