Wedding invitation wording: 20 ready-made examples

What the text needs besides names and a date

A guest reads an invitation for about thirty seconds. In that time they have to understand five things: who is getting married, on what date, what time to arrive, where exactly, and what is wanted from them in return. Everything else is decoration, and it only works on top of those five.

Write the names out in full at least once. Your groom's relatives have no “Daisy” in their phone, but they do have “Margaret, niece”. Give the date with the day of the week: “12 September, Saturday” saves you a dozen identical questions. Give the time you need people to arrive, not the time you plan to walk in: write 16:00 and half of them will turn up at 16:20.

The address needs the venue name and a landmark, not a single line copied from a navigation app. And the request to reply must carry a specific date: “let us know by 20 August”. Without a date almost nobody replies — that holds true for any mailing.

Dress code, shuttle, directions, wishes about gifts — none of that fits on a printed card, which is why printed cards never carry it. In a digital invitation you never run out of room: a short text on the first screen, the details below, and the guest decides how far to read.

If you have not chosen a format yet, first look at what kinds of invitations there are and how a link differs from an image in a messenger or a card in an envelope: that determines how much text is worth writing at all.

Classic wording

Good for the main mailing, when you have a lot of guests and they are all very different. A formal tone offends nobody, and your grandmother will understand it on the first read.

1. General, for most of your guests

Dear friends! On 12 September the two of us, Charlotte and Ben, are getting married, and we would love to have you there. We will be expecting you at 15:00 at Ashcombe Manor. Please let us know by 20 August whether you can make it.

2. Formal

Dear Mr and Mrs Whitfield, we invite you to the celebration of our marriage. 4 July, 16:00, the Veranda restaurant, 12 Chapel Street. We would be delighted to have you among our guests. Marina and Adam.

3. With the running order

We are happy to share that on 30 May we become a family. Guests arrive at 14:30, the outdoor ceremony is at 15:00, and dinner and dancing run until midnight. The Pines country club, forty minutes' drive west of the city. Sophie and Leon.

4. When it is a long way to travel

We invite you to the wedding of Paulina and George. 18 August, 16:00, a marquee on the lake shore. The drive from town takes about an hour; for anyone without a car there is a coach from the station at 14:30 and back again at one in the morning.

Warm — when there are few guests and they are all close

Texts like these are written in your own words, and it shows immediately. What follows is not wording to copy line for line but a tone to borrow: put in your own circumstances and it becomes yours.

5. About why you are doing this at all

We spent six months arguing about what kind of wedding to have and agreed on one thing: what matters is who is at the table. You have been on that list from the very beginning. Nora and Tim will be expecting you on 6 June at 15:00 at the old house on Meadow Lane.

6. With a bit of self-mockery

Julia and Stan are getting married. For anyone who has known us seven years this is hardly breaking news, but it is an excellent excuse to gather. 25 July, 17:00, the rooftop at 74 Canal Street. Come hungry.

7. When the date has a story behind it

We are signing the register on 14 February — yes, you may laugh. We are celebrating on the 15th, a Saturday, so that nobody has to take a day off. We will be expecting you at 16:00 at the Quiet Harbour on the embankment. Anna and Rob.

8. Very short and tender

We are getting married. 8 August, 15:00, the garden at the house by the river. There will be a lot of light, a few tears and no formality at all. Please come. Lisa and Daniel.

9. For a couple who have been together a long time

Twelve years, two dogs and one mortgage later, we have decided to make it official. 3 October, 17:00, the bistro on Vine Street. No presents, honestly — just come. Kate and Mike.

Short: for messengers and cards

Nobody reads a long text in a chat — the eye catches on the date and the address and scrolls past the rest. Four or five lines is the ceiling here; the details are better handed over as a link.

10. The bare minimum

Nina and Will. 22 May, 16:00. The River restaurant, 8 Quay Street. Please reply by 1 May.

11. With a greeting and a link

Hello! We're getting married on 19 September. We'll be expecting you at 15:00 at the Barn on Linden Boulevard. Details and confirmation at the link. Olivia and Sam.

12. A single line for a printed card

Tara and Karl invite you to their wedding. 11 July, 16:00, Fairview Manor.

13. When you are writing to each guest by hand

Rita and Paul are getting married on 5 September. We'd so love to see you at 15:30 at the Veranda by the Pond, 3 Park Lane. Do let us know by 15 August whether you can come.

For parents, grandparents and older relatives

What counts here is not the phrasing but the fact that you are addressing the person directly. A blanket “dear guests” stings older relatives: they need to feel invited, not included in a list.

14. To your parents

Mum, Dad! On 27 June Max and I are getting married — and the day makes no sense without you. We'll be expecting you at 14:00 at the Oak Grove; come a bit earlier, we want family photographs. Your Jenny.

15. To grandparents

Dear Granny Vera and Grandpa Victor! Nicholas and I are getting married on 12 September. We know the journey isn't short, so a car will collect you at 13:00 and take you home whenever you say. We'd love to have you there. Alice.

16. To relatives you are inviting with their children

Dear Natalie and David, we invite you and the children to our wedding on 15 August. It starts at 16:00 at the Panorama restaurant, 21 Garden Street. The little ones will have their own table and their own entertainment, so do bring the whole family. Hannah and Dennis.

For friends — no need for formality

17. To a group chat

Everyone — we're getting married! 30 August, 16:00, the Farm at Wheatley. Dress code: light and comfortable, heels don't survive grass. If you're coming, say so by 10 August, we've got chairs to count. Mila and Jaro.

18. To one close friend

Alex, Emma and I have finally settled on a date — 4 July. I want you there as my best man, not as a guest. I'll send the details, but keep the day free.

The day after, dinner after the ceremony, small formats

A separate text is needed whenever there is more than one event. The guest has to understand whether they are invited to all of it or part of it, and how the second day differs from the first — otherwise they will arrive at a barbecue in a suit.

19. The day after

Day two, no ceremony about it: from 12:00 on 21 June we're gathering at our country house by the river. Barbecue, swimming, old towels instead of napkins. Come in whatever you like and stay the night. Lucy and Matthew.

20. Dinner for close friends after the civil ceremony

We're having our civil ceremony on 16 May, just the two of us, with no guests and no traditions. In the evening we're inviting our eight closest people to dinner — 19:00 at the Northerners on Chapel Street. The table is booked; just come and eat and be happy for us. Marta and Igor.

The personal line is what makes the difference

The same text sent to a hundred people reads like a letter from a bank. One line at the top, different for each person, is enough: “Auntie Sue, it isn't a wedding without your potato salad” or “Dan, you introduced us — so this one is on you”. The shared text follows underneath, unchanged.

Done by hand, most people give up around the fifteenth guest. When the invitation lives behind a link, the greeting is filled in with each guest's name, so everyone opens a page addressed to them; the reply lands in the same shared list instead of getting lost across four separate chats. You can build one and see how it looks free and without signing up — the draft is saved even if you close the tab halfway through the text.

Better left unwritten

• Poems from the first page of search results. People recognise them: the same little verse about two rings has been doing the rounds of weddings for twenty years.
• “Attendance is mandatory” — even as a joke. Tone does not survive a messenger.
• Demands about gifts spelled out in the text. If you would rather have money, you say so out loud to two or three close people and it travels on its own.
• Abbreviations like “wdg 12.09 @ 16.00”. Saving three characters costs you a handful of guests who get the time wrong.
• Two dates in a row — the civil ceremony and the dinner — with no explanation of which one they are invited to. That is the first question you will be asked in reply.

Test the finished text on someone who knows nothing about your plans. If they can name the date, the time and the address on the first read, you can send it.