How to Word a Traditional Wedding Invitation

Invitations and announcements are usually issued by the parents of the bride, or the surviving parent. If the bride is without parents, invitations may be issued by the closest relative. The accepted order of kinship is as follows:
1. Elder brother
2. Elder sister
3. Both grandparents or surviving grandparent
4. Uncle and aunt
5. Guardian
6. Bride and Groom issue invitations themselves
7. Groom's family

Generally, the parents of the groom are not mentioned unless they are splitting the expense of the wedding.



If the bride's father and mother are issuing the invitations, the conventional form is:

Mr. and Mrs. Larry Dean Cliett
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Laurie Anne
to
Mr. James Walter Chapman, Jr.
on Saturday, the twenty-first of March
Two thousand and ten
at six o'clock in the evening
Fellowship Presbyterian Church
Tallahassee, Florida

If the father or mother is deceased and the surviving parent issues the invitation:

Mrs. (or Mr.) Larry Dean Cliett
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her (his) daughter
Laurie Anne
to
Mr. James Walter Chapman, Jr.
on Saturday, the twenty-first of March
Two thousand and ten
at six o'clock in the evening
Fellowship Presbyterian Church
Tallahassee, Florida

If the father or mother is deceased and the surviving parent has remarried, the remarried mother would use her present husband's name, but the remarried father would use the conventional form:

Mrs. David Lee Carson
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of her daughter
Laurie Anne Cliett
(etc...)

If the bride's parents are deceased and the invitation is issued by an older, unmarried sister or brother:

Mr. Thomas Allen Harper
requests the honour of your presence
at the marriage of his sister
(etc...)

If the bride's parents are deceased and the invitation is issued by an older married brother or sister:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert David Thornton
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of his sister
(etc...)

If the bride and groom issue their own invitations, the conventional wording would be:

Miss Laurie Anne Cliett
and
Mr. James Walter Chapman, Jr.
request the honour of your presence
at their marriage
(etc...)

The proper way to word an invitation when the bride's parents are divorced is to list the names of the bride's parents at the top of the invitation. Her mother's name is on the first line and her father's name is on the line beneath it. The lines are not separated by "and". If the bride's mother has not remarried, she uses "Mrs." followed by her first name, maiden name, and married name.

Mrs. Sally Jones Harper

A divorced father who issues the invitation uses the conventional form:

Mr. Matthew Ellis Harper

If the groom's family issues the invitations:

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Allen Lee
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
Miss Anne Haley Harper
to their son
Mr. Michael Samuel Lee
(etc...)