How do you word a wedding invitation?

Five lines in this order: who is hosting, the request to attend, the two names, the date and time written out, and the place. Everything else (dress code, parking, hotels, RSVP details) belongs on your wedding website, not the card.

Who should be named as the host on a wedding invitation?

Whoever is paying, or everyone. "Together with their families" is the modern default and avoids ranking parents by contribution. If one set of parents is hosting alone, name them alone and let the other family host a different event.

Do you write the time in numbers or words?

Words for formal invitations: "half after four o'clock in the afternoon." Numerals are fine for anything less formal. Pick one convention and use it on every line, including the date.

How do you word an invitation when parents are divorced or remarried?

Give each parent their own line, mother first, without "and" joining them. Remarried parents appear with their spouse on the same line. If the lines start outnumbering the guests, switch to "together with their families."

What do you write for RSVP details?

One line with a deadline and a single way to reply: "Kindly reply by 1 May at simplyweds.com/w/yournames." Two reply methods produce duplicate answers and a headcount you cannot trust.

Wedding invitation wording for every situation

The five-line skeleton, wording for every host arrangement, and the four details that belong on your website instead of the card.

Evette Santos, Founding EditorAugust 7, 20266 min read

A wedding invitation answers five things and nothing else: who is hosting, that you are invited, who is marrying, when, and where. Every other detail (attire, hotels, shuttle times, the RSVP form) belongs on your website. The card sets the tone; the website does the work.

Almost every wording problem couples send us is really a crowding problem. Once you accept that the card is a five-line document, the awkward cases get much easier to solve.

The five-line skeleton

Mr. and Mrs. James Whitmore
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Eleanor Grace to Daniel Reyes
Saturday, the twelfth of September
two thousand twenty-six at half after four o'clock
The Lyndhurst Barn, Hudson, New York

Swap "the pleasure of your company" for "the honour of your presence" if the ceremony is in a house of worship. That is the only real rule behind the two phrases, and it is the one detail traditional stationers still notice.

Wording by who is hosting

Both families. Together with their families, Eleanor Grace Whitmore and Daniel Reyes invite you to celebrate their marriage.

The couple hosting themselves. Eleanor Grace Whitmore and Daniel Reyes request the pleasure of your company at their marriage.

One set of parents. Mr. and Mrs. James Whitmore request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter Eleanor Grace to Daniel Reyes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alberto Reyes.

Divorced parents. Ms. Katherine Ward
Mr. James Whitmore
request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter

Honouring a parent who has died. Eleanor Grace Whitmore, daughter of Katherine Ward and the late James Whitmore, and Daniel Reyes invite you to their marriage.

Wording for the situations people actually write in about

A small ceremony, a bigger party. Eleanor and Daniel were married on the second of May. Please join them for dinner and dancing on Saturday, the twelfth of September.

Adults-only. Do not write it on the card. Address the envelope to the named adults and put one line on your website: "We love your children, and this celebration is for adults only."

Second marriages. Nothing changes. "Together with their families" carries every arrangement without explaining any of them.

A destination wedding. Add the country to the venue line and nothing else. Flights, visas, and hotel blocks go on the travel page, where you can update them.

The RSVP line

Give one deadline and one way to reply. Four to six weeks before the wedding is the standard, and it should be a date your caterer can actually use.

Kindly reply by the first of May at simplyweds.com/w/eleanorandaniel

If you also mail a reply card, you are running two guest lists and will spend a weekend reconciling them. Our guide to RSVP wording covers the follow-up messages for the third of guests who reply to neither.

What to leave off the card

Registry information. Never on the invitation. It belongs on your website, worded the way we describe in asking for money instead of gifts.
The dress code, unless the invitation is formal and the code is one word in the lower right corner. The useful version lives on the schedule.
Hotel blocks, parking, and shuttles. These change. Print changes badly.
"No children" or "no plus ones." Handled by the envelope and the website, in that order.

On Simplyweds the website carries all of it and your invitation only has to carry a single link. The demo shows what a guest sees when they type that link on a phone at a kitchen table, which is where most people read it.

Common questions

How do you word a wedding invitation?: Five lines in this order: who is hosting, the request to attend, the two names, the date and time written out, and the place. Everything else (dress code, parking, hotels, RSVP details) belongs on your wedding website, not the card.
Who should be named as the host on a wedding invitation?: Whoever is paying, or everyone. "Together with their families" is the modern default and avoids ranking parents by contribution. If one set of parents is hosting alone, name them alone and let the other family host a different event.
Do you write the time in numbers or words?: Words for formal invitations: "half after four o'clock in the afternoon." Numerals are fine for anything less formal. Pick one convention and use it on every line, including the date.
How do you word an invitation when parents are divorced or remarried?: Give each parent their own line, mother first, without "and" joining them. Remarried parents appear with their spouse on the same line. If the lines start outnumbering the guests, switch to "together with their families."
What do you write for RSVP details?: One line with a deadline and a single way to reply: "Kindly reply by 1 May at simplyweds.com/w/yournames." Two reply methods produce duplicate answers and a headcount you cannot trust.

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