10 Tips for Impeccable Invitation Etiquette
Your wedding is your day – so you don’t have to follow any rules. However, if etiquette is important to you, these guidelines will help you avoid an invitation faux pas.
Regarding Your Invitation Wording
1. Don’t mention gifts. Registries should never be mentioned on invitations. Similarly, you shouldn’t indicate a preference for monetary gifts. It is perfectly acceptable, however, to include your wedding website on the accommodations card so guests can find your registry information.
2. But specify no gifts. On the other hand, if you don’t want your guests to give presents, you can say so in the bottom corner of your invitation. Possible wording choices include:
“No gifts please.”
“Your presence is our treasured/cherished gift. We respectfully request no other.”
“Accepting good wishes only.”
“Your presence is the only present we require. We request that you give no other.”
3. Put the bride’s name first. If the wedding is for a bride and groom, it’s traditional for the bride’s name to be listed first (e.g., The Wedding of Jenna Anderson and Brian Roberts).
4. Spell out the year. The proper way to designate the year of your celebration is “Two Thousand Twenty.”
5. Make it clear if children are welcome: If you’d like children to attend your wedding, include the children’s names on the invitations. If you don’t want them to attend, the invitation should simply state, “Respectfully, we cannot accommodate children.”
When Addressing Envelopes
6. Don’t abbreviate street. Or road, avenue, court, etc. You should spell out the word so the invitation reads, “123 Birch Avenue” and not “123 Birch Ave.” Likewise, don’t use state abbreviations.
7. Avoid nicknames. Use your guests’ full first and last names. And don’t abbreviate formal titles.
8. Use numbers for addresses. House numbers and zip codes should be numerals. For example: – 123 Main Street Miami, Florida12345
9. Don’t write “and family.” If children are included in your celebration, it’s customary to write their first names on the inner envelope beneath their parents’ names in order of age.
10. Spell out “and.” It’s “Mr. and Mrs.” and not “Mr. & Mrs.”