How to Choose Content for a Wedding Invitation

Wedding invitations reflect a couple's relationship.

Your wedding invitation is the first hint your guests will get as to what your big day will be like. Typically, a formal invite suggests a traditional, big, white wedding, and casual wording with a modern design has undertones of a more relaxed affair. However, deciding on the content can be tricky. Families are increasingly complex, making the traditional "Mr. and Mrs. Smith invite you to the wedding of their daughter" style wording inappropriate for many events. Remember that whatever you do, your invites should reflect the way you and your partner feel about each other.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pen
• Computer
• Wedding stationery

Instructions

1. Talk with your spouse-to-be about whether you want your invites to be formal or informal. Ask what best reflects the day you have planned.

2. Decide who the invitations will be from. Formal, traditional invitations will name the bride's parents in the format: "Mr. and Mrs. Jones request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter Samantha Erica Jones to Frederic Alastair Goldman." Informal invitations can be from the bride and groom themselves, all sets of parents on both sides, step-parents, biological parents or guardians. An informal invitation can say anything you like, for example "Joan and John Smith are excited to invite you to a celebration of their love."

3. Choose a suitable design based on the wedding plans you have. A big, white wedding invitation might include an elegant white card with elaborate, decorative fonts. A quirky, offbeat wedding might have an invite designed by the bride and groom using computer software. Print a photo off as a postcard, or a young relative may draw a picture.

4. Make a list of all the information people will need for the day: time, date and location. You can also include directions, places to stay, dress code, meal information for vegetarians and so on. Typically, only the time, date and location will be on the invite itself with all other information on another piece of paper that you send at the same time.

5. Decide how people can respond to say they can attend. You can ask them to reply by mail, phone, email or text message.

6. Collate all the information you have decided on, with all the wedding invitation wording on the design you have picked and all subsidiary information on the insert. Place the RSVP information on the invitation.

7. Send out the invitations at least six weeks before the wedding.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are not paying for the wedding, it is polite to ask the person who is if they wish to be named on the invite. For example, "Ms. Fisher invites you to the wedding of Julianne to her son Alfred."

References

• The Knot: Wedding Invitations