Wedding Invitation Wording When Bride, Groom, Parents Hosting

Invitation Wording When Bride, Groom & Parents Are Hosting

My parents will be paying for half of my wedding. My fiance and I will be picking up the other half of the tab for our wedding. What kind of wording should I use for my invitation?

Jay Remer, The Etiquette Guy, International Protocol and Corporate & Social Etiquette

Who is actually paying the tab has nothing to do with the wording on the invitation. The wording should be traditional.

See Also

Deborah McCoy, President, American Academy of Wedding Professionals™

Hi… The wording of an invitation, particularly the “invitational line” refers to the hosts of the wedding. According to Crane’s, the ultimate resource when it comes to invitation etiquette, “Wedding invitations are properly issued by the parents of the bride… Today, the tradition continues with the bride’s family customarily hosting the wedding. Therefore, the names of the bride’s parents appear on the first line of the invitation.”

Since you are hosting the celebration with your parents, it would be proper for your parents to host the wedding, while you both host the reception. The following (example) would appear on your “reception card”.

Mr. and Mrs. John Jones (bride’s parents)
Ms. Cynthia Ann Jones (bride)
Mr. Stephen Michael Smith (groom)
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage reception
immediately following the ceremony
The Green Club
etc.

Donna, Wedding Queen

The wording of the invitation has little to do with who is paying but, rather, who is hosting. Hosting doesn’t necessarily mean paying. This is the dictionary definition of the word hosting:

a person who receives or entertains guests at home or elsewhere: the host at a theater party.

Therefore, you should word the invitation including some parents or all parents — whomever is hosting. There are ways to include the groom’s parents too, even if they are not hosting. It’s your choice. Decide how you want to present the invitation and word it to reflect that choice.

We have an article on wedding invitation wording where you’ll find a few different ways to word the wedding invitation to include parents, or not. Since there’s a few different ways to word this invitation I’ll let you have a look at all of the examples. But, of course, if you have more questions after reading those samples please come back and reply.