Wedding Invitation Examples: Wording & Layout Samples

Okay so traditional formal invitation wording first because everyone asks about this

The classic formal invitation is what your parents probably expect and honestly it’s still the most common thing I see. The format goes like this: hosts’ names at the top (traditionally bride’s parents), then “request the honour of your presence” or “request the pleasure of your company” depending if it’s religious or not, then bride’s name, then groom’s name, date, time, location.

Here’s what it actually looks like:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert James Anderson
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Emily Catherine
to
Michael Thomas Richardson
Saturday, the twenty-third of June
two thousand twenty-four
at half after four in the afternoon
St. Mary’s Church
Boston, Massachusetts

Notice everything’s spelled out? No numbers except the year sometimes. “Honour” has that fancy U in it when it’s a religious ceremony. I had this bride in spring 2023 who wanted to use “honor” without the U for her church wedding and her mother literally called me three times about it. Like… it was a whole thing.

When both sets of parents are hosting

This is super common now because weddings are expensive and everyone’s chipping in. You list both sets of parents:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Anderson
and
Mr. and Mrs. David Richardson
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Emily Catherine Anderson
and
Michael Thomas Richardson

Then you continue with the date and all that stuff. Pretty straightforward.

Modern casual wording that people actually want

Alright so here’s where it gets more fun because most couples I work with now are like “we’re paying for this ourselves and we’re 35 years old so can we please just sound like normal humans?” And yes. Yes you can.

Emily Anderson & Michael Richardson
invite you to celebrate their marriage
Saturday, June 23, 2024
4:30 PM
The Barn at Willow Creek
123 Farm Road, Hudson, MA

See? No “honour of your presence” nonsense. Just… come to our wedding. I’m gonna be honest, this is what I used for my own vow renewal and it felt so much better than all that formal language.

The “together with their families” version

This acknowledges everyone without specifically naming parents which is great for complicated family situations or when you just wanna keep it simple:

Together with their families
Sarah Martinez and James Chen
request the pleasure of your company
at their wedding

Then add your details. This one’s my go-to recommendation when I can tell there’s gonna be family drama about whose name goes where or—and this happens more than you’d think—when someone’s parents are divorced and remarried and there’s like seven parental figures involved.

Same-sex wedding wording

The format is exactly the same, you just use both names however you want them ordered. Alphabetical is common but not required. Some couples pick based on whose family is hosting or who proposed or honestly just what sounds better when you say it out loud.

Mr. and Mrs. William Parker
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their son
Christopher William
to
Daniel Alexander Morris
son of
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Morris

Or casual version:

Christopher Parker & Daniel Morris
invite you to join them
as they get married

I worked with this couple last summer who kept going back and forth on whose name should be first and finally one of them was like “you know what, just put them in the order we met each other’s parents” which was oddly sweet actually.

Divorced parents hosting

Okay this is where people get stressed but there are solutions. If mom’s remarried and hosting with stepdad:

Mrs. Patricia Anderson Brown and Mr. James Brown
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Emily Catherine Anderson

Note it says “her daughter” not “their daughter” because stepdad isn’t the bio parent. If both divorced parents are hosting separately, you list mom first then dad on separate lines:

Mrs. Patricia Brown
and
Mr. Robert Anderson
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter

What really annoys me is when people try to list like four different parental couples on one invitation because everyone insisted on being included and it takes up half the page before you even get to the couple’s names. At some point you just gotta go with “together with their families” and call it a day.

Couple hosting themselves

When you’re paying for everything and you’re older or it’s a second marriage or whatever:

The pleasure of your company is requested
at the marriage of
Ms. Jennifer Walsh
to
Mr. Robert Martinez

Or even simpler:

Jennifer Walsh and Robert Martinez
invite you to their wedding

That’s it. No mention of parents at all. Perfectly fine and honestly refreshing sometimes.

Layout stuff that actually matters

Center everything. I mean you can do left-aligned for a modern look but centered is classic and it’s classic because it works. Leave enough margin space—at least half an inch on all sides, more is better.

Font size should be readable without squinting. I usually do 12-14pt for main text. If you’re going smaller than that you need to rethink your wording because you’re probably trying to cram too much on there.

Line spacing matters more than people realize. You want enough space between lines that it doesn’t look cramped but not so much that everything’s floating in a void. Like 1.5 spacing usually works well.

What info actually goes on the main invitation

You need: who’s getting married, date, time, ceremony location. That’s it for the main card. Everything else—reception details, dress code, hotel info, registry—goes on separate insert cards. I had this client in 2021 who wanted to fit literally everything on one card including directions and parking instructions and it was gonna be like 6 point font. Nah. That’s what inserts are for.

Reception card wording

If reception is same location as ceremony:

Reception to follow

That’s it. Three words. If it’s a different location:

Reception
immediately following the ceremony
The Grand Ballroom
456 Main Street
Boston

Or if there’s a gap between ceremony and reception:

Dinner and dancing
at six o’clock in the evening
[venue name and address]

The tricky timing stuff

For formal invitations you spell everything out: “half after four” not 4:30. “In the afternoon” or “in the evening” (evening starts at 6pm technically). For casual invites you can just use numbers: 4:30 PM.

Dates get spelled out formally: “Saturday, the twenty-third of June, two thousand twenty-four” with no abbreviations. Casual: “Saturday, June 23, 2024” or even “Saturday, 6.23.24”

My cat just knocked over my coffee while I’m writing this which is honestly on brand for him interrupting literally everything I do.

RSVP card wording examples

Traditional:

The favour of a reply is requested
by the fifteenth of May
M_________________
___accepts ___declines

Modern and actually useful:

Kindly respond by May 15th
Name(s)_________________
___Joyfully accepts
___Regretfully declines
Number of guests attending___

If you’re doing meal choices (and you should because it makes catering so much easier):

Please select your entrée:
___Filet Mignon ___Salmon ___Vegetarian Option

I always tell people to include a line for dietary restrictions too. Just a blank line that says “Dietary restrictions or allergies:” because someone’s gonna have something and it’s way easier to know ahead of time.

Dress code wording

This goes on a separate details card or at the bottom of your invitation. Just be clear about what you mean:

• Black Tie: Tuxes and formal gowns required
• Black Tie Optional: Tuxes and gowns welcomed but not required, dark suits fine
• Formal Attire: Suits and cocktail dresses or long dresses
• Cocktail Attire: Suits and knee-length dresses
• Semi-Formal: Suits or blazers, cocktail dresses
• Beach Formal: Light suits, sundresses (but nice ones)
• Casual: Actually just say “dressy casual” because people show up in cargo shorts otherwise

You can also just be specific: “Garden party attire” or “Barn wedding—wear your dancing shoes and skip the stilettos”

Weekend wedding or destination wedding wording

You need a whole welcome/itinerary card for this. Something like:

Join us for a weekend celebration

Friday, June 22nd
Welcome drinks at 7 PM
Hotel Terrace

Saturday, June 23rd
Wedding ceremony at 4:30 PM
Reception to follow

Sunday, June 24th
Farewell brunch at 10 AM
Hotel Restaurant

Make it clear which events are optional vs required. Some people do “Optional: Welcome drinks” or “Join us if you can for…”

Special situations

For a ceremony-only invitation (like if you’re having a small reception):

Jennifer and Robert
invite you to witness their marriage ceremony
[date, time, location]

For reception-only (already legally married):

Jennifer and Robert Martinez
request the pleasure of your company
at a reception in celebration of their marriage
[date, time, location]

If you’re having an adults-only wedding, don’t put it on the invitation. Address the envelope to only the adults invited and mention it on your wedding website. If you must put it somewhere, the details card can say “Adult reception” or “We love your kids but hope you’ll enjoy an adults-only evening”

The website info card

Everyone has a wedding website now so you need a card that says:

For more information, please visit:
www.emilyandmichael2024.com

That’s where you put all the extra info—hotel blocks, registry, full schedule, directions, FAQ about your venue or whatever. Don’t try to cram that stuff on your actual invitation.

Tiny details people ask about constantly

Do you put “and guest” on the envelope? Only if you’re actually giving them a plus-one. Otherwise just their name. If they ask if they can bring someone… that’s a whole different conversation but the invitation itself should make it clear who’s invited by who’s named on the envelope.

Middle names? Optional. I usually include them for formal invitations, skip them for casual ones. Makes formal invites feel more… official or something.

Titles like Dr. or military ranks? Use them if the person uses them in real life. If your dad’s technically Dr. Anderson but everyone calls him Bob and he hasn’t practiced medicine in 20 years, you can probably skip it. Or ask him, I guess, because some people care about that stuff.

For deceased parents, you can say “daughter of Mrs. Patricia Brown and the late Robert Anderson” if you want to acknowledge them. Totally optional though and might make the wording too long if you’re trying to keep things—wait I was gonna say something else but I forgot what.

Oh right, the honor vs honour thing I mentioned earlier. “Honour” and “favour” with the U is for religious ceremonies traditionally. “Honor” and “favor” without the U is for non-religious. But honestly most people don’t know this rule so use whichever looks better to you.

Return address goes on the back flap of the envelope, and you need one on your RSVP envelope too (with postage—always include postage on RSVP envelopes or people won’t send them back).

Postage for the main invitation needs to be enough for the weight. Take a fully assembled invitation to the post office and have them weigh it. Square envelopes cost more to mail which is annoying but that’s how it is. Hand-canceling costs extra but protects your invites from getting chewed up by machines.

Send invites 8 weeks before the wedding, 12 weeks if it’s a destination wedding or holiday weekend. Save-the-dates go out 6-8 months before, or up to a year for destination.