How to word your invitations...
Besides Save the Dates (if you sent them), your invitations are the first thing people will see in association with your big day, which is why wording them properly can help convey information to guests well. While the final decision of how to word your invites is up to you, learning the basic way to word invitations can help alleviate some of the stress of preparing for your wedding day.
Start with who will be hosting the wedding. Traditionally the bride's parents host the event, but in this day and age it may be the bride and groom's parents. The Bride and Groom themselves, the bride's father or mother alone, or if parents are divorced and remarried than it can be as many as four sets of parents. List the hosts' names, followed by an indication that they are inviting you to the big day.
List the bride and the groom. Traditionally the bride is listed first, but if you so choose you can start with the groom, especially if his parents are hosting the event. Traditionally, you may also include middle names when listing the bride and groom.
Give the date of the wedding next, which is the most important piece of information on the card. List it numerically, or spell out the month, weekday and date number, year, and time, again depending on your choice.
List the location next. If the location is well known by the guests, for example in a small town where only town members will be attending, you can list the name of the church or place by itself. Provide an address if you have a lot of guests coming in from out of town, or if the location isn't familiar.
Details of the reception will follow. If the reception is at the ceremony location, you can list the two together. You can also provide information about the reception such as what kind of meal will be provided, will drinks be available, dancing, or other form of entertainment. Provide dress code as well, for example semi-formal, certain color themes, or proper shoe wear for an outdoor wedding.
Decide whether or not you want to include directions to the event locations in your invites. These can be printed on the invitation, or a separate piece of paper to be stuffed with the invites. Decide if you want to include where the couple is registered.
Include a return RSVP card and envelope with postage provided with your invitations to make it easier on guests to RSVP. If you are serving different meals, have guests indicate what kind of meal they will want on this card as well. You may also offer an online RSVP option if you have a wedding website, but keep in mind that some guests may not be “internet savvy” so a paper option may still be necessary.
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