Wedding invitation cards have been around for centuries and have become an integral part of all kinds of weddings across religions and cultures. Still, some couples easily dismiss the importance of wedding invitation cards or letters as they often believe that it is an unnecessary additional wedding cost. Just in case you are beginning to wonder too, below are some crucial benefits of wedding invitation formats that will quickly erase such opinions.
Why Is a Wedding Invitation Important?
- It gives your intended guests all the information they need to know about your big day.
- It is used to ensure that the appropriate people get the information you want to pass across, informing your guests of your wedding’s when, where, who, and how.
- Your wedding invitation makes a big impression of your wedding, it gives your guests an idea of the kind of wedding you will have.
- A wedding invitation is the first encounter your guests will have with you before the actual event. It sets the tone of the wedding.
- It reflects your type of couple.
A beautiful wedding invitation card is a valuable keepsake for you, your partner, friends, and family. Everyone would want to remember how beautiful and essential that special day was.
Truth be told, this long-standing tradition of sending out invitations for your wedding can seem like a difficult task. Still, trying to include every detail and creating a tone and style that matches your wedding doesn’t need to be difficult or time-consuming. The good news is that wedding invitation formats aren’t that complicated, after all. And no matter the case, they’re only there to serve as a guide.
The most important thing is that you create a beautiful wedding invitation template that represents you as a couple on your big day, and properly communicate the wedding’s vital details. So, if you’d like to strike your guests as being creative and whimsical, simply adopt these guidelines:
1. The Host Line
The first thing to address is the question, “who’s hosting?”. This is where you list who is hosting the wedding. Traditionally, the bride’s family name comes first. Still, the most important thing to keep in mind about the host line is to write it in a way that feels comfortable to you both as a couple, not necessarily according to who is paying the bills. Your job is to come up with a host line that makes you and your partner happy and causes minimal family stress.
If it’s a collaborative affair hosted by the bride, groom, and both sets of parents, you can use “Together with their parents, Sophie and John request the pleasure of your company …” You can include your parents’ names if you want.
If the bride or groom’s parents are divorced and want to include both hosts, you can include them all. Just keep each parent on a separate line. If you’re going to include a stepparent’s name, keep it on the same line as their partner. While this might seem complicated at first, all it requires is a few more lines. For instance:
“Mr. Tony and Francesca Hernandez
and Mr. William and Wilma Sawyer
and Mr. Jameson and Andrea Green
invite you to the wedding of their children
Adriana Sawyer and Justice Green…”
If you want to include a deceased parent’s name, you will need to rearrange things a bit, as someone who has passed can’t serve as a host. Alternatively, you can add a deceased parent’s name by rearranging the wording a bit. For example:
“Mr. Alex and the late Irene Price,
John and Audrey Fisher,
request the honor of your presence
at their wedding of their children
Hilary Price and Austin Fisher…”
No matter who says what, the host line on the wedding invitation isn’t for sale. It is an honor that you should bestow in a way that makes you feel comfortable.
2. The Request Line
This is where you invite people to attend your wedding, so use this section to set the tone for your celebration. You can use a formal language like “honor” or a more casual one like “Would love for you to join…” “The honor of your presence” is traditionally used to denote a religious service, while “The pleasure of your company” is used to denote a non-religious ceremony locale. Other examples include “cordially invite you” or “request your presence,” amongst others.
If you and your spouse’s names haven’t been included in the host line, they should still take center stage a few lines down after the request line. It is usually the lady’s name before the man’s. For a same-sex couple, either name could come first. Better still, it can be alphabetical. Check out this Elegant Wedding Invitation template to understand how best to write and position your request line.
3. Date and time
For formal weddings, you’ll need to write everything out in full (no numerals). The year is optional. Time of day is spelled out using “o’clock” or “half after five o’clock,” for instance. Adding a.m. or p.m. to the time of the event is also optional. For casual weddings, numerals are fine, and if your wedding is in the evening only, you should specify.
Ensure you compare two or more invitation cards for casual weddings, so you can decide on how yours should appear.
4. The Location
The street address of a venue is not usually needed unless omitting it would lead to confusion, or your wedding is taking place at the host’s home. The city and state should be written out in full in either case. If the stated location is for both the solemnization ceremony and reception, you must specify.
5. Reception
Reception information can also make it to your wedding invitation. If the ceremony and reception are in the same location, you may include “and afterward the reception” or “reception immediately following.” When the reception is elsewhere, the location goes on a different line or on a separate card that grants your guest access to the facility. You may want to consider an editable classy reception menu for that purpose.
6. Dress code
Wedding invitation etiquette dictates that the dress code details should be at the lower right-hand corner of the invitation if you’d like to include it. If not, a note on attire can indicate the dress code. So you can send along with the invitation itself. A fancy invitation would mean fancy attire; the same goes for a casual invitation.
7. RSVP
It is common to see a separate response card for guests to fill out and return via mail. However, you also have the option of having people RSVP via your wedding website. Simply include the site’s address on a separate card or at the bottom part of the invitation. Indicate that guests can let you know if they would be attending through the site.
If you decide to use an e-vite, then you should enlist a professional digital designer to create a quality digital experience for your wedding. It would help if you also surfed for exciting invitation cards from platforms with ready-made designs like TemplateMonkey. That way, you can be sure of what your invite looks like before hitting the prints house. Expect to get unique designs that appeal to your guests and convey your messages in a way that your recipients can connect with.
As you have seen, wedding invitations are entirely instrumental to the successful planning of weddings. Still, you have to keep in mind that not everything will run just as you had planned. You need to develop a thick skin and be immune to negative feedback, just in case it comes. After considering these tips and incorporating them, stay focused on how to a beautiful life-changing experience by getting married to the love of your life!