Wording of Invitations
Please note: The wording "request the honour of your presence" is used for religious ceremonies. Use the wording "request the pleasure of your company" in other cases.
Wording when the
bride's parents host the wedding:
(This is the most common format used today.)
(The bride's parents)
request the honour of your presence
(or "request the pleasure of your company" if not in a church)
at the marriage of their daughter
(her first name only, no title)
to
(his full name, include title)
(day, date and month)
(year)
at (time of the o'clock)
(place where ceremony is held)
(address only if needed)
and afterwards at the reception
"at the"/or "in the" (place of reception)
R.s.v.p.
(or "Kindly respond", "Please respond", "The favour of a reply is requested")
(example)
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Garrickson
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sarah
to
Mr. Peter Honshall
Saturday, the eighth of October
nineteen hundred and ninety-six
at half past two o'clock
Lutheran Church Parish
2024 Chelsea Drive
Destiny, New York
and afterwards at the reception
in the Church Parish Hall
R.s.v.p.
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Wording if the reception invitation is separate from the wedding invitations:
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Garrickson
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sarah
to
Mr. Peter Honshall
Saturday, the eighth of October
nineteen hundred and ninety-six
at half past two o'clock
Lutheran Church Parish
2024 Chelsea Drive
Destiny, New York
R.s.v.p.
(on a separate card)
Reception
immediately following the ceremony
Lutheran Church Parish Hall
The favour of a reply is requested
One hundred and one Park Avenue
New York, NY 55555
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When both parents of the bride and groom are co-hosting the wedding, you should send a separate invitation to the wedding ceremony in the name of the bride's parents, but the reception invitation may have the names of both the bride's and groom's parents requesting the guests to attend:
(wedding invitation)
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Davis
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Mary Anne
to
Mr. Christopher Riley
Saturday, the twenty-fifth of May
nineteen hundred and ninety-six
at half after eleven o'clock
Lake Cottage Gardens
Twenty Hanson Place
Serendipity, New York
R.s.v.p.
(reception invitation)
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Davis
and
Mr. and Mrs. James Riley
request the pleasure of your company
at the wedding reception of
Mary Anne Davis
and
Christopher Riley
immediately following the ceremony
Lake Cottage Hall
Twenty Hanson Place
Serendipity, New York
R.s.v.p.
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When one of the bride's parents is either deceased or divorced then the parent giving the wedding for his/her daughter should be named on the invitations substituting the appropriate pronouns 'his/her' daughter in the place of 'their' daughter:
Mrs. Anne Satelleti
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Katherine
to
Mr. Samuel Johnson
Tuesday, the fifth of June
nineteen hundred and ninety-six
at All Saints Church
Seventeen Rialla Road
Faith, New York
and afterwards at the reception
Faraday Dance Hall
1625 Thirty-fourth Street
R.s.v.p.
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If one of the bride's parents has passed away, the surviving parent would be issuingthe invitation alone. To include the name of a deceased parent, the wording can be as of the following:
Together with their families,
Mary Beth Sattler,
daughter of Janine Sattler,
and the late Philip Sattler,
and
Geoffrey Lendi,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Lendi,
request the honour of your presence
at their marriage
Tuesday, the fifth of June
nineteen hundred and ninety-six
at All Saints Church
Seventeen Rialla Road
Faith, New York
and afterwards at the reception
Faraday Dance Hall
1625 Thirty-fourth Street
R.s.v.p.
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A few notes on stepparents, and divorced parents who are remarried:
If a stepparent is giving the wedding with the bride's father or mother, then the wording should be the same as the common wording format. The phrase 'at the marriage of their daughter' may be changed to (or can remain the same) 'at the marriage of his/her daughter.' The pronoun used depends upon whether it's the bride's father or mother together with her stepparent.
If the bride's divorced parents have both remarried, and they are giving the wedding together, then the invitations are issued in the name of the parent who pays for and acts as host at the reception. If the wedding is co-hosted and the expenses are shared between them, then issue invitations in both names.
It would also follow that if both bride's and groom's parents are divorced yet are all sharing the expenses for the marriage, then all four should be on the invitations.
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