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.