An invitation has one job: tell people what is happening, where, when, and what you need back from them. Everything else — the poetry, the photographs, the music — decorates that job. Get the four facts right and the rest is style.
Start with who is inviting
Traditionally the hosts — the people paying — issue the invitation. Today most couples host themselves, and the line is simply their names. If parents are hosting, name them first. If both families contribute, “Together with their families” covers it without a genealogy lesson.
Together with their families, Emma Carter and James Whitfield invite you to celebrate their marriage.
Match the register to the wedding
Formal wording suits a church ceremony and a seated dinner; it reads stiff at a garden party. Pick one register and hold it — the jolt of “the honour of your presence is requested” followed by “dress comfy!” is what makes an invitation feel amateur.
- Formal: request the honour of your presence at the marriage of…
- Warm:we’re getting married, and we’d love you there.
- Playful: we found each other. Now help us throw a party about it.
The four facts, always
- Names of the couple.
- Date and start time — with the time zone if guests travel.
- Venue name and full address.
- How and by when to reply.
A digital invitation carries these better than card stock, because the address can be a live map and the reply can be a button. On Invi the venue block adds directions in one tap, and the RSVP form drops answers straight into your guest list.
Say what the day looks like
Guests plan around gaps. If there are three hours between the ceremony and dinner, say so — otherwise half the room drives home and half stands in a car park. A short schedule block solves it: ceremony, photos, drinks, dinner, dancing.
Ask for the reply properly
“RSVP by 1 June” is a deadline, not a request. Give a date roughly four weeks before the wedding, and make replying a single tap rather than an email someone means to write and never does. If you need meal choices or a plus-one count, ask for them in the same form — see how to collect RSVPs online.
Three wordings you can copy
Emma & James. 15 June 2026, 3 p.m. The Oakwood Estate, 5 Forest Lane. Ceremony at three, dinner at five, dancing until late. Please reply by 1 June.
We’re getting married! Come and eat, drink and dance with us on Saturday 15 June at The Oakwood Estate. Ceremony 3 p.m. Let us know by 1 June whether you can make it.
Mr and Mrs Carter request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter Emma to James Whitfield on Saturday, the fifteenth of June, at three o’clock in the afternoon.
Pick a template, drop your names and date into it, and the wording above will sit on a page guests can open from a message in one tap.