The full guide: what each line of an invitation does, twelve examples covering the situations couples actually face, and a free generator that words yours with your own details in it.
Tone is the first decision, and it changes almost every line — how the date is written, whether the invitation speaks in third person, and how the request line reads.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Whitfield request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Eleanor Rose to Mr. Thomas Ashby Saturday, the twelfth of June two thousand twenty-seven at half after four in the afternoon Saint Andrew's Church Charleston, South Carolina
Together with their families Amelia Grace Hart and Julian Reyes request the pleasure of your company at their marriage Saturday, the eleventh of September two thousand twenty-seven at four o'clock in the afternoon The Willow Barn Hudson, New York
Amelia & Julian are getting married Saturday, September 11, 2027 at four o'clock The Willow Barn Hudson, New York Reception to follow
We're doing it! Sofia and Andrew are getting married and we'd love you there. Saturday, May 15, 2027 Ceremony at 4, food right after 12 Sable Lane, Savannah, Georgia Text us by April 1
After eleven years, our families would like this settled. Eleanor Whitfield & Thomas Ashby Saturday, June 12, 2027 Ceremony 4:30, dinner 6:00 The Hallowell Library, Boston Reception to follow, obviously
You're invited to the wedding of Eleanor Whitfield and Thomas Ashby. 📅 Saturday, June 12, 2027 at 4:30pm 📍 The Hallowell Library, Boston 🥂 Dinner and dancing to follow Reply YES or NO by May 1.
Pick a tone and a host line, add your date and venue, and get a printable invitation and a text-message version in seconds.
One line changes for each of these — usually the host line. Every example below has a full page of its own, linked underneath.
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lindqvist and Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Cole request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their children Annika Lindqvist and Samuel Cole Friday, the ninth of April two thousand twenty-seven at five o'clock in the evening Grace Cathedral San Francisco, California
Mrs. Helen Whitfield Mr. Charles Whitfield request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Eleanor Rose to Mr. Thomas Ashby Saturday, the twelfth of June two thousand twenty-seven at half after four in the afternoon Saint Andrew's Church Charleston, South Carolina
Eleanor Rose Whitfield daughter of Helen Whitfield and the late Charles Whitfield and Thomas James Ashby request the honour of your presence at their marriage Saturday, the twelfth of June two thousand twenty-seven at half after four in the afternoon Saint Andrew's Church Charleston, South Carolina
Sophie and Daniel Reyes request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their father Julian Reyes to Marianne Claire Beckett Saturday, the third of October two thousand twenty-seven at six o'clock in the evening The Ashcroft Estate Hudson, New York
Sofia Almeida and Andrew Kealoha were married on the fourteenth of February two thousand twenty-seven and request the pleasure of your company at a reception in celebration Saturday, the fifteenth of May at half after six in the evening The Beaumont Hotel Savannah, Georgia
Kindly reply by the first of May M ______________________________ ___ accepts with pleasure ___ declines with regret Number attending ______
Every invitation, formal or casual, is the same six pieces in the same order. Get the order right and almost any wording works.
Whoever is hosting: one family, both families, the couple, or “together with our families.” Skip it entirely if you are hosting yourselves and would rather lead with your names.
“Request the honour of your presence” for a ceremony in a house of worship; “the pleasure of your company” everywhere else. Casual invitations replace it with something like “would love you there.”
Full names for formal invitations, first names for everything else. When parents host, their child is named first without a surname, and “to” joins the couple instead of “and.”
Formal invitations spell everything out — “Saturday, the twelfth of June, two thousand twenty-seven, at half after four in the afternoon.” Modern and casual wording uses numerals freely.
Venue name, then city and state. Street addresses belong on the details card, along with parking, shuttles, and hotels.
“Reception to follow” if it is the same venue, then a single way to reply with a single deadline. Dress code goes here too if it is black tie.
Each of these turns up on invitations that have already been printed, and each is invisible until a guest asks about it.
Copying a template that opens “Mr. and Mrs. request the honour…” when you are paying for the wedding yourselves misrepresents who is hosting — and commits your parents to a role they may not have agreed to.
“Saturday, June 12th, 2027 at 4:30pm” beneath “request the honour of your presence” reads as an error rather than a choice. Pick formal or modern and hold it across every card.
“Please reply at your earliest convenience” produces replies at everyone's least convenient. Print a date, three to four weeks before the wedding.
Registry information, adults-only notes, hotel blocks, and street addresses all belong on the details card or your website. The invitation carries who, when, and where.
Add your names, hosts, date, and venue. Switch tones to compare formal against modern, and open the Text message tab for a version you can send tonight.
A phone number, a website, or “reply to this text.”
Six things, in this order: who is hosting, the request to attend, the names of the couple, the date and time, the place, and how to reply. Everything else — the street address, the dress code, hotels, the registry — belongs on a details card or your wedding website.
The hosts at the top, then the couple. Hosts may be one set of parents, both sets, the couple themselves, or the families and couple together. If you are hosting your own wedding, “together with our families” is the most-used opener, and leaving the host line off entirely is equally correct.
As formal as the wedding. A cathedral wedding worded casually and a backyard wedding worded like an engraved invitation both read as mismatches. Pick the tone your day actually has and keep it consistent from save the date through to the details card.
Six to eight weeks before the wedding, or three months for a destination wedding, with save the dates six to twelve months out. Set the reply deadline three to four weeks before the day, which leaves you a working gap before your caterer needs final numbers.
Yes — and reply rates are far higher, because a text can be answered in one tap. Many couples send printed invitations to older relatives and texts to everyone else. Our text message wording page has versions written for a phone screen, and Text My Wedding collects the replies for you.
Completely free, with no sign-up. Enter your details, pick a tone, and get a printable card version and a text-message version. We built it as a gift to couples, and to introduce you to Text My Wedding, our text-message RSVP and guest-messaging app.
Text My Wedding sends your invitation by text, collects RSVPs and addresses automatically, and chases the stragglers for you. Try it free.
