Wedding Invitation Tips

In today’s world, wedding invitations can be delivered by telephone, mouth, e-mail or by letter. It is important to remember that whichever method you choose the invitation is the first impression your guests will get about the wedding. It sets the tone and the mood of the wedding and lets your guests know how formal or informal your wedding is going to be.

If you decide to go with the traditional letter there are some general rules that you might like to follow:

The first thing to decide is who is announcing the wedding. This usually indicates who is acting as the host. Traditionally this would be the parents of the bride. However today it could be both sets of parents or the couple themselves.

Commonly the phrase ‘request the honor of your presence’ is used for formal weddings and/or if the wedding is to take place in a house of worship. The phrase ‘request the pleasure of your company’ is often used for less formal weddings.

Information to be Included:

• The bride’s full name then the groom’s
• The date of the event
• The time of the event
• The location of the event

Other important things to consider:

• Use full names, no nicknames
• Use courtesy titles e.g. Captain, Doctor
• Do not use abbreviations with the exception of Mr. and Mrs.
• Write out the complete date, including the year
• Write out the time, use o’clock and do not use am or pm.
• Do not use general terms like ‘and family’ write out each name
• The only punctuation that should be used are the periods which would follow Mr. and Mrs. and the comma after the day of the week
• Do not mention gifts, whether or not you wish to receive them
• As a rule, the heavier the paper the more formal the wedding

Extras

If you have people coming from out of town or you live in a large city it is often a good idea to include a map for your guests on a separate page in the invitation.

The other important part of the invitation is the reply card. This should include a self-addressed stamped envelope. It is advised to make sure that the invitations are in the mail at least three months before the actual date.

To save money some couples are choosing to do their invitations on home computers rather than hiring them out. The handwritten invitation is great if you have the time and good penmanship. Keep in mind that the invitation does set the tone of the wedding and it can be as elaborate or as simple as you choose.