Wording & Quotes for your Wedding Invitations

The Use of Names:

To start the invitation text you usually have names. Will you be doing the inviting yourselves? Do you want to have your full names, your middle names, or your surnames? With either combination you can stick to something simple, eg:

Jack & Jill
invite you to join them in celebrating the marriage

Or do you want to have "together with their parents/families" before or after your names. Do you want to include your parents' names (or perhaps the names of just one set of parents')? You can use first names only, or include middle names, you can use "Mr & Mrs" - it is up to you! The general rule is that whoever is contributing towards the cost of the wedding should have their names included on the invitation, so if both sets of parents are contributing to your wedding financially you may with to consider adding their names to your invitations, eg:

Mr & Mrs M. Smith
together with
Mr & Mrs A. Brown
invite you to join them in celebrating the marriage of their children
Jill & Jack

Jill & Jack
together with their parents
Bob and Mary Smith
and
John and Jane Brown
invite you to join them in celebrating their marriage

Jill & Jack
together with their parents/families
invite you to join them in celebrating their marriage

If the bride's parents are hosting the wedding you could write:

Mr & Mrs M. Smith
invite you to join them in celebrating the marriage of their daughter
Jill Mary
to
Jack Michael Brown

If the parents are divorced you can separate the names (eg. Mr Martin Smith & Mrs Jan Rogers together with...)

Or if one parent has passed away and you want to include their name you could have "Mr Martin Smith & the late Mrs Jan Smith together with..."

The Next Line:

Here are a few traditional options:

• request the presence of ...
• request the honour of the presence of ...
• request the pleasure of the company of ...
• invite you to share in their joy as ...

• to join them in celebrating their wedding
• to join us in celebrating our marriage
• to join them in celebrating their union of marriage
• to join them in a celebration of love

You can also rephrase the following to suit:

• Love fills a lifetime, and a lifetime begins this hour when the two of us

• Because you have shared in our lives by your friendship and love, we invite

• With joyous hearts we invite you to attend our wedding

• Invite you to share in their love and happiness as they exchange vows of marriage and begin their new life together

• Come celebrate with us as we exchange marriage vows

• This day our hearts are joined as one. Share with us this new beginning, the first day of our life together

• We invite you to be with us as we begin our new life together

• Share with us this day of new beginnings

• ...have chosen the first day of their new life together as [date]
  

• Love fills a moment, A moment fills a lifetime, A lifetime begins eternity, And our eternity begins here, at the wedding of...

The Date:

Most invitation we do are formatted like this (or for simplicity you could remove the "on" and "at"):

on Saturday 27 March 2010
at 3.00 pm

It can be nice to write the date in full, ie:

on Saturday the twenty-seventh of March, two thousand and ten
at three o'clock post meridian

RSVP details:

Are people going to rsvp to you, a bridesmaid or a parent?

What details do you want to include? Postal address, phone number, cell phone number, email...

Do you want people to phone or email their response to you? If so, you can put the details on invitation.

Will you have an rsvp card with a Yes/No tick box that guests can post back to you?

Love Quotes:

• Together, we wrote our names in the sand and the waves washed them away, so we will write them in our hearts and there they will stay.

• This day I will marry my best friend, the one I laugh with, live for, love.

• Two lives, two hearts, joined together in friendship, united forever in love.

• Just like a page out of a fairytale, the storybook romance comes true

• I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

• Come celebrate, dance and sing, laugh and love, as we join our lives.

• We will walk side-by-side hand-in-hand...forever.

• This day our hearts are joined as one. Share with us this new beginning - the first day of our life together.

• Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. (Franklin P. Jones)

• Grow old along with me!  The best is yet to be... (Robert Browning)

• One does not fall into love; one grows into love, and love grows in him. (Karl Menninger)

• I have found the one my soul loves. (Song of Solomon)

• Words were spoken, amidst a soothing tide, as paradise proclaimed, two souls will forever be side by side.

• Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.' (Erich Fromm)

• Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. (Henry Louis Mencken)

• Years ago when they were young, two lovers were brought together as one. Now and forever, partners in life under [palm trees swaying], they'll be husband and wife.

• Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. (Robert Frost)

• At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet. (Plato)

• The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart. (Unknown)

• A perfect shell is a gift from the sea, as beautiful and unique as our love is to be.

• Love is a friendship set to music. (E. Joseph Cossman)

• A heart that loves is always young. (Greek Proverb)

• On this day I will marry my friend. The one who shares my dreams, life and love. (Unknown)

• To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with. (Mark Twain)

• Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts. (William Shakespeare)

• Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. (Aristotle)

• An answered prayer he is to me; My greatest blessing she'll always be. And so this day we'll pledge our love in front of family, friends and God above.

• There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. (George Sand)

• In true love the smallest distance is too great, and the greatest distance can be bridged. (Hans Nouwens)

• Love is life and if you miss love, you miss life. (Leo Buscaglia)

• What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

• A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seem too short. (Andre Maurois)