Wedding invitation wording was quite simple and formal once upon a time. The parents of the bride had to pay for the celebration event, so wedding invitations commonly read that they were requesting the honor of their guests’ presence at the marriage of their beloved daughter. In recent years, with divorces, second marriages, untraditional and blended families, and all of them want to pay for the celebration, invitation wording has become quite complicated. We listed some contemporary common situations and the appropriate wording for each.
In the bride’s parents are funding the wedding, standard wording would be:
Mr. and Mrs. George Wilson
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Mary Rose
to
David John Myers
Saturday, the second of May
At seven o’clock in the evening
Marquis Hotel
Terra Haute, Cleveland
If both the bride’s and the groom’s parents are paying for the wedding:
Mr. and Mrs. George Wilson
and
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Myers
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Mary Rose and David John
etc.
If only bride’s parents are funding the wedding, but would like to include groom’s parents on the invitation:
Mr. and Mrs. George Willson
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Mary Rose
to David John Myers
son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Myers
etc.
When the couple is paying for their own wedding:
You are cordially invited to celebrate
the marriage ceremony of
Mary Rose Wilson
and
David John Myers
etc.
If bride’s parents are divorced or issued by the parent who raised her:
Ms. Jennifer Wilson
requests the honor of your presence
at the wedding of her daughter
Mary Rose
etc.
If divorced parents are hosting the wedding together:
Mr. George Wilson
and
Ms. Jennifer Wilson request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Mary Rose
etc.
If divorced parents and new stepparents are both funding the wedding:
Mr. and Mrs. George Wilson
and
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Benson
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of the daughter of Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Benson
Mary Rose
etc.
If divorced parent and the new stepparent are paying for the wedding:
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Benson
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of Mrs. Benson’s daughter
Mary Rose Wilson
etc.