How Do I Word Wedding Invitations? – Ask The Expert Answer
Question from Aaron:
Hello, I am needing urgent help on the creation of my wife and my invitations. We had a civil union at the court house and we are now going to have a wedding ceremony and reception. The pastor doing the ceremony said we can do just like normal ceremony. Can I word the invitations as such? Thank you.
Answer from Wedding Expert Angela:
Hi Aaron. The reason you can do your wedding ceremony like a normal ceremony is that it is a religious ceremony. The only part of the ceremony you don’t have to do is the “signing of the register” which means signing your marriage license. You have already done that at the courthouse. Your religious institution might have a “register” that you will need to sign. Ask your pastor.
Normally, when a couple are already married, they usually just have a wedding reception, and the wording is as follows: ……invites you to celebrate the recent marriage of….. Since you want to include both the ceremony and the reception, you can just word it the regular way.
Invitations start with whomever is paying for (hosting) the wedding. The wording starts with Mr. & Mrs. I’m-paying-for-the-wedding request the honour of your presence at the marriage of brides name to grooms name son of Mr. & Mrs. Grooms Parents Name followed by when and where. There are two schools of thought on adding the groom’s parents names. One says their names are included only if they are paying for part of the wedding. The other says they are included irregardless of whether they contribute to the wedding costs.
The traditional wedding costs paid for by the groom’s family are: alcohol at the reception, and the rehearsal dinner to name the largest expenses.
If you have further questions, please feel free to email again.
Angela Fiebelkorn, Ask The Wedding Expert
If your pastor is giving the ceremony, do you need to invite him to the reception? I have some gay friends and he may find this offensive, please let me know. Thanks
Hi Nancy, It is a common tradition that the pastor (and his wife) is invited to the wedding. Canada has enacted laws that make it legal for gay couples to be married. In fact, if any clergy were to not marry a couple because they are gay, they could be charged.
You have two choices: you could invite him and not tell him, or you can invite him and then verbally mention it to him so he can make an informed decision.
If it was me, I would just invite him. Gay people are everywhere, and I believe it’s time we stopped making a big deal about it. You know your pastor, and I do not, so in the end, it is your decision.