Quick Tips on Wedding Invitation Wording Etiquette

Traditional wording etiquette changes over the years, but we’ve compiled the best advice from Emily Post, Martha Stewart, and our own lengthy experience with traditional weddings.

It’s important to note that traditional wedding invitation wording doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a black tie or formal wedding. You can have traditional wording on your wedding invitations, while still having a more casual wedding or more modern overall invitation design. Mixing the traditional wedding invitation wording with a modern/contemporary/casual design is a great way to compromise with traditional parents’ views. (Trust us- we see this a lot!)

Hosting and Invitation Lines

• Parents names should include first, middle, and last name. Ex: Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith

• Never use abbreviations for names Ex: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Smith

• Spell out Doctor

• All names should be capitalized

• No punctuation is needed at the top of the invitation for traditional wording

• “…honor of your presence…” is used for a house of worship

• “…pleasure of your company…” is used for a non-house of worship

• Both “honor” (American) and “honour” (British) versions are correct and considered etiquette

(for more information on hosting line, we invite you to visit our blog on Invitation Wording Based on Who is Hosting)

Names

• If bride’s last name is listed above with her parents, only her first and middle name is written Ex: Sarah Elizabeth

• If the bride’s last name differs than her parents, then her last name is included Ex: Sarah Elizabeth Smith

• The groom’s full name is written out Ex: Kyle Matthew Moore

• The groom’s title is optional Ex: Mr. Kyle Matthew Moore

Date/Year/time

• The date is written out without any numbers Ex: Saturday, the twenty-fifth of November

• The year is optional

• If the year is included, the year is written out

• The time is written to indicate time of day Ex: at four in the afternoon

• “O’clock” is optional

Location/reception

• Ceremony venue name is written out in full

• Ceremony city and state are written out without any abbreviations

• Ceremony address may be included if the ceremony is at a private residence or obscure location unknown to Google. If so, no zip code is needed

• If ceremony and reception are at the same location, a reception line is added to the bottom of the card
  Ex: And afterward at the reception
  Reception to follow
  Reception immediately following
  Dinner and dancing to follow
  Cocktails, dinner and dancing to follow

• If ceremony and reception are at different locations, a reception card is added to the suite with reception information including time and location. Nowadays, it is still considered a traditional invitation suite if the reception location and time are written at the end of the ceremony card.

Bonus Tips

• The fist letter of each line is capitalized. The only exception is “at" on the time line

We hope this helps you put together the perfect wedding invitation wording! Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need help!

Wording Samples for Traditional vs. Modern Weddings

Wording an invitation can be a daunting task, but we’re here to make it easy! Traditional and more modern wedding invitation wording can be both for a formal wedding or casual wedding.

If you’re trying to stick with true traditional wedding invitation wording, the top sample wording for traditional weddings is the way to go. For more traditional etiquette advice, we invite you to visit our blog post all about traditional wording etiquette.

For modern weddings, we can get as creative as we want to! Below are some of our more popular wording choices.

Traditional Weddings

if married in a house of worship:

Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
request the hono(u)r of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter

Sarah Elizabeth
to
Kyle Matthew Moore

The hono(u)r of your presence
is requested at the marriage of

Sarah Elizabeth Smith
and
Kyle Matthew Moore

if married not in a house of worship:

Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter

Sarah Elizabeth
to
Kyle Matthew Moore

The pleasure of your company is requested
at the marriage of

Sarah Elizabeth Smith
and
Kyle Matthew Moore

other traditional examples

Together with their families/parents

Sarah Elizabeth Smith
and
Kyle Matthew Moore

invite you to celebrate their marriage

Together with their families

Sarah Elizabeth Smith
and
Kyle Matthew Moore

invite you to share in their joy
as they exchange marriage vows

 Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
invites you to celebrate
the union of their daughter

Sarah Elizabeth Smith
to
Kyle Matthew Moore

  Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
invite you to share in their joy
at the wedding of their daughter

Sarah Elizabeth Smith
to
Kyle Matthew Moore

You are cordially invited
to celebrate the marriage of

Sarah Elizabeth Smith
and
Kyle Matthew Moore

modern Weddings

if parents names are mentioned

With love and excitement
Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
request the hono(u)r of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter

Sarah Elizabeth
to
Kyle Matthew Moore

Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
joyfully invites you to celebrate the marriage of

Sarah Elizabeth
to
Kyle Matthew Moore

Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
would love for you to join them
as their daughter

Sarah Elizabeth
marries
Kyle Matthew Moore

It's with great pleasure that
Mr. and Mrs. John David Smith
invite you to celebrate the marriage of their daughter

Sarah Elizabeth
to
Kyle Matthew Moore

if parents names are not mentioned

Sarah Smith
and
Kyle Moore

invite you to their wedding

Because you have shared in their lives
by your friendship and love,
you are invited to celebrate the marriage of

Sarah Smith
and Kyle Moore

as they exchange marriage vows
and begin their new life together

Sarah Smith
and Kyle Moore

Together with our parents
we invite you to share our joy
as we celebrate our marriage

Sarah Smith
and Kyle Moore

are getting married
so join us to celebrate!

Sarah and Kyle
are getting married!

Join us for the wedding of

Sarah Smith
and Kyle Moore

Ornate Old World Styled Wedding

A wedding for Carlie and Jake that came straight our of a fairytale- we loved creating this ornate, maroon and navy invitation and stunning day-of designs.

We are pretty sure Carlie and Jake’s wedding came straight out of a fairytale book! Their ornate old world style was the most romantic setting to celebrate with close family and friends. Soft hues of plum and lavender were accented with vibrant jewel tones to make for the most luxurious color palette we have ever seen! For Carlie and Jake, we designed these stunning floral invitations with a matching envelope liner and colorful envelopes. We also carried these designs into their reception stationery with navy programs and gold wax seal escort cards! Everything was tied together beautifully with lush greenery floral arrangements and delicate gold rimmed tableware. The night ended as most beautiful weddings do- with a sparkler send off for the bride and groom! Congrats to Carlie and Jake. See the full blog post in Brides of Austin here!

Thank you to Texas Luxury Restroom Trailers, Polkadots Cupcake Factory, McGuire Moorman Hospitality, Via 313, Birch & Brass Vintage Rentals, Townsley Designs, London Calling Band, Greenbelt DJ Productions, Simply Entertainment, Terra Vista Strings, STEMS Floral Design and Productions, Lola Beauty, The Menagerie, Ilios Lighting, SMS Photography, La Tavola Fine Linen, Uptown Valet and Transportation, M PENNER, Ladybird Studios, The Contemporary Austin, Pearl Events Austin, Full Spectrum ice Sculptures, Premiere Event Rentals, Marquee Event Rentals, and The Driskill.

Looking for inspiration for your wedding? Check out our gallery.

Romantic Ivory Wedding

Loved these classic, timeless, ivory letterpress wedding invitations for Hillary and Jason.

It doesn’t get more romantic or elegant than Hillary and Jason’s wedding day! Lush pale blooms filled every corner of this stunning wedding day and guests dined at the most gorgeous farm tables. For their gorgeous wedding, we designed these simple custom horizontal wedding invitations. We carried their timeless design into their day of stationery with an acrylic seating chart and menus adorned with custom wax seals- so dreamy! They ended the night with a magical firework show with their family and friends. See the full blog post on Brides of Austin here!

Thank you to Simon Lee Bakery, In10City Band, Mariachi Jalisco, Terra Vista Strings, Veracruz All Natural, Adore Makeup Boutique and Salon, Ilios Lighting, Beauty Asylum, 4 Leaf Limo, Central Texas Valet, Villa Del Lago, Crescent Video Productions, Crave, Whim Hospitality, Bouquets of Austin, Sophie Epton, and Pearl Events Austin.

Looking for inspiration for your wedding? Check out our gallery.

Rustic Elegance Wedding

Rustic, elegance for Bethany and Keenan with this letterpress and gold foil invitation.

Bethany and Keenan’s wedding day was the perfect blend of rustic elegance and traditional sophistication! For their big day, we created these stunning combination foil and letterpress invitations, with a custom monogram and gold beveled edges. Their simple, yet classic monogram was also featured throughout their wedding day by being included on the menus, escort display, menus, and even an ice sculpture! The rest of their wedding day consisted of gorgeous lush flowers with vibrant pops of pink. Family and friends danced the night away on the mirrored dance floor under floating confetti and sent the bride and groom off with a sparkler exit! You can see the full blog post in Brides of Austin here!

Thank you to Blue Bridal Boutique, Rosemary's Catering, Simon Lee Bakery, Benold's Jewelers, In10City Band, Mirror Mirror Salon, FILO Productions, Morgan Matous Makeup, SMS Photography, The Black Tux, ILC Films, Life Austin Chapel, Pearl Events Austin, Bullock Texas State History Museum, Full Spectrum Ice Sculptures, and Bouquets of Austin

Looking for inspiration for your wedding? Check out our gallery.

Timeless White Wedding

Jennifer and Phillip’s timeless, classic invitations for their wedding at The Rosewood will always be a favorite.

This week we are sharing one of our favorite classic invitations! We designed these timeless and simple wedding invitations for Jennifer and Phillip’s wedding day at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. The design included a pastel color palette throughout the suite to complement the soft spring tones of their florals! We paired the invitations with a simple custom monogram and floral envelope liner to finish off the suite! Many congrats to this sweet couple!

You can see the full feature in Brides of North Texas Magazine here.

Thank you to Hilton Anatole Dallas, DJ Jake Hans, Legacy Tailor, La Duni Restaurant, William Noble Rare Jewels, Kim Dawson Agency, Jennifer Yarbro Photography, Bella Accento, Motion Butter, Engaged Events, Something Pretty Floral, Patsy’s bridal boutique, Leann’s Bridal, Warwick Melrose Dallas, Leforce Entertainment, and Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.

Looking for inspiration for your wedding? Check out our gallery.

Romantic Summer Wedding in the Woods

We loved designing these romantic invitations for Aimee and Jeremy’s summer Camp Lucy wedding.

In these quarantine times, we are missing fun-filled weddings like this even a little more than usual! Aimee and Jeremy’s tied the knot under a gorgeous greenery arch and surrounded by the ones they love. For their wedding day, we designed a simple and modern wedding invitation, paired with a sprig of greenery, that matched perfectly with their rustic outdoor design. Another showstopper of this stunning wedding day was the amazing cake display! The whimsical touches of greenery filled hoops hanging from the ceiling made for the most perfect backdrop for those yummy cakes! We know where we would have been hanging out all night ;) The night ended with one of our favorite exits- a sparkler send off! We can’t wait when couples can enjoy magical wedding days like this again!

Thank you to Pearl Events,  Camp Lucy, Whim Hospitality, Bee Lavish , Whim Catering,  Whim Florals, Simply Delicious Custom Cakes, Tiny Pies, Claire Pedregon Photography, Josh Reil, Greenbelt DJ, Brandon Seibert, Marian Little, Limos of Austin, Deer Run

Looking for inspiration for your wedding? Check out our gallery.

Social Distancing Signage

It’s official… we’re in the new normal. Wedding, events, and small businesses have our heart so we want to provide you with a FREE social distancing sign to display to keep your company, your venue, yourself, and your guests or customers safe and healthy.

Social distancing signs are usually displayed at the entrance or check-out of your business and displayed in the window. For events, is good idea to display them around the event, such as the entrance, bar tops, and areas where guests usually congregate.

In addition, we have more pretty social distancing signs ready to browse. You can find all our designs on our Etsy shop. Just click the button below!

We’re here to support you! Please let us know if you have any questions on this free social distancing sign download or other social distancing sign or mask signs for your business or event.

Vibrant Whimsical Backyard Birthday Party

An adorable, boozy, backyard 30th birthday party that we were so thrilled to design signage for!

Who doesn’t love a party with a theme?! For Megan’s 30th birthday, she threw the most fun ‘blackout brunch’ party and we were lucky enough to help her out! This boozy backyard birthday was filled with our fun and vibrant custom signage, including dessert display and bar signs! We based our designs off of the whimsical and vibrant color scheme, which was incorporated throughout the flowers, sprinkle covered cake, and colorful rentals! And no birthday is complete without balloons, guests were greeted with a larger than life balloon garland that set the tone for this entire day! We believe everyone’s birthday should be this fun!

Thank you to Pearl Events, Allan House, Premiere Event, Birch & Brass Rentals, Bouquets of Austin,  Tres Floral Pop, Rustika Bakery, Crave Catering, Stacey Conant, My Event is the Bomb, Tiny Tails to You, Texas Pro DJ, Adore Makeup Salon

Looking for inspiration for your next event? Check out our gallery.