Casual wedding invitation wording
Relaxed, but still carrying every fact a guest needs.
Casual wording fails in one predictable way: in dropping the formality, couples drop the information too. A cheerful line about a party and a date is not an invitation: guests still need to know what time to arrive, where the ceremony is as distinct from the dinner, whether children are included, and by when to answer. The examples below are relaxed in tone and complete in substance, which is the only combination that works.
The other thing to watch is consistency. A design with an illuminated manuscript border and wording that says "come get tipsy with us" is at war with itself. Decide first how the day will actually feel, then pick the wording and the design to match, in that order.
Examples you can copy
Warm and simple
Eleanor and Thomas
are getting married
and would love you there
Saturday 14 June 2027
Ceremony at 4:00 pm
Ashcombe House, Kingsbridge
Dinner, dancing and far too much cake to follow
Please let us know by 1 May
The safest casual wording there is: friendly, and nothing missing.
The couple inviting in their own name
We're getting married!
Eleanor Whitfield and Thomas Hale
Saturday 14 June 2027 at 4:00 pm
Ashcombe House, Kingsbridge, Devon
Come for the vows, stay for the dinner,
and don't leave before the last dance
RSVP by 1 May: tap the button below
For couples hosting their own wedding, which is now most of them. No parents named, no formality lost.
Small and informal
Eleanor and Thomas
are getting married in front of the people who matter most,
twenty-two of you, to be exact
Saturday 14 June 2027, 4:00 pm
The garden at Ashcombe House
Long lunch afterwards, no speeches, no seating plan
Let us know by 1 May
Naming the number is a kindness at a small wedding: guests understand at once that their answer matters.
Light-hearted, with the jokes in the right places
After nine years, two flats and one very patient dog,
Eleanor and Thomas are finally doing it
Saturday 14 June 2027
4:00 pm, Ashcombe House, Kingsbridge
Wear something you can dance in
RSVP by 1 May so we can tell the caterer
Humor in the opening line and the dress code; the facts in the middle stay plain. That is the arrangement that works.
A second marriage, quietly celebrated
Together with their children
Eleanor Whitfield and Thomas Hale
invite you to celebrate their marriage
Saturday 14 June 2027 at 4:00 pm
Ashcombe House, Kingsbridge
Dinner and dancing to follow
Your presence is the only gift we're asking for
"Together with their children" does the same work at a second wedding that "together with their families" does at a first.
What to watch for
Keep the five facts, whatever the tone
Who is getting married, the date, the time the ceremony begins, where it is, and by when to reply. Every casual invitation that goes wrong is missing one of those five, and it is almost always the RSVP deadline.
Separate the ceremony from everything after it
"4:00 pm at Ashcombe House" leaves guests guessing whether dinner is at the same place. Say both, with both times. On a digital invitation that is the schedule section, and guests can open directions to each venue separately.
Say the awkward thing in the invitation
Adults only, no gifts, a dress code people might get wrong: put them on the invitation in one plain line. Saving them for a follow-up message means half your guests never hear, and the half who do hear it second-hand hear it worse.
Read it aloud before you send it
Casual wording is judged by ear, not by eye. If a line makes you wince when spoken, it will make a guest wince when read. This is the one test that catches jokes that do not land.
Put your wording into a real invitation.
Build it free →Questions
Is casual wording rude to older relatives?
Not if the information is complete and the tone is warm rather than flippant. What actually offends older guests is being left uncertain: not knowing whether they are invited to the dinner, or what time to arrive. Clarity reads as respect at any level of formality.
Can we be funny on a wedding invitation?
Yes, in the opening line and in the dress code. Keep the middle (the date, the time, the venue) entirely plain. A joke in the address line is the one that gets somebody lost.
Do we still need to name our parents?
Only if they are hosting or you want to honor them. "Together with their families" is the usual middle path: it acknowledges both families without claiming anybody is paying.
How do we ask for money instead of gifts casually?
Never on the invitation itself. Put a short line in the details section ("your being there is plenty; if you'd like to give something, we're saving toward a honeymoon in Japan") and let anyone who wants to ask do so.
The wording is only half of it: a guest still has to reply, find the venue and put the date in their calendar. On a digital wedding invitation all three live under the wording on the same page, in any of 35 designs.
Written by Leon Bogičević, Founder, Say Yes at Say Yes Digital Invitations.