5 Absolutely Essential Things to Include on Your Wedding Invitations
Getting married? Congrats! Your wedding stationery is the first impression of your big day, but what you put on there is important. We have five things to include on your wedding invitations that you can’t forget!
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Wondering about things to include on your wedding invitations?
Whether you are designing your own wedding invitations yourself or you’ve found the perfect one to order, it’s time to finalize the text that goes on this very important piece of paper.
There is a lot more than just your date, time, and place that you need to include in your wedding stationery. To help make sure you don’t miss anything important, here are five things to include on your wedding invitation.
5 Things to Include on Your Wedding Invitations
1. Add who is hosting the wedding to your invitation.
One of the first lines you need on your wedding invitation is who is hosting your wedding. Traditionally, this was done based on who was paying for the wedding, which was usually the bride’s parents. This, of course, would mean that you’d put the parents of the bride’s names on the invitation.
Today, more couples are choosing to use their own names on the invitation. However, it’s proper to add “together with their families” to indicate that it’s not just the two of you.
2. Be sure to request their attendance as you invite them.
The attendance request line is where you will actually invite them to your big day. It is also where you will set the tone for your wedding, so think about how you word this line.
For example, “We cordially invite you to” is very formal, whereas “would love for you to join” sounds more casual. Both are fine, but the wording can help denote formality.
3. Make the names of the couple prominent on your wedding invite.
Of course, you don’t want to forget to tell them who is getting married. You can order the names however you’d like and include first and last names or full legal names if you prefer.
Use the formality of your wedding to determine how to write out the names. For example, a black-tie affair might call for full names, while a casual wedding on the beach would be better suited for just first names.
4. Alert your guests to the details of your big day.
Letting your guests know the details is an important line item. It serves to confirm the date of your wedding. However, attendees will also know when they should arrive and where they need to go.
Include any details about attire, ceremony, and reception location, as well as the date and time of your ceremony. You can also direct them to your wedding website.
5. Put your wedding reception information on your invitations.
If your wedding is going to have a reception, you need to specify the details for your guests. When the wedding is happening at the same venue as the reception, just put “reception to follow.”
However, if they are taking place at different locations, you need to inform your guests. Include a separate insert with the full address or details for an intimate dinner or other arrangements.
Don’t Put Too Many Things on Your Wedding Invitation
You don’t want to overwhelm your guests with too much information. Plus, a crowded invitation can be confusing and not aesthetically lovely.
Remember that the goal of your wedding invitations is to give your guests all the information they need to attend your big day.
You also need to include how to respond yes or no to your event. Adding an RSVP card or directing folks to RSVP on your wedding website is a good idea.
What Not to Put on Your Wedding Invitations
- Registry information: Include this information on your wedding website. Additionally, include a small insert with your wedding website on the invitation.
- Pre or post-wedding events: Don’t use your wedding invitation as a catch-all for all the events. Therefore, avoid announcing other parties that will be held before or after the wedding.
Save our things to put on your wedding invitations!
These are great recommendations on what to include on your card. I got married 11 years ago, and would’ve loved to know about your blog back then.
Agreed. I got married almost 13 years ago and definitely employed all of the tips you have included in your post. And keeping it clean and simple is the way to go!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
Agreed. I got married almost 13 years ago and definitely employed all of the tips you have included in your post. And keeping it clean and simple is the way to go!Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
Great tips on the essentials for wedding invitations. I loved picking out mine and the design process. Your tips are very valuable for engaged couples.
When I made my wedding invitations, I wanted to acknowledge both parents, but still call mine out as the ones “hosting”. We had something along the lines of my parents invite you to the wedding of my name and my husband’s name, son of his parent’s names. It worked well to have both but have it as my parents are the ones doing the inviting. Then of course the rest of this information was on there, too.
This is a great checklist! I remember forgetting one important detail on my wedding invitations. I had to re-order new ones and throw the first batch away! It’s important to check every detail!
I recently got married and I followed everything you’ve said here. Had I not done that my wedding would have been a circus.
My husband designed our wedding invitations, and they were really cool. Last year we got 3 wedding invitations with interesting designs. Now we can create beautiful things within a couple of clicks.
This is great for people setting up invitations for the first time. I certainly will need these and will keep them in mind.
As a newly engaged couple, we will surely keep these in mind. We will try to make it simple, yet includes relevant and important information Thank you
Yeah, you dont want to miss important information on your wedding invitations.
That’s clever to include a wedding site slip in the invite. And THEN have the registry on that… people want to know your registry but it’s not really cool to outright ask in some cases.
We had an extremely simple wedding invite. We DIY’d it. I didn’t know we were supposed to add who the host was going to be and all that. We just put in our names, the venue, time and location and dress code.
These are all great tips & I agree not to overwhelm with too many details! Keep it simple is best.
It’s important to make sure you have all relevant information but at the same time not to overdo it. The wording needs to be spot on when designing these.
I also loved the creative examples you provided for how to personalise and customise wedding invitations. This has definitely helped me feel more confident and organized as I tackle the task of designing my own wedding invitations.
So many great tips! When we were married 11 years ago, invitations were still pretty standard. I love how creative some have gotten, but you’re right many are now not including necessary or classic information. This is such a good reminder!