How Do You Write a Wedding Invitation?

Writing a wedding invitation can seem tricky, but it doesn't have to be! To help you write yours, we've put together a quick and easy guide to wedding invitation wording.

Follow these simple steps to creating your perfect wedding invitations:

Who's Hosting?

For the first line of your invitations, you want a little bit of wording telling the guests who is hosting the wedding.

If your parents (or other family members) are hosting your wedding day, it's a great way to show your appreciation.

If you are hosting your own wedding, then it isn't necessary.

The Request Line

This is a line at the top of your invitations underneath the parents names where you formally ask guests to come to your wedding.

Here are a few examples:

'request the pleasure of your company'

'invite you to join them in celebrating'

'request the honour of your presence'

If you're hosting the wedding yourself, you may wish for a line like 'You are invited to celebrate the Marriage of'.

The Couple's Names

Don't forget to include your names!

Traditionally the brides name would come first, which seems really easy. However, there are a few different options you can choose from:

You can put the couples full names, e.g. 'Nicola Jane Goddard and James Brendan Owen'.

The couples full names with titles, e.g. 'Dr Nicola Jane Goddard and Dr James Brendan Owen'.

The couples first names, e.g. 'Nicola and James'.

The groom's full name, e.g. 'Nicola and James Owen'.

The nicknames, e.g. 'Nicki and Jamie'.

It's completely your decision, and you should have it however you feel most comfortable. Generally we would recommend for more formal weddings to stick to the full names, but it is up to you what you do.

For same-sex marriages, you can put the names in whichever orders suits you. If you're struggling to decide, alphabetic order is a good choice!

The Date

You will want to include the date of the wedding, too. It is a good idea to include the day of the week that you're getting married, as most people will assume it is on a Saturday.

There are different ways you can write your wedding date. Here are some examples:

'Saturday, 10th September 2022'

'10th September 2022'

'10.09.22'

'10.09.2022'

You can do this whichever way you feel suits your invitations best.

The time

Include the time that your ceremony starts. You may want guests to arrive 30 minutes before the ceremony actually starts, so make sure to consider this when writing your invitations.

There are also different ways that you can write this. Here are some examples:

'Half past two'

'Two thirty'

'Thirty minutes past two'

'2:30pm'

For more formal weddings, you will probably want to write the numbers in word format.

The Location

Include the name of the venue, and the town or city where it is located, too.

You don't need to go into too much detail about the location, as this is something guests can probably just search for online.

However, if you do feel the need to explain the details, you may want to save these for a guest information card.

Evening Reception Details

You will also want to include details about your evening reception.

The main things to include are the location, and time, but you can go into as much or as little detail as you want.

Separate invitation for evening guests

For guests that are only invited to the evening reception, you will want evening invitations where you can go into more detail.

At Dotty about Paper, we have a wide range of different style invitations available!

RSVP Details

At the bottom of your invitations, you will want to have your RSVP details.

Tell guests when they should reply by, and how it's best for them to reply.

For traditional weddings, you will want an RSVP card that guests can send back to you.

If you're having a more casual wedding, you may just wish to include an email address that guests can reply to.

Other Details

If you have more details that you wish to include, you may want to invest in guest information cards.

This is a great place to include details about your dress code, food arrangements, hotel details, whether kids are invited, parking, public transport, and more!

They're super useful, and perfect for ensuring that your wedding invitations don't get cluttered up, too.

We hope you have found this blog useful! Don't forget to also check out our full range of wedding invitations.