Wedding Invitation Wording Examples for Every Style

Very few couples get stuck on the design of their invitation. They get stuck on the words: who gets named first, how formal it should sound, how to ask for a reply without sounding like a form. The wedding invitation wording examples below are grouped by tone and by who is hosting, so you can find the one nearest your situation and swap in your own names, date and venue.

What every wedding invitation is made of

Formal or casual, printed or digital, almost every invitation is built from the same six parts. Once you see them, wording stops being invention and becomes a choice of register.

1. The host line. Who is inviting: the couple, the parents, or both families.
2. The request line. The invitation itself. Request the honour of your presence, invite you to join them, would love you there.
3. The names. The two people marrying, spelled the way they want them read aloud.
4. The date and time. Written out in full on a formal invitation, in figures on a modern one.
5. The venue. The name of the place, then the town. The street address belongs with the travel details, not on the invitation itself.
6. The RSVP line. How to reply and by when. We covered what RSVP means and why the date matters separately.

One tradition: honour of your presence is for a ceremony in a place of worship, pleasure of your company for everywhere else. It is a nicety, not a rule.

In the examples that follow, a slash marks where a new line begins on the invitation.

Formal wording examples

Formal wording uses full names, no abbreviations, the date and year spelled out, and no exclamation marks anywhere.

Mr and Mrs Thomas Whitfield / request the honour of your presence / at the marriage of their daughter / Eleanor Grace / to / Daniel Robert Hayes / Saturday, the twelfth of September / two thousand twenty six / at half past four in the afternoon / St Andrew's Church, Winchester

Together with their families / Clara Beaumont / and / Julian Ashford / request the pleasure of your company / at their marriage / Saturday, the third of October, two thousand twenty six / at five o'clock in the evening / Hartwell House

Doctor and Mrs Peter Lindqvist / request the pleasure of your company / at the marriage of their daughter / Ingrid Marie / to / Oscar Fell / on Saturday, the twentieth of June, two thousand twenty six / at three o'clock in the afternoon / The Orangery, Kew

Modern and simple wording examples

Short lines, numerals instead of words, first names doing the work. This is the register most digital invitations live in, and it reads far better on a phone.

Eleanor and Daniel / are getting married / Saturday 12 September 2026, 4.30pm / St Andrew's Church, Winchester / Reception to follow

We are getting married / and we would love you there / Clara and Julian / 3 October 2026 / Hartwell House / 5pm, dinner and dancing

Two people, one very good day / Ingrid and Oscar / 20 June 2026, 3pm / The Orangery, Kew / Ceremony, then lunch on the lawn

Warm and personal wording examples

Warm wording works when everyone on the list knows you both. It reads oddly to your parents' colleagues, so check it from their side first.

You have watched us move house twice, argue about paint colours and finally pick a date / Please come and watch us get married / Maya and Tom / Saturday 8 August 2026, 2pm / Rosemary Barn, Devon

Our favourite people, one room, one afternoon / Sarah and Alex would love you to be there / 15 May 2026 / The Old Mill, Cork / 1pm, lunch, then dancing until late

We are having a wedding, which is mostly an excuse to feed everyone we love / Nadia and Ben / 27 June 2026, 4pm / Hillside House, Galway

Wording by who is hosting

The host line quietly answers a question nobody asks out loud: whose event is this. Settle that and the rest of the invitation writes itself.

When the couple hosts

Together with their families / Amelia Ward and Joseph Lin / invite you to celebrate their marriage / Saturday 19 September 2026 / Fenwick Hall, Norfolk / 4pm

Amelia and Joseph / request the pleasure of your company / at their wedding / 19 September 2026, 4pm / Fenwick Hall, Norfolk

Full hearts, short guest list / Amelia and Joseph invite you to their wedding / 19 September 2026 / Fenwick Hall, Norfolk

When the parents host

Mr and Mrs Richard Cole / request the pleasure of your company / at the marriage of their daughter / Hannah Elizabeth / to / Samuel Okoro / son of Mr and Mrs Emeka Okoro / Saturday 2 May 2026 at 3pm / Trinity Church, Leeds

The parents of Hannah and Samuel / invite you to share in the joy of their marriage / 2 May 2026, 3pm / Trinity Church, Leeds

Mrs Helen Cole / invites you to the marriage of her daughter / Hannah Elizabeth Cole / to / Samuel Okoro / 2 May 2026 at 3pm / Trinity Church, Leeds

When it is a second marriage or a small ceremony

We have each written a first chapter. This one we are writing together / Please join Rachel and Peter as they marry / 11 April 2026, 12pm / The Boathouse, Windermere / Lunch to follow

Rachel and Peter, along with Sophie, Max and Elif / invite you to the beginning of their family / 11 April 2026, 12pm / The Boathouse, Windermere

We married quietly in March, with two witnesses and a very good lunch / Now we would like the party / Rachel and Peter / 6 June 2026, from 7pm / The Old Granary, Kendal

Second marriages need no explanation. Drop the phrase second wedding, name the couple, invite people to the day.

Wording the parts nobody enjoys writing

Blended families

When divorced parents are both hosting, give each a line of their own and do not join them with the word and, because and reads as a couple.

Susan Whitfield / Mr Thomas Whitfield / request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter / Eleanor Grace

When a step-parent is part of the hosting group, keep the married couple together on one line and the other parent on the next.

Mr and Mrs Thomas Whitfield / and / Ms Susan Reid / request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of / Eleanor Grace Whitfield

When naming everyone makes the host line longer than the details, use the phrase that solves every version of this at once: together with their families.

Adults only

Never write no children on the invitation. Address it to the named guests only, so the omission does the work, then add one warm line with the details.

We adore your little ones, but this one is for the grown ups.

The reply is where this is settled. On a digital invitation the form does double duty: guests state how many people are coming instead of assuming, and with InviteMyDay the running total updates as they answer. Our guide on tracking wedding replies covers the counting.

Dress code

Bottom of the invitation, two words, plus a plain sentence of translation if the code is unusual. Formal dress means something different to every guest.

• Black tie. Dinner jackets and long dresses.
• Black tie optional. A dark suit is perfectly welcome.
• Cocktail. Smart, nothing floor length.
• Garden party. We are on grass, so flat shoes are wise.
• Come as you are, no tie required.

Common wording mistakes

• Hiding the reply date. It should sit on its own line, not folded into a paragraph about parking.
• The full street address on the front. Venue name and town only. Everything else goes with the directions.
• Forgetting the year. Obvious to you, genuinely ambiguous to a guest holding the card in December.
• Mixing registers. Full formal names at the top and an exclamation mark at the bottom read as two different invitations.
• Gift instructions on the invitation. Nothing about gifts on the face of it. A short, gracious line on the details page is the limit.
• Treating a reply as a headcount. Yes from one person can mean one seat or four. Ask for the number in the same breath as the yes.
• Not checking the date against a calendar. Make sure the twelfth of September really is a Saturday.

Pick the example closest to your tone, read it aloud once, and cut any line that is not carrying the host, the names, the date, the place or the reply. The rest belongs on the details page.