How to word your wedding invitations

Once you’ve chosen the perfect design for your wedding invitations, you need to choose your words carefully. Much like the design of your invitations, the wording will set the tone of your wedding, whether it be formal and fancy, or casual and contemporary.

In its most basic form, an invitation is simply a means of informing your guests of who is getting married, who is hosting, and details of your ceremony and reception. Here are some ideas for how to word your wedding invitations.

HOSTS

Traditionally, the first line of the invitation is where you list who is hosting the wedding. This might be one set of parents, single parents, or both. Alternatively the bride and groom might be hosting the wedding themselves.

REQUEST

The host line is usually followed by a request line.

BRIDE + GROOM

Of course, the invitation will set out the names of the bride and groom. Decide whether you would like to use just first names or last names, too. Traditionally, the bride’s name goes first.

Example 1 (traditional/formal) 

“Mr and Mrs Smith together with Mr and Mrs Williams                

request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their children                                                

Olivia & Harrison”

Example 2 (traditional/formal) 

“Mr and Mrs Smith together with Mr Williams and Ms Jones

request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their children

Olivia & Harrison”

Example 3 (modern/casual)

“Together with their parents

Olivia & Harrison

invite you to celebrate their marriage”

Example 4 (modern/casual)

“Together with their families

Olivia & Harrison

invite you to join them in celebrating their marriage”

Example 5 (modern/casual)

“Please join us for the wedding celebration of

Olivia & Harrison”

CEREMONY

Keep it simple. Let your guests know the time , date and location of the ceremony.

CELEBRATION

What’s coming after the wedding? Let your guests know what to expect after the ceremony.

Examples

“Reception to follow at 7pm”

“Dinner and dancing to follow”

“Cocktail reception to follow”

RSVP

Make the RSVP easy for your guests to read and quick to fill in.  Ask your guests to accept or decline the invitation by a specific date.

Examples 

“Accept with pleasure” / “Decline with regret”

“Gladly accept” / “Regretfully decline”

“Wouldn’t miss it” / “Celebrating from afar”

“Can’t wait” / “Can’t make it”

Yes wouldn’t miss it! / No, but I have a really good excuse!

GIFTS

If you’ve registered for gifts or want to ask your guests for cash, be sure to include this on your wedding invitations. Click here to read our full list of wording suggestions on how to ask for money at your wedding.

Examples

“If youʼre thinking of giving a gift, to help us on our way, a gift of cash towards our honeymoon, would really make our day. However, if you prefer to purchase a gift, feel free to surprise us in your own way.”

“Your presence at our wedding is gift enough, but if you do wish to buy us something, a contribution towards our dream honeymoon would be appreciated.”

“Your presence at our wedding is the greatest gift of all, however if you wish to honour us with a gift, we have registered a list with …”

ADULTS ONLY

If you choose not to invite children to your wedding, addressing the wedding invitation to adults only is the simplest and most subtle way of indicating this. However, there is a risk that some guests will assume their kids are still invited. You might, therefore, wish to include one of the following statements in your invitation:

“No children please”

“Due to restrictions at our venue, children are not invited”

“While we love to watch the children run and play, this is an adults only kind of day”

“We love your kids but thought you might like a night off. Adults only please!”

Click here to read more suggestions on how to say ‘no kids’ at your wedding.