Wedding Invitation Wording Breakdown
In this Wedding Stationery Timeline installment, we provided advice on when to order and send, and what to include in your wedding invitations. Today’s Wedding Planning Series feature breaks down your Wedding Invitation Wording, explaining the various details that are commonly included in both your wedding invite and response card.
While drafting your wedding invite, you may be a little lost for words when it comes to getting your wording right. Your choice of wording will depend on how formal or casual and traditional or original that you’d like to be.
As your Save-the-Dates and wedding invites set the tone for your wedding day to come, you may feel that you’d like to take the opportunity to word your invite to suit the type of wedding that you have planned.
Whatever your choice, browse through our Wedding Invitation Wording guide below to find out what wording to include in your wedding invitation.
Pictured above: Rustic Botanical Wreath Invitation. This lovely letterpress creation with hand drawn wreaths and cutesy elements is available from Wedding Paper Divas here.
Wedding Invitation Wording
Below is a breakdown of what to include in your wedding invitation wording:
1. Wedding Host Details
Name of Wedding Hosts: Include the names of the hosts of your wedding, whether it be only your (the bride-to-be’s) parents, both of your parents or if you’re hosting the wedding yourselves. Below are a few typical ways to include the wording for the hosts of your wedding:
Mr & Mrs (Bride’s Parents Name) request the honour of your presence at the wedding of their daughter (Bride’s Name)
or
Mr & Mrs (Bride’s Parents Name) and Mr & Mrs (Groom’s Parents Name) request the honour of your presence at the wedding of their daughter (Bride’s Name) and son (Groom’s Name)
or
(Bride’s Name) & (Groom’s Name) are getting married and request the honour of your presence
CLICK HERE FOR 22 GREENERY + BOTANICAL INVITATIONS
2. Wedding Location and Date Details
Location, Date and Time: Include the location, full date and time that your wedding ceremony and reception will be held at. This uber important information can be presented as follows:
At (Ceremony Venue), (Location),
(Day) (Month) (Year)
(Time)Reception to follow
At (Reception Venue), (Location),
(Day) (Month) (Year)
(Time)
3. RSVP Details
RSVP Time and Contact Information: This is OH-SO IMPORTANT! Include your RSVP deadline clearly and the contact details of the person that your guests can reach to confirm or decline their attendance. These RSVP details can either be included on your wedding invitation or can be printed on a optional separate insert, referred to as a “RSVP or Response Card”.
- RSVP details included on wedding invite: When provided on your wedding invite, guests are generally asked to RSVP via email, wedding website or phone.
- RSVP details included on response card (optional): Accompanying the invitation, the wedding response card allows your guests to either confirm or decline their attendance at your wedding by returning the card to you.
To personalise your wedding to suit a few of your guests’ preferences, you may also include a few options such as their dietary preferences, music tastes or other quirky options. The response card typically includes the following info:
(Guest’s name), is attending / cannot attend
(Optional: Meal Choice)
(Optional: Song Choice)
- Attendance options: An option to attend or politely decline the invitation.
- Meal choice options: An option to select meal choice suited to their dietary preferences
- Song selection options: An option to select a song on the response card (if one is provided, or use a wedding website)
4. Additional Info / Details Card
Additional details can be included on your wedding invite if you’re sticking to a budget, or traditionally on an optional separate insert, referred to as a “Details Card”.
- Dress code details: It helps to include some advice for guests about what to wear or bring along to your wedding, for example, outdoor weddings would warrant your lady guests bringing along a shawl and ditching the heels.
- Bar details: Let your guests know if you’re having a cash bar and/or if wine and soft drinks will be served.
- Children allowance: Let your guests no whether you children are welcome or whether you regret no children are invited.
- Wedding website: Guests can visit your wedding website for more details. If you’re trying to cut costs, a wedding website is a great alternative to having a separate Response or Details Card.
- Directions: Include a map, directions, GPS co-ordinates and the contact details of venue for your guests, in case they get lost.
- List of accommodation options: An optional list of nearby accommodation options for your guests who are from out of town can be very useful.
- Gift registry or preference: Proper etiquette suggests that you exclude your gift preferences from your invite and instead ask your bridesmaids to spread the word, or include a registry on your wedding website as it can be offensive to ask for gifts on the invite. If you’d prefer no wedding gifts or a cash gift towards your honeymoon fund or to donate to a charity in your honour, then these details can be relayed by your bridesmaid or via your wedding website.
Have you selected your wedding stationery yet? Learn about the different stationery options, how to select yours and how to avoid stationery pitfalls here: Selecting Your Wedding Stationery {Wedding Planning Series}