Wedding Invitation Wording

When it comes right down to it, very few people on your guest list will notice if you flub your wedding invitation wording and include someone who shouldn't be included or forget to spell out dates or times. The fact is that wedding invitation wording used to be a lot simpler -- the bride's family hosted (read: paid for) the wedding, which meant their names were on the invitation and the groom's parents' names were not.

Nowadays anything goes when it comes to who pays for the wedding. Sometimes the bride's parents pay, sometimes the groom's parents pay, sometimes the couple pays, and sometimes so many people contribute to the cost of the wedding that it's hard to say who actually hosted the event! It's not always easy to know what to write on wedding stationery, even if your family is relatively small and not marred by divorces. But if your family is anything like mine, there are a whole lot of moms and dads involved in the planning.

Below you'll find some traditional etiquette wording for invitations along with some less formal and contemporary wording, too. If you don't see any wording that applies to your particular situation, you can find a more comprehensive list of wedding invitation wording over at Smart Wedding Planning.

General Invitation Wording:

When Hosted by the Bride's Family:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Allen Brooks
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Melissa Ann
to
William James Russo
on Saturday, the sixth of June
nineteen hundred and ninety-seven
at three o'clock
Saint Anne's Church
Manchester, Massachusetts

When Hosted by the Groom's Family:

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Thomas Russo
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
Miss (or Ms.) Melissa Ann Brooks
to their son
Mr. William James Russo
on Saturday, the sixth of June
nineteen hundred and ninety-seven
at three o'clock
Saint Anne's Church
Manchester, Massachusetts

When Hosted by Bride and Groom:

Melissa Ann Brooks
and
Mr. William James Russo
request the honour of your presence
at their marriage
etc.

Hosted by Both the Bride and Groom's family:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Allen Brooks
and
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Thomas Russo
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Melissa Ann
and William James
etc.

When Hosted by the Groom's family:

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Thomas Russo
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
Ms. (or Miss) Melissa Ann Brooks
to their son
Mr. William James Russo
etc.