One of the most important steps in the process of ordering your wedding invitations is writing the wedding invitation wording.
Formal wedding invitations should follow proper wedding invitation etiquette. All invites, whether formal, casual or traditional or non-traditional should include the following:
* Bride's and Groom's full names (including middle names for formal invites)
* Day and date of the wedding
* The year should be written out on the next line following the date
* Time of the wedding
* Location of the wedding (formal wedding invitations usually just include the name of the church or building, while less formal or casual wedding invitations might also include the street address)
* City and State (do not include zip code)
Those are the essentials, the things that you absolutely MUST include in your wedding invitation wording. Other than that, you can be very creative with the rest of the wording. If you are having a non-traditional wedding, do not feel like you must follow all of the rules of etiquette. You can add a favorite poem, scripture or verse. Or you could write something to reflect your own personal story of how you met and why you are getting married. You could even use a verse that relates to the season in which you are getting married.
Some other things you must think about when writing your wedding invitation wording are things like:
* Who is doing the inviting. (Bride's parents, Bride's and Groom's parents, Bride and Groom, Children of Bride and Groom, etc.)
* If the Bride's or Groom's parents are deceased
* If the Bride's or Groom's parents are divorced
* If it is a second (or third or fourth) marriage
* If the wedding is being held in a Church or at a Home or other non-church location
Here are some samples of wedding invitation wording where the Bride and Groom are doing the inviting:
With joyous hearts
we invite you to attend
the wedding of
LaJune Nashea Hamilton
and
Donovan Ramond Williamson
Saturday, the twenty-fifth of April
Two thousand and ten
at five thirty in the evening
Venetian Terrace
215 Mandalay Canal
Arlington, Texas
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Please join us
for a celebration of
Love, friendship, laughter, and family
as
Audrey Davidson
and
Donny Wolverton
Join their hands in holy matrimony
Saturday, August 22
two thousand and ten
at six o'clock in the evening
Windy Road Ranch
Lubbock, Texas
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Together With Their Parents And Family
Luanna Gutierrez
And
Ryan Jacob Dominguez
Request The Honour Of Your Presence
As They Join Hands In Holy Matrimony
Saturday, The Twenty-First Of November
Two Thousand And Nine
At One O'clock In The Afternoon
Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Hemet, California
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Because you have shared in
our lives
by your friendship and love we,
Nicole Bernadette Cypert
and
Nicholas Thomas Jacobson
together with our parents
invite you to share
the beginning of our new life together
when we exchange marriage vows
on Friday, the ninth of May
two thousand eleven
at five o'clock in the evening
Paradise Country Club
Madison, Wisconson
----------------------------------------------------------
You are invited to a celebration
of the beginning of our new life together
as Mari D'Lynn Martin
and
Colton Jeremy Jamison
are united as husband and wife
Friday, the twenty-seventh of March
two thousand and ten
at two o'clock in the afternoon
First Baptist Church
Jersey City, New Jersey
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We joyfully invite you to our wedding celebration.
On this day we will marry the one
we laugh with, live for, dream with, and love.
Please join
Kathryn Marie Longbotham
and
Miles David Thornton
at seven o'clock in the evening
on Friday, June twenty-sixth
two thousand and ten
Wenten Chapel
Roanoke, Virginia
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The honor of your presence
is requested at the marriage of
Allysa Lauren Montgomery,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Paul Montgomery
and
Bodie Todd Forseman
son of Mr. and Mrs. Scott B. Forseman
Sunday, the eleventh of August
Two thousand and eleven
at two o'clock in the afternoon
Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Again, these are just samples of wedding invitation wording. Brides and grooms can get creative and create their own unique wording for their wedding invitation. But these are the basics. If the wedding is more casual, rather than formal, the wording on the wedding invitation can be more casual as well and does not necessarily have to follow all of the proper wedding invitation etiquette rules. One thing to keep in mind though, is that most people are constantly in a hurry and tend to skim whatever they are reading. So, you might want to keep your wording fairly basic.
Tip: Make sure to get someone who has never seen your wedding invitation before to proof read the final copy. They will often find errors which you have missed because you have become too familiar with the wording. Ask them to check the date with a calendar to make sure the date is correct. They should also check for spelling errors as well as grammar. Have them read it out loud to see if everything flows and makes sense.
JoDitt Williams, is an invitation designer and the owner of Joyful Heart Design, an online custom wedding invitation boutique. JoDitt invites you to visit her website to view samples of her contemporary, colorful, delightfully unique, and totally customizable wedding invitations. JoDitt delights in helping her customers create the wedding invitation of their dreams. Please visit http://www.oohandaahweddinginvites.com to view her gallery of invitations that are sure to get lots of "oohs" and "aahs."
