Wedding invitation wording: examples by host

Every wedding invitation answers the same questions in the same order. Who is inviting, to what and for whom, when and where, what happens after, and how do guests reply? Formal and casual invitations differ only in how they say it.

Use "the honor of your presence" for a ceremony in a house of worship. Use "the pleasure of your company" for any other venue.

The host line names whoever is giving the wedding. By tradition, that is whoever pays for it or leads the planning. Find your situation below, copy the line, and add the couple's names, date and place under it.

Swap "daughter" for "son" or "child", and put the names in any order that reads well. Titles such as Mr., Ms. and Dr. belong in formal wording; casual invitations drop them.

A formal invitation spells out the date, the year and the time. It uses full names with titles and gives the city and state. Here is a complete one for a church ceremony with a reception at a second venue.

In formal wording, the day and month take capitals but the year does not, and there is no "and" inside the year. "In the evening" is not needed after the hour, and "half after" replaces "half past".

Casual wording drops titles, writes the date in numbers and sounds like the couple talking. It still needs the same seven parts. A guest should find the date and the reply line at a glance.

• We're getting married!
• Sam Rivera and Alex Chen
• Saturday, September 18, 2027, at 4 p.m.
• In Alex's parents' backyard, 14 Juniper Road, Boise, Idaho
• Tacos, cake and dancing on the lawn to follow
• Please reply at the link by August 28 and tell us what you'd like to eat.

Wording for friends can be as casual as a text, if the date, place and reply line stay clear. Keep fun lines kind and about the two of you, never about a guest or an ex. If your families are formal and you are not, pick a modern line.

When the couple hosts, their own names open the invitation and the request follows. "Together with their families" adds a warm nod to both families without naming who paid.

• Together with their families
• Priya Shah and Marcus Bell
• invite you to celebrate their wedding
• Saturday, May 15, 2027, at 5:30 p.m.
• The Glasshouse at Riverside Park, Austin, Texas
• Dinner and dancing to follow
• Priya, daughter of Anjali and Rajesh Shah · Marcus, son of Denise and Carl Bell
• Please reply at the link by April 24.

Formal custom lists the bride first. For any couple, pick the order that reads best. Keep it the same on the invitation, the event page and the signs.

Put each divorced parent on a separate line, and never join former partners as "Mr. and Mrs." If a parent has remarried, write that household as a couple on its own line. If sharing the host lines would be hard, let the couple host with "together with their families".

• Ms. Laura Bennett
• Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Reed
• request the honor of your presence
• at the marriage of their daughter
• Hannah Reed
• to
• Mr. Daniel Ortiz
• Saturday, the ninth of October, two thousand twenty-seven
• at four o'clock
• Saint Mark's Chapel, Asheville, North Carolina
• Reception to follow
• Please reply at the link by September 18.

Ask both parents to read the host lines before you send. Remarried parents and stepparents who host are named together as a couple. A stepparent who is not hosting can be thanked on the event page.

A reception-only invitation asks guests to a party, not a ceremony, so it says the couple is already married. Use "celebrate their marriage" and give the party's own time and place.

• We eloped!
• Leah Kaplan and Noor Haddad
• were married in Big Sur this spring
• and would love to celebrate with you
• Saturday, July 24, 2027, from 6 to 10 p.m.
• The Rooftop at Fulton House, Chicago, Illinois
• Dinner, toasts and dancing
• Please reply at the link by July 3.

A destination invitation keeps the card short. It sends guests to one place for travel, hotel and schedule details. Tie the reply-by date to the hotel's room-block date.

• Ruby Alvarez and Ben Okafor
• invite you to Sedona, Arizona,
• for their wedding weekend
• Friday, April 16, to Sunday, April 18, 2027
• Ceremony on Saturday at five o'clock at Red Rock Ranch
• Travel, hotel and the full schedule are at the link
• Please reply by February 27, a week before our hotel room block closes on March 6.

If you send a save-the-date first, end it with a simple "Invitation to follow" line. That tells guests to book the trip now and expect the full details later.

The request line changes with the place. Use "the honor of your presence" for a house of worship and "the pleasure of your company" for a civil venue. A few traditions add or change one line.

If your faith community has its own wording customs, ask your officiant before you print or send. They will know the lines your community expects.

These short lines handle the delicate details kindly. Etiquette advice is to name a guest's companion rather than write "and guest". For registry and gifts, keep the details off the invitation and on your event page instead.

On a formal paper invitation, attire stays off the main card; if needed, "Black tie" goes in the lower right of a reception card. On an online invitation, a short dress code line sits among the details. In InviteBird it is an optional line of up to 60 characters.

A paper invitation asks guests to mail back a reply card by a date. An online invitation asks them to reply at its link by a date. Everything else follows from that one change.

Invitations usually go out six to eight weeks before the wedding. Set the reply-by date about three weeks before a local wedding, or four weeks when many guests travel.

• Please reply at the link on this invitation by May 22.
• Reply online by May 22; no account needed.
• Choose your meal when you reply, and one for each guest in your party.
• If you're bringing a guest, please add their name when you reply.
• Please include everyone on your invitation who is coming.
• Plans changed? Open your invitation and choose Manage your RSVP.
• Can't make it? Please still reply so we can plan.
• We need final numbers by May 22, so replies close after that day.

• Hi Rosa! Sam and I are getting married on September 18, and we'd love you there. Everything is at this link. Please reply by August 28.
• Our wedding invitation is here! Tap the link for the time, the place and the reply button. We hope to see you in June.
• Aunt May, your invitation is at this link. If you'd rather reply by phone, call me and I'll add your answer.
• A quick nudge: replies for our wedding close on May 22. The link is below, and it only takes a moment.

If a relative replies by phone, add the answer yourself. In InviteBird, hosts can add or edit a guest's reply from the Guests tab.

These ten sentences cover the core lines of a wedding invitation. The last four are optional extras. Mix them with the host line that fits your family.

1. Our parents join us in inviting you to our wedding.
2. We're getting married, and the day won't feel right without you.
3. Please join us on Saturday, September 18, 2027, at four o'clock.
4. The ceremony will be held at Saint Columba Church, Portland, Oregon.
5. The ceremony and reception will both be at Willow Creek Farm in Hood River, Oregon.
6. Reply by August 28 and tell us the song that will get you dancing.
7. You saved the date, and here are all the details.
8. The ceremony starts on time, so please arrive fifteen minutes early.
9. Join us the night before for a casual welcome dinner.
10. Little ones are welcome at the ceremony and the party.

Some common lines suit one wedding and hurt another. Leave these out when they do not fit.

• A parent has died: skip any joke in the host line; a quiet "the late" mention is enough.
• Divorced parents are not on good terms: skip joining their names, and use "together with their families".
• Your venue is not a house of worship: skip "the honor of your presence".
• The invitation is online: skip "reply card enclosed" and a postal address for replies.
• You have a registry: skip it on the invitation itself and put it on your event page.
• Guests must travel: skip the full schedule on the card and send them to the link.

Name the true hosts and spell every name the way its owner spells it. Match the wording to how formal the day will be. Formal invitations spell out the date and time and leave gifts and attire off the main card.

Read the invitation aloud once before you send it. If a guest could not tell who is hosting, where to go and how to reply, fix that line first.

Choose a design and put your wording on the card. In the details, add who is hosting, the date, time and venue, and a reply-by date so the RSVP by line shows. Your short note for guests sits under the card and holds up to 600 characters.

InviteBird invitations are design free, pay when you send — from $9.99. Plans are one-time per event and sized by guest count, plus-ones included. Flight is $49.99 for up to 100 guests, and Soar is $89.99 for up to 250.