INVITATION ANATOMY 101
There are so many ins and outs of wedding stationery etiquette and countless ways to customize your wording. Invitations can be formal or informal, and the cards you'll want to include in your suite will vary depending on the size and formality of your wedding. If there are any questions that aren’t answered here, feel free to email me at hello{at}livelifelettered.
INVITATION WORDING
ANNOUNCEMENT LINE
The announcement line is an optional line that is being used less and less often. This line consists of a phrase such as “with great joy” or “with joyous hearts”.
HOST LINE
When wording your invitation there are several different options depending on your situation. This may be one set of parents, both sets of parents, divorced parents, the couple, or any combination thereof.
REQUEST LINE
Use “honor of your presence” for weddings held at a church or place of worship. For formal events, I suggest using the British spelling, such as “honor of your presence”, but it is totally acceptable to use the American spelling, “honor”. For weddings outside of a place of worship, use “pleasure of your company”. You can opt for a more informal request, such as "cordially invite you to attend the wedding celebration" or "invite you to celebrate our wedding."
EVENT LINE
The event line is where you make that clear that you are inviting your guests to a wedding. Wording such as, “at the marriage of their daughter”, “at the wedding of” and “at the ceremony uniting” are a few other options.
THE NAMES
This is where you list the couple's names. The bride's name typically goes first and connected with a "to" in between. Sometimes religious affiliations dictate the usage of "and". Usually you will use middle names, but including last names depends on who is hosting and whether last names are the same. You may consider adding groom's parents names underneath, i.e. "son of..." to acknowledge the parents.
DATE AND TIME
Typically you should spell out the full date and time unless it's part of a design feature.
LOCATION
Always list the ceremony location on the main invitation. Include the venue name and city, state. If you are not using an additional details card, you may want to list the street address as a courtesy to your guests. If your wedding is being held at a private residence, you must include the street address to avoid confusion unless using a details card. Zip codes are never used as it can clutter the design.
RECEPTION LINE
It is common to add “reception to follow” or "dinner and dancing to follow". You should only use it if your reception is immediately following the ceremony at the same venue. A reception insert card should be included if the wedding and reception are at different locations or if there is a significant time break between both events.
RESPONSE CARD
HEADING
This aspect of your RSVP card wording is used to actually ask your guests to respond. A few common phrases are “kindly respond,” “a response is requested,” and “the favor of a reply is requested” to suggest a few.
DEADLINE
The next part of your RSVP card wording is the deadline. Guests need this or you may find they will forget and never respond. People need deadlines! To decide on a deadline, you will want to consult your other vendors (especially your caterer). They will need a final guest count by a certain time, but you should also give yourself an additional week to call anyone who didn’t reply. This is typically 3-4 weeks before the wedding. Too much longer and some guests will forget to respond.
NAMES
In order for you to know who is attending your wedding, your RSVP card wording needs to include a place for guests to fill in their names. Typically, a simple line or two for guests to enter their names will do. ACCEPTS/REGRETS You can choose to use something simple as “accepts” and “regrets”, or have a little fun with other options.
GUEST COUNT
You have the option of asking them how many people are coming or even making it clear how may people were invited. A few examples: “We have reserved _ seats in your honor,” “Number of guests attending _,” or “_ guests attending out of _.” Some of those blanks should be pre-filled.
MEAL CHOICES
If you’re having a plated dinner and need a count for the caterer, simply list the meal options for your guests to select. This can be displayed by either spelling out the choices or with meal icons. This way, you will know exactly which guest wanted what.
SPECIAL REQUEST
This is an easy way for guests to let you know if they have any special dietary requirements. This is an optional line but is used more often these days. You can also use this area to ask for something else. Song requests and notes for the couple are just a few suggestions.
RESPONSE ENVELOPE
The response envelope is used when you are requesting your guests to send you a physical RSVP card returned to you or the person hosting your wedding. This envelope includes a postage stamp and your address or the host’s address printed on the front, this way your guest will only need to fill out the card, put it in the envelope and simply drop it off in the mail.
DETAILS/ENCLOSURE CARD
An additional card is usually added to a suite to inform your guests of relevant information. If the ceremony and reception are held at two separate locations or the reception is not immediately following the ceremony, you'll want to use this card for sure. Reserved hotel room blocks? Shuttle service? Parking details? Specific directions? Additional events? Tell your guests here. With digital printing, a detail card can be double-sided and range in size. If letterpress, then the card will be one-sided.
MAP CARD
A map card is a perfect way to give your guests a bit of insight to where you met or fell in love, favorite winery or brewery, recommended activity and of course your ceremony and reception venue. It can be formal or fun, colorful or minimal, options are endless.
ADDITIONAL WORDING
ATTIRE SUGGESTIONS
For formal weddings, you should include “black tie” on a reception insert card or if absolutely necessary, you may include "black tie" in the bottom right corner of the invitation.
REGISTRY DETAILS
You should not include your wedding registry anywhere on your invitation suite and reserve it for your wedding website or bridal shower invitations. You can direct guests to your wedding website where you can provide a link to your registry.
WEBSITE DETAILS
It has become very common to hold important wedding details, photos, addresses and your love story on your wedding website. Since proper etiquette says that this information should be left off of the wedding invitation, you may find it preferable to list website on a separate enclosure or hang tag to not clutter the design of your invitation.
ADULT ONLY RECEPTION
If you prefer your reception to be adults only, it is not acceptable to place "adults only" on the invitation, but perfectly acceptable to put this information on your website. there are a few ways to tactfully handle wording. Proper etiquette would start with who you addressed the envelope to. If the children’s names weren’t included, it would be assumed they’re not invited. Unfortunately, not everyone knows this. You can have a small line included on either a details card that simply says “adult reception following”. If you are still concerned that some guests may not catch on, you can include a line on your response card that let’s you fill in the number of people you have invited for that household. “We have reserved ___ seat(s) in your honor.”
ENVELOPE LINERS
Envelope liners are standard with all L+L+L invitation collections. They take a standard suite and infuse that extra element to elevate the overall look and feel of the invitation suite.