Wedding Invitation Wording Etiquette | Both Parents Hosting

If both the bride and groom’s parents are hosting and paying for the wedding, how should your wedding invitation be worded to reflect this? Below are 3 simple decorums to follow.

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

Decorum #2 – Wording Should Reflect the Both Sets of Parents Inviting
Because the bride and groom’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 and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas cordially invite you…” or “John and Kathy Smith and Bob and Leah Thomas invite you to share in the joy…” Anther popular phrase is “Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas request the honor of your presence…”

Decorum #3 – Take Into Account the Marital Status of the Bride and Groom’s Parents
When the 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 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.

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