Invitation Text Guide

Creating the perfect wedding invitation involves more than just selecting a beautiful design; it requires careful consideration of the text that will convey essential information to your guests. The wording of your invitation sets the tone for your event and provides clarity on the details of the celebration. Below is a comprehensive guide to assist you in crafting the ideal invitation text.

1. **Host Line**: Traditionally, the host line indicates who is inviting the guests to the wedding. This could be the names of the couple, or the names of their parents if they are hosting the event. For example, "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter, Emily." This line is crucial as it establishes the formality of the occasion.

2. **Couple's Names**: The names of the couple should be prominently displayed, typically in the centre of the invitation. It is common to use the full names, but first names may suffice for less formal invitations. For instance, "Emily Smith and Michael Johnson" is a clear and straightforward presentation.

3. **Date and Time**: The date and time of the wedding should be clearly stated. It is customary to write out the month and avoid abbreviations. For example, "Saturday, the fifth of June, two thousand twenty-three, at four o'clock in the afternoon." This format ensures clarity and elegance.

Here is a guide to writing the text for your wedding invitations. Choose your favourite lines to build your own personalised invite, or custom write your own from scratch! Throughout this guide you’ll find handy tips for writing your invitation text.

Opening invitation line:

We invite you to celebrate our wedding
(Couple) invite you to join them as they say “I do!”
Please join (couple)as we tie the knot
Together with our families (couple) are getting married!
(Parents names) request the pleasure of your company at the wedding of their daughter (name) to (name)
Together with their families, (couple) invite you to join them as they say “I do!”
Join us for a beautiful celebration of love and commitment.
(Couple) invite you to join them in celebrating the most beautiful day of their lives.
The honour of your presence is requested at the marriage of (couple)
Please join (couple) as they vow to stand by each other forever

On your main invitation card, include: your wedding date, ceremony location and ceremony start time (also if you want them to arrive for a certain time before the ceremony starts.), a short line about the reception. Any further details would usually go on a separate details card.

Closing line on invitations to mention reception:

Dinner and dancing to following.
Reception to follow.

Addressing invitations:

It is always a good idea to include guest names on invitations so it is clear who you are inviting. You can choose to write guest names on the envelopes only, but if they are misplaced and get separated from the invitation there could be confusions on who is invited, to save this from happening add each guest name on the invitation card - a line can be added for you to hand write names, or invitations can be personalised with typed names for an extra cost.

Reception only invitation:

(Couple) invite you to an evening of drinks and dancing to celebrate their wedding!
Please join us for an evening of love, laughter, friendship, and family memories.
(Couple) request the pleasure of your company at the wedding reception in celebration of their new marriage.
(Couple) are getting married and would love for you to join them in an evening of fun, drinks and dancing at their wedding reception.

Adult only wedding:

Our wedding will be a child-free occasion. We hope you can come and enjoy a night off.
We love your little ones, but this is an adult-only affair.
We are sorry that we are unable to accommodate children at our wedding.
To give all our guests the opportunity to celebrate without having to worry about little eyes and ears, we politely request no children.
To allow all guests to relax and enjoy themselves, we have chosen to make our special day adults only. We thank you for your understanding.
Children of immediate family only please.
Due to limited numbers, we hope you appreciate that children are only invited if named.
Although we love to watch the children run and play, this is going to be an adults only kind of day.

RSVP:

Decide how you’d like your guests to reply to you - phone numbers to send a message, your wedding email, have your guests post their RSVP cards to you or set up a wedding website so they can follow a link to digitally mark their response.

Include the date that you need your replies back by, taking into consideration the deadline date for informing your venue of your guest count - I recommend allowing yourself a little extra time in case you need to follow up with anyone and to save last minute stress.

If you need guests to make you aware of dietary requirements, prompt them to let them know when replying about their attendance.

RSVP suggested wording:

Please RSVP no later than (date)
Will you be joining us? Please RSVP before (date)
A favour of response is kindly requested before (date)
We kindly request your response by (date)
Please kindly reply by (date)
If we don't hear back from you by (date) we will presume you're unable to attend.
Please RSVP by (date) once this date has passed unfortunately we won't be able to add to our guest numbers with our venue.

No plus ones, those invited only:

Our dream wedding venue has limited space, which means, unfortunately, our guest list must be limited as well. As a result, no plus-ones are allowed, those named on the invitation only.
As we are having an intimate celebration, we aren’t able to accommodate plus-ones. We hope you understand and respect our decision.

A little something extra:

Ask your guests to let you know a song or two which will get them up on the dance floor!

Extra details:

Invitation suites include a details card, so you can make your guests aware of all of the extra information they need to know. Such as: dietary requirements, menu, dress code, parking, accommodation, gifts - and anything else you'd like to inform them about ahead of your day.

Gift poems:

POEM 1:

We know it isn’t traditional,
It’s not the way it’s done
But instead of pots and pans
We’d like a little fun!
So if you’d like to give us a gift to celebrate
Some help towards our honeymoon
We would really appreciate!
The choice is yours and we would like to say
That the best gift we could receive
Is you here on our special day.

POEM 2:

We don’t have a list of pots and pans,
Just hopes and dreams
and honeymoon plans.
If giving a gift is on your mind,
Then a contribution would be kind.

POEM 3:

Name and Name are getting wed
A happy event it must be said.
They are beginning a new life
Looking ahead to be husband and wife.
To help them set up home anew
Now they’ve found pastures new.
To buy sofas, beds and wardrobes too
A gift of money they request of you.
But, most importantly, they request,
That you turn up as their wedding guest.

POEM 4:

We know it’s traditional to write a list
But in this case there is a slight twist
Our home is complete with the usual stuff
And the things that we have are good enough
Our dream is to honeymoon in a foreign land
And walk along the beach hand in hand
We hope you don’t think of us as being rude
And that our request is not misconstrued
But a contribution to our honeymoon pot
Would be appreciated such a lot
But the most important thing to say
Is that you are there to celebrate our day!

POEM 5:

If you’re thinking of giving us a gift,
to help us on our way,
a gift of cash towards our honeymoon,
would really make our day.
Then while we’re relaxing on the beach,
or by the pool so blue,
we’ll sit back and know that,
it is truly thanks to you!

POEM 6:

The most important gift to us is
having you share our special day.
But if you wish to contribute in some other way.
We would love a few pennies to put in our pot,
for our honeymoon trip after tying the knot.