When you want every aspect about your wedding to be perfect, even the minutest detail comes under scrutiny. So while you may have chosen the loveliest style for you invitation, chances are you will want to put in the time necessary to compose the right wedding invitation wording.

There are lots of places to find samples of other wedding invitations to get a sense of the typical or standard phrasing. If you have gotten invitations to friends’ weddings you’ve already seen many examples. Depending on you religion the wording may be somewhat different. Search online and you will come up with lots of ideas.

Here are some ideas to help you think about the right wedding invitation wording for you and your intended:
 

• What tone do you like? Fun and whimsical? Light and romantic? Elegant and demure? Classic and proper? Your own mood and personality should play a big role in determining the overall tone of the message. A fun invitation would start something like this:

We are getting married!

Whereas a classic invitation would start more like this:  

We are please to invite you to the wedding of our children

What feels right to you?

• Is your wedding going to be small and homey or big and extravagant? A smaller scale wedding would have different wording than a huge, lavish affair. Make sure you fit the wording to the overall theme of the party.
• Stick to the basics. Make sure your invitation is focused on the actual details you are trying to convey and less on extra, unnecessary wording.

Now what information you actually need to put in the wedding invitation wording? Date, time and place, of course. But be specific. Make sure to list all the times if there are several parts to the affair, such as reception and ceremony, and all the addresses for various places.

If there are specific requests, include them! If the bride has allergies and can’t handle perfume, it is appropriate to state it. If there is a specific style of dress requested, such as black tie or casual, write it in. Oftentimes people prefer to include such messages in an attached card, which may look more tasteful. A card is also useful for other extra messages, such as pre-wedding rehearsal dinners or post wedding breakfasts. In addition a card is a tactful way to invite only certain guests to different functions or parts of the party.

Who signs the invitation? It often depends on who’s paying for it. If the parents are paying for it, they invitation will generally open like this:

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Smith
Mr. and Mrs. John Small

Invite you to participate in the wedding of their children

Joseph
And
Karen

Whereas if the bride and groom are handling the expenses themselves, they may choose to word it as such:

Joseph Smith
And
Karen Small
Are pleased to invite you to partake in our wedding festivities

Although sometimes it is just a matter of formality, with the former being more formal, and even if the bride and groom are paying for the wedding, they will choose to honor their parents by using their names to do the inviting.