Wedding Wednesday: Writing Your Invitations

When A.P. and I were getting ready to do our invitations, I had no idea what to do. I knew what I wanted them to look like, but honestly, I had no idea how things should be worded or what the etiquette with any of that stuff was. That's why when I saw this lovely post on The Finer Things, I got so excited! But if you are paying for your own wedding, as many young couples these days do, you'd be surprised to learn that is NOT how your wording should go. That being said, I'd like to walk you through some examples of different invitation wording and the circumstances under which you would use each one. Ready? Here we go!

1. The bride's parents are paying for your entire event. - If the bride's parents are hosting your wedding, then you would use the traditional wording that The Finer Things outlines. That would go something like this (and no, these are not my parents' names...remember MJC isn't even my real name):

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bob Christopher
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Marty Josephine

to
Mr. A.P.
Saturday March 27, 2010
Two thousand and ten
Three o'clock in the afternoon
Lovely: A Bake Shop
Chicago, Illinois

2. You are paying for your entire wedding. - If you are like A.P. and I, you are technically the hosts of your own wedding. Still, you don't leave your parents and the people who raised you/gave you life hanging. You just word the invite slightly differently:

Ms. Marty J. Christopher
&
Mr. A.P.
along with their parents
request the honor of your presence
as they exchange their vows.
Saturday March 27, 2010
Six o'clock in the evening
Lovely: A Bake Shop
Chicago, Illinois

3. Both sets of parents are splitting the cost of the wedding. - In the case of both parents paying for your big day, you want to acknowledge both sides of the soon to be merged family. That would read something like this:

Mr. & Mrs. Joe Bob Christopher
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Marty Josephine
to
Mr. A.P.
son of Mr. & Mrs. Apple Pie
Saturday March 27, 2010
Half past five in the evening
Lovely: A Bake Shop
Chicago, IL

4. If you want to break the rules altogether. - If you want to throw etiquette to the wind and make a wild and wonderful invitation that oozes your personality, then the rules change completely. For instance, we were in the #2 boat, but I wasn't a fan of traditional wording. Our wording went like this:

Mr. A.P.
& Ms. Marty J. Christopher
Together with their families
Wish to announce their
Intent to Wed
Please join us to celebrate the
Joyful beginning of
Our new life together
Saturday the 27th of March,
The spring of Two Thousand Ten
At six o'clock in the evening
Lovely: A Bake Shop
1130 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, Illinois

You see? There are all kinds of ways to word these suckers. Some people thought it was odd for us to write "intent to wed," saying it sounded more like an engagement announcement. But we never sent out engagement announcements really or formal save the dates, plus, I was in love with that wording. So you know what? We kept it. And you know what else? It wasn't a big deal. I would argue that the only big deal in fact is giving credit where credit is due. If The Finer Things link above isn't good enough, you can check this out. I like it because it at least asks you certain questions to make sure that you have all the pertinent information included. In other words, don't forget to include people in the invitation. And whatever you do, don't DON'T do what Robert did on Everybody Loves Raymond!