Formal and black-tie wedding invitations
Black, gold and a dress code that is not a suggestion.
A formal invitation has a job beyond looking expensive: it tells guests what to wear before they have to ask. The way it does that is partly the dress-code line and mostly everything around it: a dark ground, metallic detailing, type set in small capitals with wide letter-spacing, and wording that names the hosts before it names the couple. A guest who opens an invitation like this one already knows the evening has a seating plan and a speech in it.
Formality and a link are not in conflict, whatever anyone tells you. What guests read as formal is the wording and the restraint, not the postage. A black-and-gold invitation that opens on a phone, states the dress code plainly and takes an RSVP in one tap is more correct, in the only sense that matters, than an elaborate printed suite that arrives with a reply card people forget to post.
Every formal & black tie design
Each one opens as a live invitation you can scroll through, the same page your guests would see. Every plan includes all 35 designs, so the design you pick does not change the price.
Getting a formal & black tie invitation right
Name your hosts properly
The most formal wording opens with whoever is hosting: "Mr and Mrs James Whitfield request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter". If you are hosting yourselves, "Together with their families" does the same work without the stiffness. Our wording guide has the full set to copy.
Write the dress code as an instruction
"Black tie" is a dress code. "Dressy" is a source of anxiety. If you want dinner jackets and long dresses, say black tie; if you want it optional, say "black tie optional", which is an established term guests know how to read.
Put the times where they cannot be missed
A formal evening runs to a timetable: carriages at midnight really does mean midnight. Every design here has a schedule section with two to four moments in it, so the arrival, the ceremony, the dinner and the end of the night are on the invitation rather than in a follow-up message.
What every one of these includes
The look is the only thing that changes between designs. Every digital wedding invitation we make carries the same working parts:
- Online RSVP: who is coming, how many with them and their names, allergies, a song request and a note to you
- Schedule of the day: two to four events, each with its own time and venue
- Calendar and maps: Google and Apple Calendar buttons, and directions to every venue
- One link to send by text or WhatsApp: change a detail and every guest sees the new version without anything being resent
Questions about formal & black tie invitations
Is a digital invitation acceptable for a formal wedding?
Yes, and increasingly it is the norm. Formality lives in the wording, the restraint of the design and how clearly the dress code is stated, none of which depends on paper. Many couples send the link to everyone and print a handful for older relatives.
How do we word a black-tie invitation?
Name the hosts first, use the full names of the couple, write the date and the time out in words, and put the dress code on its own line at the foot of the invitation. There are complete examples on our wedding invitation wording page.
Should the dress code go on the invitation or the wedding website?
On the invitation. A dress code on a separate page is a dress code half your guests will not see. With a digital invitation there is no separate page anyway: the wording, the schedule and the dress code are all on the one link.
Found the one?
Create your invitation →