Do You Include the Groom's Parents' Names on a Wedding Invitation?
According to wedding invitation tradition, the bride’s parents should be included on the wedding invite, requesting the presence of those invited to join the couple on their big day. This formality often signifies that the bride’s parents have paid for all (or a large majority of) the event.
So, what wedding invite etiquette should be followed when the groom’s parents have paid for the wedding, or perhaps have contributed 50/50? In this article, we provide a brief overview of how best to include parents on your wedding invite, and what should be followed according to wedding invite best practice.
That said, there is a lot less pressure to follow traditional invitation etiquette nowadays, especially if couples are self-funding their celebration, or a more informal event is planned – there are no hard-and-fast rules to follow when inviting guests to your big day.
How to include parents names on your wedding invitation
If one set of parents is paying for the majority of the event, but the other is still contributing to the bill, it’s fairly simple.
It is customary for the names of the parents paying the largest proportion to be at the top of the invitation, with the names of the other set following. It is very common to name the groom’s parents at some stage on the invite and is the polite and proper thing to do if they’ve helped you pay for your big day.
Some modern couples don’t like the formality of traditional wedding invitation etiquette, and instead like to include the names of both sets of parents at the top of the invite, listing them as the ‘hosts’ of the day (a great way to avoid any interfamily politics on the lead up to your wedding!)
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If you’re self-funding your wedding, perhaps you won’t want to include the names of your parents on the invite – this is fine too. In this situation, it is appropriate to name both the bride and groom only.
Exceptions to the wedding invitation rules
There are several reasons why you may want to part from wedding invitation tradition.
Perhaps you wish to omit one parent’s name from the invite, or maybe you’d like to list the names of parents even though they’ve not contributed to the cost of the wedding.
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Whatever you decide, what you include on your wedding invitation is a deeply personal choice that should be made by the bride and groom only.
