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How To Write A Formal Wedding Invitation

Are you worried about your wedding invitation wording? To make this delicate job easy for you, we have prepared comprehensive guidelines formulated in 8 simple steps:

1. Who’s hosting?

When thinking of wedding invitation wording, the first thing you need to mention is the host. But before you automatically write it down, you should ask yourself: who is the host of this event? Traditionally, the bride’s parents are hosting a wedding, which means that the wedding invitation should actually come from them. However, modern etiquette suggests that the invitation can come from the bride and groom if they are sharing the costs and hosting the event together.

2. The Request

The second line of your formal wedding invitation should be the one that requests that your guests attend your event.

3. The Couple

When mentioning the couple, traditional etiquette dictates to list the bride first and use her first and middle names only. When you are mentioning the groom, you traditionally write his title, middle name and surname.

4. Date and Time

Traditionally, these are spelled out in your wedding invitation wording. The day and month should be capitalised since it is the most important information that you are putting in your formal wedding invitation.

5. The Location

Whenever the location is well-known, a street address is not necessary, but a suburb or city should be included. A postcode is never included.

6. The Reception Line

You should indicate whether the reception is to follow directly after the ceremony, and include the location. A separate reception card can also be used, especially if you need to include more details in your wedding invitation wording. You definitely need to provide all the necessary information for your guests, but you should be careful not to burden your official invitation with too much content.

7. The Response Line

Traditionally, R.S.V.P is positioned discreetly in the bottom left. You should not make this detail too obvious because it is not polite to make your guests feel pressured to respond to your formal wedding invitation.

8. Indicating the Dress Code

There are also some unspoken rules about wedding invitation wording, and one of them is that the dress code should never be included. It depends on the time of day, which means that morning or afternoon weddings would imply lounge suits for male guests, and if the wedding is to commence after 6pm, black tie would be appropriate. As a courtesy for guests who may not understand these guidelines, you may include a discreet attire line in the bottom right corner.

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