Amanda Williams, owner of Love Invited Wedding Stationery, reveals how to word your wedding stationery

We asked Amanda Williams, the owner of Love Invited Wedding Stationery, for her top tips on how to choose the wording for your wedding stationery.

Once you’ve chosen your wedding stationery design, it’s time for the wording, which can be a daunting task, and very much depends on your personal preference and wedding style. It’s a question of if you’re going for formal and traditional, or casual and creative, or even mixing it up with bits of both. Of course, this is completely down to each couple’s style, and the most important thing is that you have all the necessary information on there! 

When it comes to sending the invites out, we advise sending out your wedding invitations six-eight months before the wedding. However, if you opt to send out save-the-dates first, you can always hold off a little longer and send around three months before the wedding day.

The hosts
The first question to ask would be ‘who is hosting the wedding?’  Traditionally, the Bride’s parents host the wedding, so a traditional invite would read;

Mr. and Mrs. (bride’s father’s name and surname) 
Request the pleasure of your company to celebrate
the marriage of their daughter
(bride’s name) to (groom’s name and surname)
at (venue) on (date)
at (time)
And afterwards for a reception at (if venue different to ceremony)
 
The above can be changed as required to accommodate divorced, single or widowed parents, or include both sets of parents. 

If you’re going down a less traditional route, and wanted it to be the whole family hosting, then something like this may be more suitable…

Together with their parents and families
(bride name and surname) & (groom name and surname)
Request the pleasure of your company to celebrate their marriage
at (venue) on (date)
at (time)
And afterwards for a reception at (if venue different to ceremony)

Finally, if you want to host your wedding as a couple, and be a little more creative and laid back you might choose something like…
 
Eat, drink and let’s get married!You are invited to celebrate the wedding of(bride’s first name) & (groom’s first name)(date), (time)at (venue)Reception to follow (at new venue if different).

Date and time
Once you've decided who is inviting your guests, you’ll need to let your guests know the date, venue and time of your wedding. This can be as informal or formal as you like, but the layout would generally be;
 
On (date), (time)
(At Venue)
(Venue address)

When noting the time of your wedding, we recommend you put on the time you want your guests to sit down by, and not the ceremony time - as you want to make sure the only person late to the party, is the bride! 

If you’re having an evening reception at the same venue as your ceremony, you may decide to opt for something similar to “With an evening reception to follow” after the address. However, if your evening venue differs from the day you will need to include this address on your invitation also.
 
Rsvp
It’s really important that you also include an rsvp date on your invitation. Usually, we advise to set this eight weeks before your wedding date so you have time to make necessary arrangements including your on the day wedding stationery (which we can also help you with). You can advise how to rsvp on your invite, or if preferred, include a separate rsvp postcard for your guests to return to you.
 
Please rsvp by (date) to (email)

Food and playlists
If you do decide to opt for a separate card, this is a great opportunity to request guest’s meal choices, or even playlist suggestions. 

The most popular rsvp card is the post card style, where your address is pre printed on the back with a space for a stamp – quick and easy for your guests to post back.

Here's some wording examples;

Our Playlist
We’re taking song requests!
Let us know what song will get you up and dancing.
If it’s not too questionable it might get played

Additional information cards are also a great way to let your guests know about accommodation, dress codes or even a gift message.

Gifts
Gift messages can be tricky, because you probably don’t want to seem like you’re expecting a present, but trust us, your guests will appreciate the guidance. Here’s a popular and simple message example requesting a contribution towards the honeymoon.
 
“Your presence at our wedding is gift enough, but if you do wish to buy us something, a contribution towards our dream honeymoon would be greatly appreciated.”

Children
Another tricky one is letting guests know if you are not inviting children, this is completely your decision, but of course you don’t want to offend anyone. Here is an example of how you may want to word it…
 
Little Ones
As much as we would like to invite all the children of our friends and family, we have made the difficult decision to accommodate the children of immediate family only. We hope that you see this as an opportunity to enjoy an adult only day, let your hair down and enjoy the celebration with us.
 
Dress code
If you want your guests to follow a dress code, you will need to let them know so make sure you add this to your invites…
 
Dress Code Ladies – Fabulous hats are encouraged
Gents – Kilts or Top Hats would be superb
 
What’s great about designing wedding stationery for each couple is that, each is so very personal. So with each and every couple I work with, it’s on an individual basis so that we can get the tone and wording just right for your wedding day style, but hopefully some of the examples inspired some creative. 

To find out more, visit www.loveinvited.co.uk