Wedding Invitation Wording: Templates for Every Situation

Wedding invitation wording is the part couples circle for weeks. It looks like it should be simple, and then you sit down to write "and family" and realise you have no idea whether that means the children.

Most of it comes down to two decisions: who is hosting, and how formal you want to sound. Once those are settled the rest falls into place. Here is the structure, the wording for every version of it, and the traps that catch people out.

The six things every invitation needs

1. Who is hosting — the couple, the parents, or both.
2. The request — the line that does the actual inviting.
3. Who is marrying — full names for formal, first names for relaxed.
4. When — date, day and time, written out for formal invitations.
5. Where — venue and suburb. The full address can go on the details card.
6. What next — RSVP date and how.

Everything else — dress code, parking, accommodation, gifts — belongs on a separate enclosure card rather than the invitation itself. Crowding all of it onto one card is the most common reason an invitation ends up hard to read.

Formal

Traditionally the bride's parents host, and the wording reflects it. Names are given in full, the date and time are spelled out, and the tone stays third person throughout.

Mr and Mrs James Whitmore
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Charlotte Anne
to
Thomas Edward Hall
Saturday the fourteenth of March
two thousand and twenty-seven
at four o'clock in the afternoon
Mount Tamborine

If the ceremony is in a church, request the honour of your presence is the traditional line for the ceremony itself, with the pleasure of your company kept for the reception.

Hosted by the couple

By far the most common version in Australia now, and the easiest to write. The couple's names come first because they are doing the inviting.

Charlotte Whitmore and Thomas Hall
invite you to celebrate their marriage
Saturday 14 March 2027 at 4pm
Mount Tamborine

You can still keep the numerals and drop the spelled-out date without losing any warmth. Formality lives in the phrasing more than the format.

Both families hosting

The diplomatic option, and the one that quietly solves most awkward family arithmetic. It acknowledges everyone without naming anyone.

Together with their families
Charlotte and Thomas
invite you to share in their wedding day

Relaxed

For a backyard, a beach or a small ceremony, the wording can simply sound like you.

We're getting married!
Charlotte and Thomas
would love you there
Saturday 14 March, 4pm
Mount Tamborine

One caution: a relaxed tone still needs the six pieces of information above. Charm is not a substitute for a date.

The traps

1. "And family" is not clear. If children are not invited, name the adults on the envelope and say "adults only reception" on the details card. Never leave it to be inferred.
2. Do not put the registry on the invitation. Gift and wishing well wording belongs on a separate card.
3. Give an RSVP date, not a deadline tone. Four to six weeks before the day is standard in Australia.
4. Deceased or divorced parents change the host line. "Together with their families" solves almost every awkward version of this.
5. Check the year. It is the single most common error, and the one nobody proofreads.

When the family situation isn't straightforward

The host line is where nearly every wording problem actually lives. These are the versions couples ask about most.

Divorced or separated parents

Both parents can still host together. Traditionally the mother's name goes first, on its own line, with no "and" joining them — the separate lines do the work.

Helen Whitmore
and James Whitmore
invite you to the marriage of their daughter
Charlotte Anne

If either has remarried and the new partner is hosting too, give each couple their own line. If the relationship is strained enough that any order will cause offence, use "together with their families" and let it go.

A parent who has died

A parent who has died cannot host, so they are not named in the host line. They can still be honoured in the invitation itself.

Charlotte Anne Whitmore
daughter of Helen Whitmore
and the late James Whitmore
invites you to celebrate her marriage

Some couples prefer to leave the invitation simple and make the acknowledgement in the ceremony or on the order of service instead. Both are entirely correct — this one is yours to decide, not etiquette's.

Step-parents

If a step-parent has been part of raising you and is hosting, include them. Helen and Michael Barrett on one line reads naturally and needs no explanation.

A second marriage

No special wording is required, and there is no reason to be more modest about it. Couples hosting their own second wedding usually use the couple-hosted format above. If children from earlier marriages are part of the day, they can do the inviting: Together with their children, Charlotte and Thomas invite you…

How to word the extras

These are the lines that don't belong on the invitation but still have to be said somewhere. Each one goes on an enclosure card, and the wording matters more than the card it sits on.

Adults only

Say it plainly and say it once. We love your little ones, but this will be an adults-only celebration is warm and leaves no room for interpretation. Putting it only on the envelope is what causes the awkward phone call three weeks later.

Dress code

Two or three words at the bottom of a details card is enough — cocktail, garden party, black tie optional. If your venue has a practical catch, say so: the ceremony is on grass saves more heels than a dress code ever will.

RSVP

Give a date, a method, and a line for dietary requirements. Kindly respond by 4 February is the standard phrasing, and most Australian couples now collect meal preferences on the same card. Whether you use a printed reply card or a website, keep the deadline on the RSVP card rather than buried in the details.

Gifts

Never on the invitation. A short line on a separate wishing well card does it, and naming what the contribution is for — a honeymoon, a first home — keeps it feeling like a shared gesture rather than a request.

Naming your guests

"And family" causes trouble because it leaves the guest list open to interpretation. The fix is to name people rather than imply them, and there are two places you can do it.

On the invitation itself

Guest name printing puts each guest's name on their own card. In the online editor you add a guestname box, position it where you want it on the design, then type your list of names in or upload it as a file — every invitation then prints with the right name already on it, and you can preview how each one looks before you order.

It settles the "and family" question before the envelope is even opened. A card that reads Alan and Marie Peters, Sophie and Tom has already answered who is invited, and it reads as considered rather than run off in a batch, which is most of the reason to send a printed invitation at all. The same works on menus and place cards, so a guest's name carries through from the invitation to the table.

On the envelope

The envelope should still name everyone you mean to include. Mr and Mrs Alan Peters invites two people; Alan and Marie Peters, Sophie and Tom invites four, and nobody has to interpret anything. For a formal wedding, titles and full names are traditional; for everything else, the names people actually use are fine.

Handwriting sixty envelopes is a bigger job than most couples expect, particularly after the wording itself has taken weeks. Printed envelope guest addressing takes the same list and prints each name in a style that matches the invitation, which also removes the risk of a misspelt surname on the one card someone keeps.

Timing

Save the dates go out six to twelve months ahead, invitations eight to ten weeks before the day, and twelve weeks if guests are travelling or the wedding falls near a public holiday. Because RSVPs are due four to six weeks out, sending late compresses the part of the schedule you least want compressed — final numbers for the caterer.

If you are still working backwards from your date, our guide on when to send wedding invitations sets out the full timeline, including how many to order once households are counted properly. Ordering your save the dates and invitations together is worth considering if you want the wording and design to carry across both.

Common questions

Do you put the year on a wedding invitation?

Yes. It is often left off because the wedding feels obviously next year to the couple writing it, and it is the single most common error on Australian invitations. Include it, then check it.

What time should you put on the invitation?

The time the ceremony starts, not the time you would like guests to arrive. If you want a buffer, build it into the ceremony time itself rather than printing a time you don't mean.

Do you need to mention the reception?

If the reception is at the same venue, reception to follow is enough. If it is elsewhere, it needs its own line with the venue name, and the address goes on the details card.

How do you word an invitation when the couple is hosting?

Lead with the couple's names and use an active phrase — invite you to celebrate their marriage. There is no need to mention hosting at all; putting your names first already says it.

Where to start

Choose the host line first, because everything else follows from it. Once that is settled, pick the level of formality you want and keep it consistent across the invitation, the details card and the RSVP — a formal invitation with a chatty reply card is the mismatch guests notice.

Whichever wording you land on, our wedding invitations are easy to edit online, so you can see the real thing before it prints.