What Should Be Included in a Wedding Invitation

A wedding invitation has one job: to tell a guest where to be, when to be there, and how to reply. Everything else is decoration. These are the six lines that do that work, in the order they normally appear on the card.

1. The host line

Whoever is paying for or hosting the wedding is named first. Traditionally that is the bride's parents. Where both families host, or the couple hosts themselves, a line such as "Together with their families" covers everyone without a list of names that crowds the top of the card.

2. The names of the couple

The largest text on the card. On formal invitations the bride's name traditionally comes first, and surnames are included when the host line does not already make the families clear.

3. The request line

"Request the pleasure of your company" is the standard formal phrasing. "Would love you to join them" is the warm equivalent. The phrase you choose sets the tone of the whole event, so it is worth reading a few aloud before deciding - there are full wordings for each tone if you would rather copy one and adjust it.

4. The date and time, written out

On a formal card, dates are written in words - "Saturday, the fourteenth of March, two thousand and twenty-six" - and times as "six in the evening" rather than 6:00 PM. On a modern card, numerals are perfectly acceptable. What matters is that you do not mix the two styles on one card.

5. The venue and full address

Name the venue, then the street, then the city. Guests will type this into a maps app, so an incomplete address is the single most common reason a wedding invitation generates phone calls.

6. How to reply

Either an RSVP card with a stamped envelope, or a line with a phone number, or a link. Whichever you pick, give a deadline - an invitation without one produces replies that arrive the week of the wedding. Three weeks before the day is the usual mark, for the reasons set out in the invitation timeline.

What belongs on a separate card

• Directions, parking notes and hotel suggestions.
• Dress code, if it needs more explanation than one word.
• Reception details, when the reception is at a different venue.
• Registry information, which never belongs on the main invitation.

The three mistakes that cause phone calls

1. Leaving off the year. Guests receiving a card in December cannot always tell which March you mean.
2. Naming the venue without its address, on the assumption that locals will know it.
3. Being vague about who is invited. If children are not invited, the envelope should be addressed to the adults by name, and the card can say "Adult reception".