Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Beazley
or
Kate and Marvin Beazley
If the bride and groom are hosting, then the line reads
Ms. Jane Doe and Mr. Sam Smith
or,
Together with their families,
Jane Doe and Sam Smith
The Request
The next line in a wedding invitation is the one that requests that your guests attend.
If your ceremony is at a place of worship, then the line should read:
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Note the formal British spelling of the word "honor." The word daughter is used as an example and should be the gender of the person whose parents are hosting. If, on the other hand your ceremony is at home or other secular location, then the line should read:
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
or
would be delighted for you to attend
the marriage of their daughter
If the couple is hosting:
invite you to join us at the celebration of our marriage
The Happy Couple
Etiquette says that the bride should be listed first, using first and middle names only. Then the groom should be listed, using both title and middle name.
So for example:
Nora Jane
to
Mr. Scott Andrew Jackson
Date and Time
Traditionally, these are spelled out:
Saturday, the tenth of June
two thousand and six
at four o'clock in the afternoon
note that the month and day are capitalized. If it were a 4:30 ceremony, the time would read at half after four o'clock in the afternoon.
But for a less formal ceremony, you can also write
Saturday, June 10, 2006
at 4 p.m
The Location
If the ceremony is at a well known location, you needn't include the address:
The Museum of Fine Arts
Houston, Texas
Time for the Reception
Let your guests know there is going to be a party afterward . This can either be included on the wedding invitation or on a separate reply card.
On the wedding invitation, it would read
Reception to follow at the Briar Hills Country Club
If you're not serving a full meal, it is nice to let guests know. You might write:
And afterwards for cocktails and cake in the RoseRoom.
Or
Dessert and dancing to follow
a separate reception card is often good to use if the ceremony and reception are in different places, or the reception doesn't immediately follow the ceremony. It might read something like
Reception
8 o'clock
Wedding invitations are usually written based on who is hosting the wedding whether the parents of the bride or the parents of the groom or both parents of the bride and groom or bride and groom themselves.
For this case the diseased grandparents will read something like:
The late Mr. and Mrs (insert name)
Or you can say something like together with their parents and grandparents, without mentioning the names of any of the parents as it can take too much space on the invite.
* Yes, the name and address on a wedding invitation should be centered on the envelope and your return address on the upper left.
The Guests
you should not abreviate a name in weding invitations.
Put the guests name on it to make them feel specal
For the 50th Wedding Anniversary invitation the man's name comes first: Mr. John Doe and Mrs. Jane Doe or if it is not that formal it could be 'John and Jane Doe.'
You could put something like: Mrs. Jane Doe is proud to announce the upcoming marriage of her daughter, Judy, who is also the daugher of the late John Doe, to (groom's name). Nuptials are to be held.........
A bride's name should be listed first in the invitation and then the groom's name. This is customary. Her parents names may or may not be used depending on what they prefer.
You can remember a deceased parent in the wedding by putting their name in the program. You could also remember the parent when doing the father/daughter or son/mother dance.
The traditional format is to put the man's name first. However I usually put the name first of the person I am related to or friends with, and then put his/her spouse's name second. This is less 'correct' but more honest and more respectful, in my opinion, in that it puts first the person I am closer to, rather than always leaving the woman trailing behind the man.
* I assume the married couple are redoing their vows because they may have had been married at the courthouse or, they were married in another country. It would be: Mr. & Mrs. John Doe on the wedding invitation. Or if you want an more informal Wedding Invitation you could put: Celebrating the marriage of John and Jane Doe.
You can ask if the couple has a favorite charity and make a contribution to it in their name.
Normally the name of the couple, the name of the parents, and the time and place of the wedding. There are many examples of this online as to how to word wedding invitations. Feel free to check on the sources listed below.