Cordially Invite You To The Wedding: Complete Guide

The Whole “Cordially Invite You” Thing and When to Actually Use It

So the phrase “cordially invite you” shows up on like half the wedding invitations I see, and honestly most couples have no idea if they’re using it right or if it even matters anymore. It’s one of those traditional things that’s kinda stuck around but also evolved weirdly over the years.

The basic deal is that “cordially invite you” is formal invitation language. It sits somewhere in the middle of the formality spectrum – not as stuffy as “request the honour of your presence” (which is technically for religious ceremonies only, btw) but definitely more proper than “come party with us!” The word cordially basically means warmly or sincerely, so you’re warmly inviting someone. It’s been standard wedding invitation wording since like forever.

When You Should Actually Use This Phrase

If you’re having a traditional wedding – church ceremony, sit-down dinner, black tie or cocktail attire – then yeah, “cordially invite you” fits perfectly. It matches the vibe. I had this couple in spring 2023 who were doing a super formal ballroom wedding with a string quartet and passed hors d’oeuvres, and they originally wanted their invites to say “can’t wait to celebrate with you!” and I had to gently redirect them because the wording just didn’t match what they were actually planning.

For semi-formal weddings it also works great. Garden parties, vineyard ceremonies, historic venue receptions – cordially invite you sounds appropriate without being over the top. You’re setting expectations with your wording, which is something people don’t always think about but it really does matter.

The Actual Formatting and Where It Goes

Okay so here’s how it typically appears on an invitation. The standard format goes:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
cordially invite you to
the wedding of their daughter
Emma Rose
to
Michael James Anderson

Notice how “cordially invite you to” is its own line and it’s usually in a slightly smaller font than the names. Some people put it all lowercase, some do title case – honestly both work fine. What annoys me though is when people try to get creative and write “cordially invite you to join us in celebrating” because that’s just… it’s too wordy and it loses the elegant simplicity of the traditional wording, you know?

If the couple is hosting their own wedding (which is super common now), the format changes to:

Emma Rose Smith
and
Michael James Anderson
cordially invite you to their wedding

Or sometimes “invite you to celebrate their marriage” or “invite you to share in their joy” – there’s flexibility here but the cordially part stays the same.

Alternatives That Work Just as Well

You don’t have to use cordially invite you. Like, it’s not required by the wedding police or anything. Here are other phrases that work depending on your vibe:

• “Request the pleasure of your company” – This is for the reception specifically, not the ceremony. Formal but warm.
• “Invite you to celebrate” – Less formal, more modern, still totally appropriate.
• “Would love for you to join them” – Casual and sweet, good for relaxed weddings.
• “Request the honour of your presence” – Super formal, religious ceremonies in churches or temples. The British spelling of “honour” is traditional here which is kinda pretentious but also that’s just how it’s done.
• “Joyfully invite you” – I’m seeing this more lately, it’s got a happy vibe without being too casual.

I had a bride last summer who was obsessed with making everything “unique” and she wanted to write “enthusiastically invite you” and I mean… technically you can do whatever you want, but some words just don’t have that elegant invitation feel, and enthusiastically is one of them.

What Happens When Multiple People Are Hosting

This gets tricky and it’s where I see the most confusion. If both sets of parents are hosting together (and splitting costs), the invitation should list both families:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
and
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Anderson
cordially invite you to
the wedding of their children

Notice it says “their children” not “their son” or “their daughter” because both families are represented. If one set of parents is divorced and remarried, you list them separately with their current spouses, and honestly this can take up like half the invitation if everyone’s remarried multiple times, which is why some couples just say screw it and host it themselves to avoid the whole thing.

The Actual Grammar Rules Nobody Talks About

So “cordially invite you to” should be followed by either “the wedding of” or “the marriage of” – both are correct. “The wedding” is more common and refers to the whole event. “The marriage” is slightly more formal and technically refers to the ceremony itself. I’ve also seen “the wedding celebration of” which works fine.

You don’t write “cordially invites you” with an S unless the invitation is coming from one person singular, which almost never happens. It’s always “invite” plural because even if one parent is listed, they’re using the formal we voice… okay that sounds confusing but basically just don’t add the S.

Digital Invitations and Whether This Phrase Still Works

Here’s where people get weird about it. If you’re sending digital invitations through email or a wedding website, can you still use “cordially invite you”? Yeah, absolutely. The formality of the language doesn’t change based on the delivery method. I mean, it might feel a little odd to have super formal wording on a Paperless Post design with animated confetti, but if your actual wedding is formal, the wording should match regardless of how you’re sending it.

What I tell couples is that your invitation wording should match your wedding formality, not your invitation delivery method. That said, a lot of couples doing digital-only invites are having more casual weddings anyway, so they naturally gravitate toward less formal wording.

The Whole “Together With Their Families” Thing

This is a modern variation that’s gotten really popular, especially when couples are older or paying for the wedding themselves but still want to acknowledge their families. It goes:

Together with their families
Emma Rose Smith
and
Michael James Anderson
cordially invite you to their wedding

I actually really like this option because it’s inclusive without getting into the complicated politics of who’s hosting or who’s paying for what. My cat knocked over my coffee while I was formatting an invitation like this last month and I had to reprint the whole thing, which was annoying but also kinda funny because the stain looked like a heart.

Reception Cards and How the Wording Changes

If you’re doing a separate reception card (common when the ceremony and reception are at different locations or different times), the wording changes slightly. You wouldn’t repeat “cordially invite you” on the reception card. Instead it usually says:

Reception to follow
at six o’clock in the evening
The Grand Ballroom

Or if everyone’s not invited to the reception (which is actually kinda rude but some people do it for budget reasons), the reception card would say:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
request the pleasure of your company
at the wedding reception

Notice it’s “request the pleasure of your company” not “cordially invite you” because this is specifically for the reception portion.

Common Mistakes That Drive Me Crazy

Okay so the thing that really annoys me is when people mix formality levels within the same invitation. Like they’ll write “cordially invite you to the wedding” and then at the bottom it says “Party to follow!” with an exclamation point. Pick a lane. Either you’re formal or you’re casual, but don’t try to be both because it just looks confused.

Another mistake is using “cordially invite you” for a backyard BBQ wedding with flip flops as the dress code. The wording should match the event. If you’re having a super casual wedding, just write “join us for our wedding” or “come celebrate with us” – you don’t need the formal language and honestly it’ll set the wrong expectations for your guests.

Also people sometimes write “you are cordially invited” instead of “cordially invite you” and while both are technically correct, the second version is more traditional and flows better in the standard invitation format.

What About Same-Sex Couples and Modern Family Structures

The great thing about “cordially invite you” is that it’s completely gender-neutral and works for any couple combination. The format stays exactly the same whether it’s two brides, two grooms, or any other combination. You just list both names with “and” between them.

For families that don’t fit the traditional mold – single parents, deceased parents, step-parents, chosen family – you can adapt the wording while keeping “cordially invite you” as the main phrase. Like if one parent is deceased, you might write:

Mrs. Jane Smith
and the late Mr. John Smith
cordially invite you to
the wedding of their daughter

Or if you want to honor a deceased parent without listing them as a host, you can mention them elsewhere on the invitation and just have the living parent as the host with the cordially invite you language.

Destination Weddings and International Guests

For destination weddings, “cordially invite you” still works perfectly fine, but you might want to add some additional information about travel and accommodations on a separate details card. The main invitation keeps the traditional formal wording, and then you include practical info separately so it doesn’t clutter up the invitation itself.

If you have international guests who might not be familiar with English invitation conventions, the traditional wording actually helps because it’s clear and formal and translates well. I had a couple doing a wedding in Italy with guests from six different countries, and we stuck with the classic “cordially invite you” format because it was universally understood as formal invitation language.

The Timing Thing Nobody Mentions

When you use “cordially invite you to the wedding,” you’re inviting people to both the ceremony and reception (assuming everyone’s invited to both). The timing details come after the names and date. Standard format is:

Saturday, the fifteenth of June
two thousand twenty-five
at four o’clock in the afternoon

The time should be spelled out, not written as 4:00 PM, if you’re going for formal. And you write “in the afternoon” for times between noon and 5 PM, “in the evening” for 5 PM onward, and “in the morning” for before noon (though morning weddings are less common for formal events).

When You’re Inviting People to Just the Reception

Sometimes couples have a tiny private ceremony and then a big reception, and the invitation wording needs to be clear about this. You wouldn’t use “cordially invite you to the wedding” because there’s no wedding for them to attend. Instead:

Following their private ceremony
Emma and Michael
cordially invite you to
a reception in celebration of their marriage

This makes it super clear that the ceremony already happened or is happening privately, and guests are only invited to the party after.

Invitation Suites and Keeping Consistency

Your whole invitation suite should match in formality. If your main invite says “cordially invite you,” then your RSVP card, details card, and any other inserts should maintain that level of formality. Don’t switch to super casual language on the other cards because it’s jarring and looks like you didn’t think it through.

I worked with this couple in summer 2021 – right when weddings were coming back after COVID – and they were so excited to finally have their wedding that they went overboard with exclamation points and emoji on their details card while the main invitation was totally formal and traditional. We had to redesign the whole suite to make it cohesive because it just looked… wrong, like two different weddings or something.

The RSVP Card Wording Connection

Your RSVP card should echo the formality of “cordially invite you” without repeating it obviously. Standard formal RSVP wording is:

The favour of your reply is requested
by the first of May

Or slightly less formal:

Kindly reply by May first

If you went with “cordially invite you” on the main invitation, don’t write “Let us know if you can make it!” on the RSVP card. Keep the tone consistent throughout or it looks like you had multiple people designing your invitations who never talked to each other, which… actually happens more than you’d think.

Adding Personal Touches Without Losing Formality

You can use “cordially invite you” and still make the invitation feel personal. The formality is in the language structure, but you can add warmth through your paper choices, colors, fonts, and any additional wording you include. Some couples add a personal note at the bottom like “We can’t wait to celebrate with you” or include a favorite quote on a separate card.

The invitation itself should stay traditional if you’re using traditional language, but your details card or website can have more personality. That’s where you can explain your love story, share photos, talk about why you chose the venue, whatever feels right to you. The main invitation is the formal announcement, everything else can be more relaxed.

Honestly the whole “cordially invite you” thing is just one small piece of invitation etiquette, but it sets the tone for everything else, so it’s worth getting right. I always tell couples to say their invitation wording out loud before finalizing it because if it sounds weird when you read it, it’s gonna look weird printed on expensive paper that you can’t return, and then you’re stuck with 150 invitations that don’t quite sound right and that’s just… yeah, not ideal.