Helpful Tips on how to word your wedding invitations
It may seem a little daunting to have together information for your wedding invitations and to research the right wording for your wedding. We’ve compiled a few helpful tips to help you with a basic wedding invite, as well as a handful of easy copy-and-paste samples!
While all wedding all weddings are unique, there are a few key elements to a basic wedding invitation. We’ve done hundreds of invitations and couples request a few differences, but overall, most wedding invites follow this structure:
Someone announces your wedding.
As said above, most couples choose to have the bride’s parents announce their marriage. There are a few other wording variations that help couples that want to break tradition, like announcing the wedding as a couple or the phrase “Together with their families…”. Just feel out how your family dynamic is as well as who is paying for the invitations.
Your Name and your Fiance’s name.
This feels like a no brainer. On this, just make sure that names are spelled correctly.
The Date & Location.
The date is for the actual date that you are getting married. Some couples will have an elopement or multiple open houses or dinners but you need to have the wedding date on your main card, even if you are not inviting everyone to the ceremony.
Some couples have opted to not include reception information on the main invite in favor of designing multiple reception and open house insert cards. We’re big fans of this idea, as it’s more flexible and creates a more personal experience for guests. That’s what we did when we got married- we had our main invitation announcing the date (June 14th) and location of ceremony (Salt Lake City Temple) and had insert cards for the dinner afterward, the bbq the next day, and the reception the day after that. (yeah our wedding weekend was a crazy blur!)
If you’re having just on the one reception after the ceremony and everyone is included in that celebration, put the venue name and address so guests can easily and quickly GPS their way ahead of time. If you need to include directions, keep it simple and easy to follow. Add times as well, as you can let your guests know the basic timeline of events.
For example, if you plan on standing in your reception line for the full 2 hours of the event (coming from a former wedding photographer, we DO NOT recommend this as it’s boring for you and the photos are suuuper dull. I mean, who wants to have 150 photos of you smiling at long distance relatives and business associates? But I digress…) you let your guest know that they can drop by anytime during 7-9pm so they can join the line. You can also let guests know dance times, dinner times, formal lines, etc. It’s really up to what you have planned during the reception.
Optional registry, RSVP, or wedding website information
Gone are the days of letting your guests know where you are registered by word of mouth. It’s just soooooo much easier to put your registry on your main card (or a seperate insert if you really don’t have room) than to have guests call you for info or worse… guess what you need. Gulp. Say hello to thirteen toasters and a set of potholders that don’t match your newlywed home.
Along that same vein, we LOVE when brides and grooms take advantage of some sweet tech and sign up for a wedding website. There are so many free ones (The Knot is one!) and you can give guests more in depth information. This would be a great place to put registry info if you don’t want to put that on your main invite. Guests can also RSVP directly on some of these sites (which is pretty rad!) so you don’t have to keep track of everyone’s responses.
Obviously, there are unique circumstances that require unique wording. You can look at the samples below and choose the one closest to what you like and we can help you find the best wording. Just shoot us an email! We’d be happy to help!
Wedding Invitation Sample Wording
Just copy and paste when you are filling out your order form and enter in your names and information!
LDS Temple wedding
Stan & Jan NoName
are pleased to announce the marriage
of their daughter
Tina Ann
to
David Doe
Son of Randy & Jenn Doe
on Saturday, August 5th, 2019
in the Salt Lake City Temple
You are invited to attend a reception
in their honor that evening at
The Wright House
2733 East 10800 South
Salt Lake City, Utah
for more information please visit:
www.Zola.com/wedding/tinaanddavid
Basic Wedding Invitation for nondenominational
Stan & Jan NoName
are pleased to announce the marriage
of their daughter
Tina Ann
to
David Doe
Son of Randy & Jenn Doe
on Saturday, August 5th, 2019
You are invited to attend a reception
in their honor that evening
dinner served at 6:30 pm
Moose Creek Ranch
2733 East 10800 South
Victor, Idaho
For more information please visit:
www.Zola.com/wedding/tinaanddavid
Wedding Invitation without parent’s names
Together with their families
Jannet Rose
and
John Taylor Boyce
are excited to announce their marriage
Saturday August 3rd, 2019
in the Provo City Center Temple
We invite your to celebrate with them
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
The White Shanty Venue
502 S 300 W
Provo, UT
The couple is registered at Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond
Private Ceremony w/all guests invited to Reception (Couple Announces):
Together with their families
Isabella Leigh Smith
and
Brayden Thomas Henderson
are excited to announce their marriage
on Saturday September 15, 2018
in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple
The pleasure of your company is requested
at a reception to be held in their honor
that evening from 6:00 - 8:00 pm
at the Ivy House
550 South 600 East
Salt Lake City, Utah
Parents of the Bride
Mark and Rebekah Smith
Parents of the Groom
Thomas and Karen Henderson
(registry optional)
All guests invited to Ceremony and Reception (Parents Announce):
Mark and Rebekah Smith
invite you to attend the wedding of their daughter
Isabella Leigh Smith
to
Brayden Thomas Henderson
son of Thomas and Karen Henderson
on Saturday September 15, 2018
at the Ivy House
550 South 600 East
Salt Lake City, Utah
Ceremony to begin at 4:00 pm
Reception to follow
from 6:00 - 8:00 pm
(registry optional)
