My Fiance and I Have a Child, Can We Include Her Name on the Wedding Invitation?

Yes, and I’m sure she would love being included!

Assuming the two of you are hosting the wedding add her name under yours in the following manner:

John Jones and Jane Smith

together with their daughter Louise 

invite you to…

And since you are including her in the wedding invitation wording, you may also want to bring her with you to help pick out the wedding invitation.  I’m sure she’ll enjoy being part of the process.

You may want to take her to the cake tasting too.

My Parents are Paying for Our Wedding But My Fiance’s Parents Want Their Names on the Invitation. Should They Be?

It’s more important to have a pleasant relationship between the in-laws, so while etiquette dictates that the host of (paying for) the wedding is listed at the top of the invite you may want to find a compromise that makes everyone happy. Here are wedding invite guidelines:

The first line of the wedding invitation is the “host line” which means that whoever is hosting the wedding is listed in the format of:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith invite you to…

When a parent is not hosting the wedding but would like to be listed on the invitation you can include them after their child's name in the following way:

Daniel Johnson
son of Jack and Susan Johnson

If the hosting parents don’t really care if they share the hosting space with their future in-laws the hosting line would read:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
and
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Johnson
invite you to…

We’re Having a Semi-Formal Wedding, Should We Use Titles When Addressing the Invitation Envelopes?

I would. Unless your wedding is really casually you should use appropriate titles when addressing the outer, mailing, envelopes. The male guest’s name should be spelled out, but not the female’s.

For example: Mr. and Mrs. John Smith

If he’s a doctor, judge, in the military, the format would be the same with his title being Dr. or The Honorable or Captain, etc… Ex: Captain John Smith, U.S. Navy and Mrs. John Smith.

If the female guest is the one with a career title her name would go first with his underneath: Dr. Jane Smith and Mr. John Smith. But the “and Mr. John Smith” would be written beneath hers.

It’s technically not proper to put The Smith Family on the envelope if you’re inviting the whole family, but no one is going to call the etiquette police on you. When inviting a family put the parents’ names on the outer envelope and each person’s name on the inner. Another option is to send one invite to the parents and the second to adult (over 16) children in the household.

My Parents are Paying for the Wedding and My Fiance’s Parents Want Their Names on the Wedding Invitation Too, What are Our Options?

The wording of a wedding invitation is broken into several parts:

Host Line (who is hosting a/k/a paying)
Request Line (the invitation to come to the wedding)
Bride and Groom Line (the name of the couple)
Date and Time Line
Location Line (where the ceremony will be held)
Reception Line (where and when the reception will be held or a separate card)
R.S.V.P Line (on the lower left corner or a separate card/envelope)
Attire Line (lower right corner, optional)

Since the groom’s parents are not hosting or co-hosting the wedding you can put their names under the groom’s. Example:

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Jones

invite you to the wedding of their daughter

Samantha Louise

to

John Smith

son of

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Smith

Saturday, June 18, 2011

at six o’clock in the evening

Tribeca Rooftop

reception immediately following

If your parents don’t really care you can add the groom’s parents names to the host line if it’s a bigger deal to them. Remember, it’s important to not have World War III break out as it gets closer to your wedding day so try and accommodate your future in-laws if you can.

The invite with the co-host line would read something like:

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Jones

and

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Smith

invite you to the marriage of their children

Samantha Louise

and

John Smith

Saturday, June 18, 2011

at six o’clock in the evening

Tribeca Rooftop

reception immediately following