1. The Hosts of the Wedding Who is throwing the wedding? Your parents? Your fiance's? Both? You as a couple? Whoever it is, formal etiquette says you'll want to list this on the invitation card.

2. The Request Line There are lots of ways you can ask your guests to join you. "Invite you to join at the marriage of", "request the pleasure of your company at the wedding of", "invite you to celebrate at their wedding", etc.

Pro Tip: Formal etiquette states that "Request the honor of your presence" is traditionally used if getting married in a house of worship. You can also use the Old English spelling “honour”.

3. The Couple of Honor This one may be pretty obvious. Each of your names should be included on the invitation card so everyone knows whose wedding they are being invited to. You can list your full names (first, middle, last), first and last only, or keep it simple with your firsts. BUT, if you aren't including your full name, make sure your last name's appear somewhere (like the return address) so guests aren't confused as to which Bob & Nicole are getting married.

Pro Tip: If you share a last name with your parents and they are being listed on the invitation, you can stick with first and middle or first only.

4. The Date and Time

This is an important one! Formal etiquette states all weekdays, months, and dates should be formally written out. This may change depending on the design of your invitation.

Other ways to list your date:

• Formally (ex. the eleventh of December, two thousand twenty-one);

• Casually (ex. December 11, 2021)

• Numerically (ex. 12/11/2021)

Your ceremony time should be listed on the invitation card. If your reception is being held at a different location, the start time for this portion of the day will be included on the reception card or details card.

If your date is listed out formally with no numeric characters, we recommend having the time follow suit. Ex. "five o'clock in the evening" vs. "5pm" or "5 o'clock". Generally, we will format the way we see fit.

5. The Venue

If your ceremony and reception are at the same location - great! That makes things easy. If your ceremony is at a different location, we have a few options:

1. List both ceremony and reception venue and times on the invitation card. (This can get a little crowded depending on layout.)

2. Include a separate Reception Card within your suite. The invitation is reserved for the ceremony and the reception card features all details pertaining to the party itself.

3. List reception info on your details card.

Pro Tip: The address should be left off the invitation card (especially if no numerical characters are already being included).

6. Dress Code

If you have a specific dress code, you’ll want to communicate this with guests so they show up appropriately. Traditionally, we list this on the bottom right hand corner of the invitation or reception card. The dress code is tied to the reception and not the ceremony if they are at separate locations. So, if you've opted for your reception info to appear on a different card, the dress code will follow it.

Pro Tip: Know your crowd! If you live in a locale where it's assumed that a wedding is formal, no need to list 'formal attire' on the invite card. If you feel like your guests may not know that they need to dress formally, go ahead and list it.

Your details card can be used for any information that you want your guests to know. We often include accommodations info, transportation details, and a list of other events going on during the wedding weekend.

1. Hotel Accommodations

If you've reserved a block of rooms for your guests - here is where you'll want to communicate this. It's also helpful to have all of this listed on your wedding website with direct links to booking sites. Be sure to include the following:

• Hotel Name

• Hotel Address (at your discretion)

• Room Block Name

• Book By Date

2. Transportation Info

If you're providing transportation (a shuttle, trolley, Ubers, etc.) for your guests - you can include this info here. If it's not pertinent for guests to know in advance - save it for your website or include on the welcome card in their hotel gift bags.

3. Wedding Weekend Events

Have a jam-packed weekend of wedding celebrations? Welcome Party? Farewell Brunch? Drinks with the Newlyweds? Include these details here! You can also include a separate events card if necessary.

What if only *some* of your guests are invited to an event? Ex. Rehearsal Dinner. We can create two different versions of the details or events card - one for guests invited to the rehearsal dinner and one for those who aren't. OR - we can include a separate rehearsal dinner card for those guests only. Both options include additional fees.

4. Wedding Website

If you'll be creating a wedding website to offer more details on the event or events surrounding the wedding, we highly suggest including the web address on the details card. By doing so, you must have the site up and running by the time the invitations will be mailed out.

Pro Tip: Purchase a unique domain name for an elevated look and so your guests don't have to type in a long-winded URL. If you don't feel like purchasing the domain, shorten the link in the preferences of your website provider to something easy to remember and type in (i.e. the knot.com/rachelandross2024).

5. Reception Info If your reception info isn't included on your invite card and you don't plan on including a separate reception card - the details card is where this info will appear.

We suggest 6 weeks before the big day. This gives you a week for follow-up and a week to put together seating arrangements so that your guest list is finalized one month before the wedding.

Your wedding program gives guests information to guide them through the marriage ceremony. This can be super detailed or an outline of the basics. Here are some suggestions on what to include:

Basics (Good for Flat Program Cards):

- Your names

- The date

- The ceremony location

- An outline of the ceremony proceedings

- A list of the people in your wedding party

- A brief word of welcome, a blessing, a meaningful quote, or a prayer

More Detailed (Good for Folded Booklets):

- Explanation of cultural traditions

- Your "how we met" story

- A message to honor those that are no longer here or could not attend

- Notes on being an unplugged ceremony, if applicable

- Detailed overview of the ceremony - Maybe this includes full readings or song lyrics

Standard Order of Ceremony Example:

• Prelude (Song name and artist/composer is usually listed)

• Wedding processional (Song name and artist/composer is usually listed)

• Greetings

• Readings (Include the names of the passages and who is reading them)

• Vows

• Presentation of the Couple

• Processional (Song name and artist/composer is usually listed)

We suggest you contact the officiant to provide you with a breakdown of the ceremony, especially for religious ceremonies.

Here are some guidelines (both traditional and contemporary) for addressing your inner envelopes. Either format is acceptable - choose based on your personal style and the level of formality of your event: Married Couple (same last name) Formal: Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin Contemporary: James and Heather Married Couple (different last names) Formal: Ms. Swift and Mr. Brookes Contemporary: Sandy and George Single Woman Formal: Miss Cartwright and Ben (only if you do not know the name of the guest should you write "and guest") Contemporary: Cynthia and Ben (or Cynthia and Guest) Single Man Formal: Mr. Anderson Contemporary: Ben Unmarried Couple (at same address) Formal: Ms. Smith and Mr. Green Contemporary: Colleen and James If children or families are invited, their names are listed under those of the parents: Formal: Mr. and Mrs. Brown

Kevin and Katrina Contemporary: Andrea, Steve and Family

or

Andrea, Steve

Kevin and Katrina Judge If single: Judge Brown If married: Judge Brown and Mrs. Brown Doctor (Medical) If single: Doctor Grimes and Guest If married: Doctor and Mrs. Grimes Doctor (PhD) If single: Dr. Henry Skinner and Guest If married: Dr. and Mrs. Skinner Married Woman Doctor Doctor Strokes and Mr. Miller Married Couple, Both Doctors The Doctors Kelly Clergy The Reverend White Officer- Male, active duty or retired from service Captain and Mrs. Greene Officer- Female, active duty or retired from service Captain Hart and Mr. Carl Waters

Stick to the basics!

Your names, the date, the general location (city/state), and your website.

Let's dig a little deeper....

Your Names

First only or first and last are both acceptable, as long as it's obvious to your guests which Kristin & John are getting married. On the save the date, we generally leave off middle names but if you want it to read super formal, go ahead and include.

The Date

Keep it short and sweet or spell it all out depending on how formal you want it to sound. Date with year is all you need - save the day of the week for the invite.

Location

It's common to list the city and state where the wedding will take place. If the ceremony and reception are in two different cities/states, pick the one where they'll need to stay (if there's hotel blocks) or fly into (if it's a destination). No need to list the venue itself, unless it's a resort where all of the wedding events, rooms, etc. will be.

Website

I'm not saying you *need* to have a wedding website but it sure is a good idea so your guests have easy access to all the important details. If you plan on setting one up - be sure to do it before the save the dates go out. Add basic details to start and fill in more details as the planning comes together.

Having trouble up your website? We can help! Contact us and we can chat about options for a full-website build or branding personalizations to currently created websites.

Last but not least...don't forget the language "Save the Date"

"Save the date", "Save our date", "Save the weekend"... no matter how you like to list it, it's important to include this so guests don't assume this is the invite. You can also list "formal invitation to follow" at the bottom of the card to drive home that you will be sending a true invitation with many more details.

Let's see it in practice....

SAVE OUR DATE

KRISTIN & JOHN

ARE GETTING MARRIED!

08.30.27

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

kristen-and-john.com

formal invitation to follow

-

Save the Date

for the wedding of

Kristin Williams & John Jameson

August 30, 2027

New York, New York

for more details, visit

www.kristen-and-john.com