Wedding Invitation Basics

Your wedding invitation will set the tone for your entire wedding event. It provides a visual statement that will convey the formality and mood of the event through the way the envelope is addressed, the type of paper used, the letter font for the text and the actual wording used. Put some thought into your choice of invitations because it provides the first glimpse of the kind of wedding celebration you are asking them to share with you.

Before ordering your invitations there are a number of decisions you must make. The obvious decision is your choice of venue and the date of your wedding. However, you also need to determine what type of wedding you are planning (indoor, outdoor, formal, informal, theme, casual, traditional or something entirely different). Your invitations should reflect the type of wedding.

If you are planning a formal wedding your invitations should be printed on heavyweight ivory, cream or white paper with a classic letter style such as Roman and the color of the text should be black. An informal wedding allows you to customize your invitation to reflect your personality with your own unique wording and style.

The wording used to invite your guests should reflect who is hosting or paying for the wedding. The wording is also different if your wedding ceremony is held in a house of worship or if it is a non-religious venue. For ceremonies taking place in a house of worship use "request the honour of your presence" and for a non-religious ceremony use "request the pleasure of your company".

When addressing your envelopes for a formal or traditional wedding you should write out each person's name in full. Make sure to include the appropriate titles. Again, all of the titles should be spelled out. Spell out all of the words including the hour, date, year, and all of the words in the address including the word street, avenue, also spell out the city and state. The only exception to this rule would be the word Saint (St.) and Mount (Mt.), these may be abbreviated. Use roman numerals in a persons name; it would be III rather than 3rd.

The inner envelope should spell out quite clearly who is actually invited to attend the ceremony. If the children are invited, their names should be listed on the inner envelope from the oldest to the youngest. Children over 18 should receive their own invitation. If a guest is allowed to bring a guest, the inner envelope should include the wording "and guest".

Your wedding invitations should be hand addressed, even if you don't have the best handwriting. If you really don't like the looks of your writing consider hiring a calligrapher, but in any case don't use computer generated labels. It is also considered in very bad form if the invitations are hand-delivered rather than sent through the mail.

Allow yourself plenty of time when you shop for your invitations. The design and wording is very important. Take a little time and brush up on the rules of etiquette as they pertain to invitations and make certain that they are mailed out between six to eight weeks prior to the wedding date. Today's society is more accepting and forgiving of couples who do not strictly adhere to all of the formalities relating to wedding invitations, so don't let all of the "rules" cause undo stress. Let your personality and your unique style show through in your wedding invitations.

Check this wedding invitation wordings out!