The Easiest Guide to Proper Wedding Invitation Wording (with Real Examples)

You would think your wedding invitation wording would be simple. After all, you just need to tell guests the who, what, where, and when of your event (they already know the why…to get married!). But, it can be a bit trickier than that.

Wedding invitations have long followed formal rules of etiquette, especially around who’s actually hosting the event and how they’re listed on your invite. They type of wedding you’re having can also come into play. For instance, if you’re getting married in a religious venue the wedding invitation wording will be slightly different than if you’re getting married in a secular location. There’s also rules around capitalization and where to place information on dress codes, which even some wedding professionals tend to get wrong! So, we’re here to set the record straight and make sure you have the proper wedding invitation wording for your wedding day! You can use the invitation wording examples below to help with your own.

WGM Says: Want us to do the work for you? Just enter your details into our wedding invitation wording generator and the tool will do the rest!

Before we get into the examples, lets go over how a traditional wedding invitation is laid out.

The Anatomy of a Wedding Invitation

A traditional wedding invitation has 6 components (sometimes 7). They are:

1. Host Line
2. Request Line
3. Names of Couple
4. Date & Time
5. Location
6. Reception Info
7. (optional) Dress Code

Below, we’ll break down the various options you’ll have for each section, and how they might differ based on the type of wedding you’re having and who is hosting.

1. The Host Line

The “host” is considered anyone who is contributing financially to the event. That means whether it’s the groom’s parents who are hosting, or the bride’s aunt and uncle, they would be listed first. If the couple is hosting, there are special rules for that, below.

Wedding invitation wording when bride’s parents are hosting in a religious venue:

Mr. and Mrs. David Thomas Jacoby
request the honour* of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine
to
Michael Gavin Jones

*NOTE: This spelling of “honour” is preferred for religious venues.

Bride’s parents are hosting in a non-religious venue:

Mr. and Mrs. David Thomas Jacoby
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine
to
Michael Gavin Jones

Wedding invitation wording when groom’s parents are hosting in a non-religious venue:

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Phillip Jones
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of
Michelle Katherine Jacoby
to their son
Michael Gavin Jones

Even if one set of parents are hosting, I think it’s nice to add in the other parents’ names as well. Here is some example wording you can use:

Including another partner’s parents:

Mr. and Mrs. David Thomas Jacoby
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine
to
Michael Gavin Jones
son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Phillip Jones

Both parents hosting in a religious venue:

Mr. and Mrs. David Jacoby
and
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jones
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Michelle Katherine
and
Michael Gavin Jones

NOTE: The parents who are hosting the wedding would come first.

Couple hosting in a religious venue:

The honour of your presence
is requested at the marriage of
Michelle Katherine Jacoby
and
Michael Gavin Jones

Couple hosting in a non-religious venue:

Together with their parents
Michelle Katherine Jacoby
and Michael Gavin Jones
request the pleasure of your company
at the celebration of their marriage

Simple wedding invitation wording when a couple is hosting:

Michelle Jacoby and Michael Jones
invite you to celebrate their marriage

Everyone hosts in a non-religious venue:

Ms. Michelle Katherine Jacoby
and
Mr. Michael Gavin Jones
together with their parents
Mr. and Mrs. David Jacoby
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jones
request the pleasure of your company
at their wedding

If you or your partner have divorced parents, remember these rules:

• Names are listed on separate lines without an “and” between them
• Mom always comes first.
• If the bride’s mother is not remarried, use “Ms.” followed by her first name and the last name she is currently using (maiden or still her married name)
• Traditionally, even if the bride’s parents are remarried, it was only the parents names listed on the invite, however I think this is super outdated! Here’s an example:

Ms. Susan Smith
Mr. David Jacoby
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine Jacoby
to
Michael Gavin Jones

Again, that rule feels really old to me, and unless you have zero relationship with your step-parent you should absolutely include them!

If the brides’ parents are divorced and remarried, you would include the mother and step-father first, then the father and step-mother second:

Doctor and Mrs. John Hamilton
Mr. and Mrs. David Jacoby
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine Jacoby
to
Michael Gavin Jones

NOTE: In this instance you include the bride’s last name since it’s not obvious what it might be after her parents’ divorce

If you want to include the groom’s divorced parents on the invite, and the father is remarried but the mother is not (but still has her married name) it would look like this:

Ms. Susan Smith
Mr. David Jacoby
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine Jacoby
to
Michael Gavin Jones
son of
Ms. Shirley Jones
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jones

Remember…mom always comes first!

Wedding invitation wording when a widowed parent is hosting:

Mrs. David Jacoby
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Michelle Katherine

If a living parent has remarried, a nice way to include a deceased parent would be:

Mr. and Mrs. William Rafferty
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of her daughter
Michelle Katherine Jacoby
daughter of the late Mr. David Jacoby
to Michael Gavin Jones

WGM Says: We talk a lot about wedding invitation etiquette (including when you really need to send them) in our wedding planning e-course, The Wedding Class.

More Tips for the Host Line:

• No abbreviations should be used. (The only exceptions are Mrs., Mr., and Ms.) Spell out formal titles such as Doctor, Reverend, Captain.
• Same is true for using your parents’ middle names. Technically if you are using your own middles names, you are supposed to use your parents’ as well. But in the effort of saving space you do not have to. Either use the full middle name or none at all (no initials).

2. The Request Line

“Request the honour of your presence” is traditionally only used if the ceremony is taking place in a house of worship. Otherwise you should use “Pleasure of your company.”

Formal wedding invitation wording says the word honour has a “u” in it, as is the traditional British spelling. However, if you want to make it more casual, nobody will care if you omit it. Feel free to use “honor of your presence” instead.

If you’re having a Catholic wedding with a full mass, you can add the following wedding invitation wording:

Mr. and Mrs. David Thomas Jacoby
request the honour of your presence
at the nuptial mass uniting their daughter

Michelle Katherine
to
Michael Gavin Jones
in the sacrament of holy matrimony

3. Names of Couple

For different-sex couples, the bride’s name comes first regardless of who is hosting the wedding. For same-sex couples, you can choose to list names in alphabetical order, or in any order you prefer.

Only use bride’s first and middle name. The only exception is when brides’ last name is different than parents, or when it is unclear which name she uses, in the case of divorced parents.

Jewish faith calls for an “and” instead of “to” between the bride and groom’s names. IE: Michelle Katherine Jacoby and Michael Gavin Jones

Also, a title should precede the groom’s name is you want to follow formal wedding invitation rules.To bring this all together, a formal wedding invitation would list the names as follows:

Mr. and Mrs. David Thomas Jacoby
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine
to
Mr. Michael Gavin Jones
son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Phillip Jones
Saturday, the eighteenth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half after seven o’clock

“Mr.” is formally used for the groom, but it is not necessary and can be omitted if you’re going more casual. Alternatively, you would also want to use “and” if both parents are hosting or the couple is hosting. If one set of parents are hosting, it would be “to” (for non-Jewish weddings).

4. Date & Time

The most import thing to remember when it comes to the date & time is that for traditional wedding invitations, everything is spelled out. That means there’s no “2024” or “5 pm.” It’s “two thousand twenty-four” and “five o’clock.”

With that said you can choose to be more modern for any part of the invites, including the date. If you’re having a laid-back wedding and aren’t a stickler for the “rules,” nobody is going to call the invitation police!

More Date & Time tips:

You can include “on” before the date, but it is not necessary. (IE: On Saturday, the eighteenth of June.)

• There is no “and” in the year (IE: it is just two thousand twenty-four)
• For the numbers 21 through 29 and 31, use a hyphen to connect the two words. For example, the number 28 would be written as “twenty-eight.”
• You do not need to clarify “afternoon” or “evening” unless the wedding is at 8, 9, or 10 o’clock.
• Do not use “a.m. or p.m.” as they are abbreviations.
• Use “half after” not “past” for the time
• No punctuation is used on a wedding invitation, except when separating two phrases on the same line (such as “Saturday, the sixteenth of October) and for City, State
• Only capitalize proper nouns, a new thought (such as “Dinner and dancing”), and words that are normally capitalized (such as a the city and state, day of the week, and month). Times are not capitalized.

Traditional Examples for the Date & Time

Saturday, the eighteenth of June
two thousand twenty-four
at half after seven o’clock

5. Location

You have two options when it comes to the location on your wedding invites. Formal wedding invitation etiquette states that you should only include the name of your location along with the city and state (and not the full street address). This was the rule for all wedding invites unless they were being held at a private residence. However, in the past 15+ years it’s become more common to include the full address of your venue on the invitation itself, except for a very formal wedding invitation.

My opinion is that if you’re using a separate insert card for the reception, you don’t have to include the full address on the invite for the ceremony or reception. If you’re having the wedding ceremony and reception at the same location and not using a separate card, I would include the full address on the invite just because. Otherwise it’s completely up to you.

More Location Tips:

• All numbers are spelled out on an invites EXCEPT for those in an address.
• Do not use abbreviations for anything, including the State.
• Do not include the zip code

Examples for the Location:

Option 1:

The Wedding Room
5434 Wedding Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland

Dinner and dancing to follow

Option 2:

The Wedding Room
Baltimore, Maryland

Dinner an dancing to follow

6. Reception Info

If your ceremony is at one place and your reception at a different location you would ideally use a reception card so your wedding invitation doesn’t get too wordy. However, if you would like to have all the information on the invite, you can do this:

Saturday, the eighteenth of June
two thousand twenty-four
at half after seven o’clock

Temple Beth Am
Miami, Florida

and afterward at the reception
The Wedding Room
5434 Wedding Avenue

7. Dress Code

Traditional etiquette states that a dress code should only included if you are having very specific attire (such as Black Tie or White Tie). However, more couples are choosing to include it to make it clear to guests. If you do include attire information, it should go in the bottom right of your wedding invitation. We explain the most common wedding dress codes here.

Wedding Invitation Wording: Bringing it All Together

Now that you know the basic structure for your wedding invitation wording, here’s an example of how it would all work together:

Mr. and Mrs. David Thomas Jacoby
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Michelle Katherine
to
Michael Gavin Jones
son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Phillip Jones
Saturday, the eighteenth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half after seven o’clock

The Wedding Room
5434 Wedding Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland

Dinner and dancing to follow

More Wedding Invitation Wording Examples for Complicated Situations

Figuring out wedding invitation wording—especially in situations involving divorce or death—can be extremely confusing. At a time when emotions are running high and you’re trying your best to not only include those you love in your big day, but deal with the financial awkwardness that can sometimes arise when figuring out who is hosting what, the last thing you want to do is have to worry about whether or not your wedding invitation wording is wrong.

While there are some very general yet still confusing rules for wedding invitation wording, there are times when some very unique situations can throw even the most skilled etiquette experts for a loop. I’ve outlined a few of those tricky wedding invitation wording issues, below, which will hopefully help shed some light on different options you have for various setups.

One thing I will say is that even though wedding invitation wording can feel like a math equation with some basic rules you should definitely try to follow, there are some situations (like the reader submitted question at the end of this piece) that call for intuition vs. tradition. At the end of the day YOU and your partner and your families should feel comfortable with what is written, and nobody else. If something sounds off to you even though some experts say it’s “right,” don’t follow it. Trust your instincts and go with the wedding invitation wording that feels good. That’s the bottom line.

Do you have a hard-to-figure out situation that you need wedding invitation wording for? Let us know in the comments section and we’ll try our best to help! In the meantime, here are a few example of potentially tricky situations, and some options for how to word them.

Looking for more wedding invitation info? Find out how much wedding invitations cost here.

Situation: The hosting parents are divorced and not remarried, and the mother kept her married name

Ms. Lydia Doe
Mr. William Doe
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Jane Mary
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

Situation: The hosting parents are divorced and both are remarried.

(Note that the mother still comes first in all divorced situations).

Mr. and Mrs. Casey Jones
Mr. and Mrs. William Doe
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Jane Mary Doe
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

Situation: Both sets of parents are hosting

Mr. and Mrs. William Doe and
Mr. and Mrs. Adam Smith
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their children
Jane Mary Doe
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

Situation: A living parent is hosting

If the father of the bride is hosting…

Mr. William Doe
requests the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of his daughter
Jane Mary
daughter of the late Mrs. Lydia Doe
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

If the mother of the groom is hosting along with the bride’s parents…

Mr. and Mrs. William Doe
together with
Mrs. Margaret Smith
request the pleasure of your company
at the wedding of their children
Jane Mary Doe
to
John Michael Smith
son of the late Mr. Adam Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

Situation: Both parents are deceased

If the bride’s parents are deceased…

The pleasure of your company is requested
at the marriage of
Jane Mary Doe
daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Doe
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

If the groom’s parents are deceased…

Mr. and Mrs. William Doe
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Jane Mary
to
John Michael Smith
son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Adam Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

Situation: This was recently submitted as a comment from a user. The bride’s father remarried and is now deceased, however the bride is close with her stepmother. The bride’s mother never remarried.

If you want to include everybody regardless of who is contributing, one option would be…

Together with their families
Jane Mary Doe
and
John Michael Smith
joyfully request the pleasure of your company
at their wedding celebration
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

If the bride’s mother is hosting…

Ms. Lydia Doe
requests the pleasure of your company at the marriage of her daughter
Jane Mary
daughter of the late Mr. William Doe and his wife, Cynthia
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

If both the bride’s mother and step-mother are contributing (or as another way to include everybody)…

Ms. Lydia Doe
together with
Mrs. Cynthia Doe
request the pleasure of your company
at the wedding of their daughter
Jane Mary Doe
to
John Michael Smith
son of the late Mr. William Doe
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

OR

The honour of your presence is requested at the marriage of
Jane Mary Doe
daughter of Ms. Lydia Doe
and the late Mr. William Doe and his wife, Cynthia
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

If all parents are contributing, this is an unique option but I think it can work…

Ms. Lydia Doe along with
Mr. and Mrs. Adam Smith and
Mrs. Cynthia Doe, wife of the late Mr. William Doe
request the honour of your presence at the wedding of their children
Jane Mary Doe
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

OR

Ms. Lydia Doe
Mrs. Cynthia Doe and
Mr. and Mrs. Adam Smith
request the honour of your presence at the wedding of their children
Jane Mary Doe
daughter of the late Mr. William Doe
to
John Michael Smith
Saturday, the twentieth of June
two thousand twenty six
at half-past six o’clock
The Gramercy Hotel
New York, NY

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