It is quite traditional for the Bride’s parents to host or pay for the wedding. If this is the case for your wedding, how should your wedding invitation be worded to reflect this?

Decorum #1 – Name Position Matters
The bride’s parents should be listed first on the wedding invitation. Yes, this means before the bride and groom names and before the groom’s parents names.

Decorum #2 – Wording Should Reflect the Bride’s Parents Inviting
Because the bride’s parents are hosting, they are doing the inviting. Wording in your wedding invitation should reflect this. For example, it should say something like “Mr. and Mrs. Smith cordially invite you…” or “John and Kathy Smith invite you to share in the joy…” Anther popular phrase is “Mr. and Mrs. Smith request the honor of your presence…”

Decorum #3 – Take Into Account the Marital Status of the Bride’s Parents
When the bride’s parents are married, it is traditional that the husband’s name goes first.

Here are some examples for married parents:
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
John and Kathy Smith

However, if the bride’s parents are divorced, it is traditional that the mother’s name go first.

Here are some examples for divorced parents:
Kathy Smith and John Smith
Ms. Kathy Smith and Mr. John Smith

If you want to see full examples of wedding invitation wording, check out our Wedding Invitation Wording page. On there we have a chart pointing you to examples of wedding invite wording based upon your family situation.