Formal wedding invitation wording
The traditional form, set out line by line, and what each line is doing there.
Traditional wedding wording is not decoration; it is a small piece of protocol carrying information. The hosts come first because they are the ones doing the inviting. The bride's name has historically come before the groom's because her family was traditionally hosting. The date and time are written out in words rather than numerals because numerals were, and still are, ambiguous across countries. Once you know what each line is for, you can keep the parts that apply to you and drop the rest without the whole thing collapsing.
Two conventions are worth knowing before you copy anything below. "Request the honour of your presence" is used for a ceremony in a place of worship; "request the pleasure of your company" is used everywhere else: a hotel, a garden, a courthouse. And a formal invitation carries no abbreviations at all: no St, no Ave, no 2026. The year is written out.
Examples you can copy
The bride's parents are hosting
Mr and Mrs Andrew Whitfield
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Eleanor Grace
to
Mr Thomas James Hale
Saturday, the fourteenth of June
two thousand twenty-seven
at four o'clock in the afternoon
Saint Andrew's Church
Kingsbridge, Devon
Reception to follow at Ashcombe House
The most traditional form there is. Use it when one set of parents is hosting and the ceremony is in a church.
Both sets of parents are hosting
Mr and Mrs Andrew Whitfield
and
Dr and Mrs Peter Hale
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their children
Eleanor Grace Whitfield
and
Thomas James Hale
Saturday, the fourteenth of June
two thousand twenty-seven
at four o'clock in the afternoon
Ashcombe House
Kingsbridge, Devon
When both families are contributing. The bride's parents are named first by convention; nobody will mind if you choose otherwise.
A widowed parent hosting
Mrs Margaret Whitfield
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Eleanor Grace
to
Mr Thomas James Hale
Saturday, the fourteenth of June
two thousand twenty-seven
at four o'clock in the afternoon
Saint Andrew's Church
Kingsbridge, Devon
A widowed mother keeps her late husband's name if she has kept it in life. A widowed father uses the same form with his own name.
Divorced parents, both hosting
Mrs Margaret Whitfield
and
Mr Andrew Whitfield
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Eleanor Grace
to
Mr Thomas James Hale
Saturday, the fourteenth of June
two thousand twenty-seven
at four o'clock in the afternoon
Ashcombe House
Kingsbridge, Devon
Each parent is on a separate line and neither is joined to the other by "and Mrs". The mother is traditionally named first.
Black tie, with the dress code stated
Mr and Mrs Andrew Whitfield
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Eleanor Grace
to
Mr Thomas James Hale
Saturday, the fourteenth of June
two thousand twenty-seven
at half past six in the evening
The Great Hall, Ashcombe House
Kingsbridge, Devon
Black tie
The dress code goes on its own line at the very foot, below the venue, never in the body of the invitation.
What to watch for
Write the date and the time out in words
"Saturday, the fourteenth of June, two thousand twenty-seven" rather than 14/06/2027. This is not only formality: 06/14 and 14/06 are the same day written by two countries, and a guest reading it the other way round arrives on the wrong date. If you are also sending a digital invitation, the date appears in both forms: large numerals for the look, written out underneath so it cannot be misread.
Honour of your presence, or pleasure of your company
"The honour of your presence" is reserved for a ceremony in a house of worship. "The pleasure of your company" covers everything else. Using the first for a hotel ballroom is the most common slip in formal wording, and one that older guests do notice. The "honour" spelling is deliberate: formal American invitations traditionally keep it, though "honor" is not wrong.
No abbreviations, no punctuation at line ends
Formal invitations spell out Street, Avenue, Saint and the year, and carry no full stops at the ends of lines. Titles keep their conventional forms: Mr, Mrs, Dr, and "Doctor" written out when it begins a line.
Put the reception on the invitation, not a second card
Traditionally the reception had its own card because there was no room. A digital invitation has room: the ceremony, the reception and the times of both belong on the one page, which also means a change of time reaches everyone at once.
Put your wording into a real invitation.
Build it free →Questions
Whose name goes first on a wedding invitation?
Traditionally the hosts are named first, then the bride, then the groom. Where the couple is hosting, the bride's name comes first by convention. None of this is a rule anybody enforces. Same-sex couples and couples who simply prefer another order use alphabetical order or whichever name reads better.
Do we have to use Mr and Mrs?
No. Titles are traditional, not required. "Margaret and Andrew Whitfield request the pleasure of your company" is entirely correct and reads less stiffly. Keep titles if the rest of your wording is formal; drop them if it is not.
Can a formal invitation be sent as a link?
Yes. What guests read as formal is the wording and the restraint of the design, not the paper it arrives on. Many couples send the link to everyone and print a small number for grandparents.
Where does the dress code go?
On its own line at the bottom of the invitation, below the venue. Two or three words only: "Black tie", "Black tie optional", "Lounge suits". Anything longer belongs in the details section rather than the invitation itself.
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.