How To Word Your Wedding Invites

HOW TO WORD YOUR WEDDING INVITES

Not sure how to word your wedding invites? Look no further! We wanted to share with you some tried and true examples of invitation etiquette for all types of weddings. From the ceremony card, RSVP, accommodations, wedding weekend event card, or anything else you may need to include – we got you covered!

1. CEREMONY CARD

First question to ask yourself for the ceremony card is, who is hosting the wedding? Who is hosting (a.k.a paying) for the wedding determines the wording. For example, if the bride and groom are hosting with the help of their parent’s you could say something like: “Together with their families,” or, if the bride’s parents are hosting exclusively, you can say “Mr. and Mrs. Smith/request the honor of your presence/at the marriage of their daughter…” Traditionally, the bride’s parents host the wedding, however, times have changed and that’s why there’s so many different variations below!

Before you get started, some quick tip on how to word your wedding invites:

Bride’s name goes first
Spell out all dates, ex. “Saturday, the fourth of June/two thousand sixteen”
Capitalize only the day of the week and month, not the year or day
Spell out times instead of saying A.M. or P.M. “two o’clock in the afternoon” or “half past five o’clock in the evening”
Spell out addresses like “Street” “Avenue” and states “Illinois” or “California”
Remove zip codes from ceremony cards. The ceremony card is a formal invitation, and should not include a zip code. If very specific directions are needed, consider including transportation info on another insert card, or link guests to your wedding website – also consider most guests nowadays have a smart phone or GPS
Remove commas or periods from the end of a line, line-breaks between phrases act as punctuation
Do you want to set a dress code? Include an optional line somewhere on the invite like “black tie attire” “semi-formal attire” “cocktail attire” “beach formal”

bride’s parents hosting

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Manning
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Arianna Manning
to
Dylan Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand fifteen
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois

Reception to follow

both sets of parents hosting

Mr. & Mrs. Manning
and Mr. & Mrs. Cullen
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their children
Arianna Rose
to
Dylan Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand fifteen
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois

bride’s parents hosting/honoring groom’s parents

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Manning
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Arianna Manning
to
Dylan Cullen
son of Mr. and Mrs. David Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand fifteen
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois

Reception to follow

couple hosting with their families

Together with their families
Arianna Manning
&
Dylan Cullen
invite you to share in the celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand fifteen
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois

couple is hosting

Arianna Manning
&
Dylan Cullen
invite you to share in the celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand fifteen
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois

couple is hosting/honoring parent’s on invite

Arianna Manning
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Manning
&
Dylan Cullen
son of Mr. & Mrs. David Cullen
invite you to share in the celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand fifteen
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois

couple is hosting/casual

With joyous hearts
we invite you to share
in our wedding
Brittany Tompson
and
Kevin Jonathan
Saturday, August 8th, 2021
four o’clock
St. Regis Princeville Resort
Kaua’i, Hawaii

(bride’s) divorced parents hosting

Mr. David Cullen and Mrs. Marie Sobina
and
Mrs. Rowena Rabinsowiz
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Arianna Manning
to
Dylan Cullen
Saturday, the fourteenth of August
two thousand fifteen
five o’clock in the evening
The Cheney Mansion
426 Lake Dora Drive
Oak Park, Illinois

2. RSVP card

The second most important card for any wedding invite suite is the response or RSVP card. The best way to word your RSVP insert is first deciding what information you need to collect from your guests, i.e. head counts, entree choices, etc. Mix and match from the suggestions below to create the perfect RSVP card for your wedding!

How to pick a response date?
Using a respond by date that’s 4 weeks from your wedding is the perfect amount of time. For destination weddings, or if you’re inviting a lot of out of town guests, add on a few weeks to give your guests enough time to make travel plans.

What does the ‘M’ line mean?

The “M” on the RSVP card signifies the first letter of a title like: Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Miss. Nowadays, a lot of couples opt for saying “Name(s)” instead. Either way works!

RSVP wording choices:

Will attend / With regrets
Happily accepts / Regretfully declines
Can’t wait! / Sad to miss it
Will attend / will be toasting from afar!
Will be there! / Will be there in spirit
Delighted to attend / Sending regrets
Yes, I would love to come! / No, sorry, but I have a really good excuse!

How to politely say it’s adults only?

While we love to watch kids run and play, this is an adults only kind of day
We love kids, but this evening is a night out just for you
Adults only please
Due to limited numbers, we are sadly unable to extend this invitation to children. We hope you will see this as an opportunity to enjoy an adult day, let your hair down and that you are still able to join us on our special day.

RSVP – traditional

M _______________________
accepts with pleasure __
number of guests attending __
declines with regret __

RSVP with meal choice

M _______________________
will be there to celebrate __ will be there in spirit __

please initial the entrée choice of each guest:
beef __ chicken__ vegetarian __

RSVP with meal choice & dietary restrictions

Name (s) _______________________
will attend __ will not attend __

select your entrée:
__ beef __ chicken __ vegetarian

dietary restrictions: _______________________

Online RSVP

Please accept with pleasure or decline with regret on our wedding website

www.ariannalovesdylan.com

Kindly respond by

RSVP with wedding weekend events

Kindly respond by

Wedding
Number attending __ Will not attend __

Brunch
Number attending __ Will not attend __

Looking for something a little different for your wedding RSVP card?

Will be there to celebrate in style __
Will be there, but can’t guarantee style __
Can’t make it, intimidated by the abundance of style __

P.S. If you don’t RSVP, plan on bringing a chair and a sandwich

mad lib style wording

On October 27th, when Monica and David (verb) down the aisle.
(Your names) WILL/WILL NOT be there to (verb) them.
We are so (adjective) for Monica and David. We can’t wait to see them (verb). And wish them many years of happiness and (noun).

Kindly respond by

add on’s

Advice to the bride and groom: _______________________
We promise to dance if you play: _______________________
Reception song request: _______________________

3. SECOND INSERT CARD

Last but not least, the information insert card…Our bundled invites come standard with a second insert card that you may use for any additional type of wording you need. The most common ways our clients use the second info card is to print: accommodations/travel, reception info, registry or website link, wedding weekend event cards, etc.

Use an accommodations card if…

You have a lot of guests that are coming from out of town or long distances. Always make sure to mention of there is a group code or room block, as well as when to reserve by date. If there is any shuttle or specific transportation information you need to let guests know about, an accommodations insert is the perfect way to do so. Also listing your wedding website can be helpful for additional information and direct links to the hotels.

accommodations with room block

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown
350 West Maryland Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 317.822.3500
To secure special rates please reference the “Babb/Yillalta Wedding”
Reserve by September twenty-sixth

accommodations with room block & shuttle info

A block of rooms has been reserved under the Cullen/Manning Wedding

The Drake Chicago
6 East Pearson Street
Chicago, Illinois
312.503.1100

A shuttle will be provided from The Drake one hour prior
to the ceremony and will be available after the reception

accommodations with multiple hotels

Please view our website for more information on accommodations, directions, and maps to the venue: www.ariannaanddylantaketheplunge.com

SoHo Grand Hotel
310 West Broadway
New York, New York

SoHo Courtyard Marriot
181 Varick Street
New York, New York

Millenium Hilton Tribeca
55 Church Street
New York, New York

The Particulars Card

Ceremony
Four o’clock
On the beach next to the ocean

Reception
Immediately following the ceremony
Indoors in the West Ballroom with drinks, dinner & dancing

After Party!
The Celebration Continues With The New Mr. & Mrs.
Join us immediately following the reception in the Astor Room

Accommodations
St. Regis Princeville Resort, Kaua’i, Hawaii
To book online: Visit www.st.regishotels.com
Use group code #62507

To book by phone: Contact central reservations at 1.800.233.1234
& mention the Tompson/Jonathan Wedding

Our Wedding Website
www.theknot.com/wedding/brittjon

Use a reception card if…

the reception does not immediately follow the ceremony or it is held at a different location than the ceremony. Even if your ceremony does immediately follow, but at a different location, the reception card is a must-have!

reception to follow

Please join us for dinner and dancing
as we continue the celebration
six o’clock in the evening

The River Café
1 Water Street
Brooklyn, New York

reception immediately to follow at different location

The celebration continues
immediately following the ceremony

The River Café
1 Water Street
Brooklyn, New York

For more details on transportation, please visit:
www.ariannalovesdylan.com

reception with dress code

Please join us for
cocktails, dinner & dancing

at half-past seven in the evening

Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel
1401 Ocean Avenue
Asbury Park, New Jersey

Black tie

Use a wedding weekend card if…

You need to inform guests of all of the activities your weekend entails – and let them know the when and where. Need to know a headcount, or who’s attending the wedding weekend activities? List each activity with an option to respond on your RSVP card.

multiple events card

Friday
Drinks with the bride and groom at a local bar

Saturday
The wedding! Shuttle will be provided to and from the wedding venue throughout the evening so you can return to the hotel when your dancing shoes wear out

Sunday
Brunch with the new Mr. & Mrs. at the Bride’s parents’ home
5 Oak Circle, San Jose, California

For more info on accommodations, the weekend events, and things to do in the area visit: www.ariannalovesdylan.com

pre-wedding gathering

Please join us for a cocktail hour
the evening before we take the plunge!

Friday, August 16th, 2018
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The Aviary
955 West Fulton Market
Chicago, Illinois
Please be sure to arrive promptly at the time designated.

For accommodations and other information, please visit:
www.ariannalovesdylan.com

post reception after-party

Please join the newlyweds as
they continue the celebration
following the reception

The Aviary
955 West Fulton Market
Chicago, Illinois

day-after brunch

Continue the celebration the following morning from 9 – 11am
in the Oval Room at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel

Hosted by the groom’s parents

Mailing Your Wedding Invites

Once you’ve got your invites written, they’re ready to be mailed out to your recipients. The task may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be stressful! We’ve got our top tips and tricks on our post here – check it out!

Destination Wedding Invite Wording Ideas

Destination Wedding Invite Samples to Make Your Own