Wedding Reception Wording

Wouldn’t it be nice to think that all people, when in receipt of an invitation to a wedding reception, would simply be thrilled for the couple and not give the wording a second thought? Oh, if only it were so! But, alas, there do dwell among us certain “wedding police” who live to pick out the least mistake and use it to its utmost power to sometime later embarrass us.

So, even though it’s true the majority of your guests would almost invariably overlook any minor wording “indiscretion,” we’ve gotten together a sort of wording “guide” to navigate you safely through the gauntlet of those dreaded wedding police and get you to the other side of happily ever after without so much as a “wedding police ticket”! Read on to learn more. …

Different Ways of Sending

Wedding reception invitations can be given in three ways. One way is to incorporate them into the text body of the wedding invitation itself, another is to include a separate reception card along with the wedding invitation, and lastly, sometimes reception invitations are sent out entirely separately from the wedding invitations. Separately sent reception invitations most commonly are used if the reception is to be held at a different time, particularly a different day, from the wedding.

Formal or Informal

Decisions also need to be made as to whether or not the invitations should be formal or casual. It stands to reason – at least to most – that a traditional church wedding with all the bells and whistles, so to speak, warrants formal invitations. Little differences in the wording become apparent here, such as, “…request the honor of your presence” for formal venues, while “…request the pleasure of your company” for informal weddings. For instance, if you are having a casual wedding reception, the following invitation can be worded as such to pass the inspection of the most finicky wedding etiquette monitor:

    The pleasure of your company
    is requested at the
    wedding reception of
    Jane Leigh Doe
    and
    Mr. Tom Lee Duff
    Saturday, the sixth of June
    at seven o'clock
    at The Rivercrest Country Club
    123 Swanky Lane
    Anytown, Ohio

    Black tie requested

    RSVP

    456 Any Street
    Anytown, Ohio

And here is an example of a formal wedding reception invitation card enclosed along with the formal wedding invitation:

    Reception to immediately follow the ceremony (Or, if sometime later, put the date and time, i.e.: “Reception to be held the tenth of June, 7 o’clock” instead of “…to immediately follow the ceremony.”)
    at Rivercrest Country Club
    123 Swanky Lane
    Anytown, Ohio

    Black tie requested

Response card enclosed. (Don’t forget this or you may not find out ‘til they all arrive just how many to serve!)

Spell It Out!

Notice how everything – with the exception of the street numbers and the time of day – is spelled out? Also notice that a.m./p.m. is omitted from the time. People realize that 7 a.m. doesn’t make sense for a wedding reception, the extension is left off. (Unless it is some very unusual circumstance in which a.m./p.m. must be denoted.)

Those are just a few tips on the wording of wedding reception invitations – enough, at least, to keep the wedding police from arresting you! (We don’t guarantee against tickets!) To find out more, do a simple search on your favorite search engine. With a little help from the hundreds of online wedding sites, you’re sure to find the exact wording you need.