[ol][li]My parents are hosting the wedding and reception and paying for the whole she-bang. Should their names go first? [li]My fiance’s mother is deceased, but we want to include her on the invitation. [li]His father has remarried and we all love his step mother. Both his father and stepmother are Drs. [li]My fiance is also a junior who goes by his middle name.[/li][/ol]

How do we word the invitation? The best I could come up with is:

The parents of
Melissa Renee Smith and R. David Jones, Jr.
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their children
on June 17th, 2005
at 7:30 pm.

The Place

The Address

Mr. Ronald and Mrs. Karen Smith

Dr. Robert Jones, Sr. and Dr. Cindy Jones

The late Judith Jones

Reception following ceremony.

Thanks!

Melissa

Donna, Wedding Queen, President; Top Wedding Sites, Inc

Melissa:

Only the hosts of the wedding (person(s) paying) are listed on the invitation so it would look like this:

Mr. and Mrs. R. David Jones, Jr.
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
(insert brides full proper name)
to
(insert groom’s full proper name)
on June 17th, 2005
at 7:30 pm.
The Place
The Address

You would not mention the grooms parents nor any deceased family members. These names may be mentioned in the wedding announcement which are sent the day of the wedding to those who did not attend the wedding, those who were not invited because of distance and to friends of the bride and groom who were not at the wedding for whatever reason or the announcment that is sent to the newspapers.

lissakoke

We would like to include his parent’s names on the invitation. His deceased mother was a wedding caterer and she also baked and designed wedding cakes. We thought it would be nice to mention her name somewhere. Couldn’t we do something like this?

Mr. and Mrs. Smith
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Melissa Renee
to
Mr. R. David Jones, Jr.
Son of Drs. Robert and Cindy Jones and the late Judith Jones.

Donna, Wedding Queen, President; Top Wedding Sites, Inc

Of course there are no “laws” surrounding how you word your wedding invitation however to be officially correct by etiquette standards you should not mention the name of a deceased family member and only mention the names of the hosts on the invitation.

This is NOT an announcement, which is where this information should go, it is an invitation to a gathering that is being hosted by your parents. Your parents are doing the inviting, not your future in-laws. Think of it this way…if you were throwing a party, on the invitation, in the space typically provided as “given by”, would you list anyone other than the people that were giving the party?

Rebecca Black, Etiquette By Rebecca

Dear Invitation Etiquette,

It sounds as if the groom’s parents are co-hosting your wedding so include them. You would mention their names under your parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Your Parents

and

Mr. and Mrs. His Parents

Please do not mention your groom’s late mother because this is a happy event and mentioning her will cause some of your guests to be sad. You may pay tribute to her with a candle lighting ceremony or by mentioning her in the wedding proram. Please see this post for more ways to honor a deceased family member during your wedding.
Best wishes,