Invitation Wording

[GlitterIsMyDrug]

I'm betting you all might have some ideas here, because we're scratching our heads and coming up blank.  So far our wedding invitation reads:

Glitter and Partner
Along with their families

And that's it. So far we've thought of:
Wish to invite you
Are pleased to invite you
Wound enjoy your attendance at

To segue into the next bit of we're getting hitched at this time at this place on this date. It's not super formal wedding, we're open to something more fun/funky. In fact we'd welcome it! But we're drawing blanks. The main points we want are our names (obviously) and families. We aren't in love with the idea of listing out our moms' names because we want to give a nod to our entire families (including our very close friends) who have been helping with the wedding.

So, e-hellions, any ideas?

[TootsNYC]

request the pleasure of your company at...

is the classic ("honor of your presence" is usu. reserved for religious ceremonies, but that's probably negotiable)

[Oh Joy]

Hmmm...I suppose part of it depends what you're calling this event.  She surprised you with a legal wedding a few weeks ago when you were visiting your uncle...or am I mixing you up with another poster?

[EllenS]

I'd go classic on the wording "request the pleasure of your company" and funky on the design/color/typeface. It's easy to lose clear communication if you try to be too cute.  Everybody knows the form and what it means.

Also, by mixing classic with new, you get a kind of high/low aesthetic that is fun to play off of and adds resonance.

[daen]

I'm betting you all might have some ideas here, because we're scratching our heads and coming up blank.  So far our wedding invitation reads:

Glitter and Partner
Along with their families

And that's it. So far we've thought of:
Wish to invite you
Are pleased to invite you
Wound enjoy your attendance at

To segue into the next bit of we're getting hitched at this time at this place on this date. It's not super formal wedding, we're open to something more fun/funky. In fact we'd welcome it! But we're drawing blanks. The main points we want are our names (obviously) and families. We aren't in love with the idea of listing out our moms' names because we want to give a nod to our entire families (including our very close friends) who have been helping with the wedding.

So, e-hellions, any ideas?

...invite you to celebrate...
...are delighted to invite you...

Not very inspired. I'll think about it a bit.

[TootsNYC]

I really don't like "are delighted to invite you" or even "are pleased to invite you"

You'll be pleased when they attend; being pleased that you are inviting them just hits me wrong, it feels sort of self-satisfied, "I'm so happy I invited you" vs. "I'm so happy you are here at the actual event."
  I think that's why "pleasure of your company" is the term--the pleasure doesn't being until you are IN their company.

but that may be a very individual reaction.

I vote for plain-Jane wording and funky fonts.

"invite you to witness their vows" "invite you to attend their wedding"

But I like "pleasure of you company" bcs it really says, "we very much want you there, we'll be happy if you come" instead of "you can come if you want" (which is what "invite" can mean, sometimes).

[greencat]

I'm betting you all might have some ideas here, because we're scratching our heads and coming up blank.  So far our wedding invitation reads:

Glitter and Partner
Along with their families

And that's it. So far we've thought of:
Wish to invite you
Are pleased to invite you
Wound enjoy your attendance at

To segue into the next bit of we're getting hitched at this time at this place on this date. It's not super formal wedding, we're open to something more fun/funky. In fact we'd welcome it! But we're drawing blanks. The main points we want are our names (obviously) and families. We aren't in love with the idea of listing out our moms' names because we want to give a nod to our entire families (including our very close friends) who have been helping with the wedding.

So, e-hellions, any ideas?

If your families are not "hosting" i.e., paying for, the celebration, it should only say "Glitter and Partner"

Then for the rest of it:
"Invite you to celebrate our marriage with us at" - if you're just doing a reception without a ceremony
"Invite you to attend our affirmation of vows and wedding reception" - if you're also repeating the vows, as I know you got married where it was legal, but I'm guessing this is back in your home state?

[Maude]

Friend A!
COME CELEBRATE
the union of
Glitter and Partner!

There will be a (party, shindig, knees-up, ) with family and friends
at(place)
on(date)
from(time) until late.

[lowspark]

I just googled "wedding invitation wording" images to get some ideas. I really liked this one which sort of covers the fact that you were legally married already but are doing the celebration now.

[GlitterIsMyDrug]

request the pleasure of your company at...

is the classic ("honor of your presence" is usu. reserved for religious ceremonies, but that's probably negotiable)

Oh, I do like request the pleasure of your company. Honor of your presence seems a little too...formal or something.

I'd go classic on the wording "request the pleasure of your company" and funky on the design/color/typeface. It's easy to lose clear communication if you try to be too cute.  Everybody knows the form and what it means.

Excellent point, I don't want to cause mass confusion of "What's happening? What are they doing now?", resulting in lots of phone calls.

Hmmm...I suppose part of it depends what you're calling this event.  She surprised you with a legal wedding a few weeks ago when you were visiting your uncle...or am I mixing you up with another poster?

That is us, but we are still calling this our wedding. I know it's complicated and non-traditional. But that was our "we have to do this for it be legal" wedding, this is our "real" wedding. Since we couldn't have both in the same place legally. We just a bit extra with the legal one because my great uncle was there.

Friend A!
COME CELEBRATE
the union of
Glitter and Partner!

There will be a (party, shindig, knees-up, ) with family and friends
at(place)
on(date)
from(time) until late.

Oh that's fun! I like that!

If your families are not "hosting" i.e., paying for, the celebration, it should only say "Glitter and Partner"

Then for the rest of it:
"Invite you to celebrate our marriage with us at" - if you're just doing a reception without a ceremony
"Invite you to attend our affirmation of vows and wedding reception" - if you're also repeating the vows, as I know you got married where it was legal, but I'm guessing this is back in your home state?

Our families are helping us with the wedding, we are footing the majority of the bill, but it's still important to us that we acknowledge them on the invitation as they have been (and are continuing to be) a huge help.

We will be having a whole ceremony, but not with the same vows. We used the traditional "do you take this woman" vows the first time (think we printed them off the internet) this time will be vows we write ourselves. So not really a repeating...rephrasing maybe? This is in our home state, yes.

[Dindrane]

One thing that I think is important with invitations is to be very clear about what they are for, and what they aren't for.

They are for telling people what they are being invited to, who is hosting, when it takes place, where it takes place, and who specifically is invited.

They are not for telling people who is footing the bill, your feelings about the event (since you wouldn't be inviting them to anything you weren't pleased about), or really anything else except the stuff I mentioned above.

The specific words of the invitation are also really not the place to get creative or show your personality. A lot of creative wording is a) not that creative in the end, and b) not easy for others to understand. You might know exactly what you meant, but your guests could still end up being confused. Sticking with the traditional words (even if not the traditional aesthetic or formality level) helps make sure everyone understands what you're doing.

You should also keep in mind that the formality of the words (and invitation overall) should match the formality of the event itself. If you'll be having a formal wedding, you should stick with formal wording (no abbreviations, spelled out years, full names with titles, more traditional centered text, etc.). If you're not having a formal wedding, you absolutely should remove some of the formality from the invitation, because it will help people know what to expect. So you can skip titles, you can use numbers for years, you can do things like abbreviate street addresses, etc. You do want it all to look cohesive and be aesthetically pleasing to you, but it's good to keep in mind that the invitation is the very first thing any of your guests will see that communicates information about the event, so you want the invitation to be in keeping with what your event will actually be like.

One other thing I will say is that I can completely understand wanting to acknowledge your families and the work they have put into your wedding. But I would caution you against doing it on your invitation unless your families can function as hosts (even if they aren't the main ones). The reason why invitations say who is inviting you to a wedding is so that you know who you're supposed to RSVP to and who knows the details of what's going on if you have questions. If your families can fulfill those roles, then definitely list them on the invitation if you want to. But if they can't, or you don't want them to, it would be better to leave them off and acknowledge them in another way.

Truly, the best way to communicate a unique style or personality through the invitation is to let that inform your choice of things like colors, fonts, graphics, and text layout. The words themselves have to serve enough other purposes that expecting them to communicate your personalities on top of it all is just expecting too much.

[TootsNYC]

I like lowspark's find a LOT!!!

[Margo]

I personally would not put your families on the invitation - it's great to want to thank them and acknowledge the support they've provided, but I would suggest that you do tat as part of any toasts or speeches (if you're planing to have any).

I share Toots'  dislike of the 'wish to invite' type wording - you don't wish to invite them, you *are* inviting them

The wording Lowspark linked to is pretty good, but if you don't want to specifically say that you've already done the legal bit, you could say something like "Glitter and Partner invite [Name] to celebrate our marriage with us at [place] on  [time and date] "

I also really like Maude's suggestion, and you can use 'marriage' not union if you want.

[TurtleDove]

That is us, but we are still calling this our wedding. I know it's complicated and non-traditional. But that was our "we have to do this for it be legal" wedding, this is our "real" wedding. Since we couldn't have both in the same place legally. We just a bit extra with the legal one because my great uncle was there.

You are already married, yes?  I wouldn't pretend you are not (for one thing, it begs the rhetorical question of why is it important to have a legally recognized marriage if it doesn't mean anything to you). 

For my first wedding, we eloped, and then six months later (to appease our families) we had a "solemnization" of our vows.  It was something like, "TurtleDove, did you take this man...." instead of "TurtleDove, do you take this man...."  And we affirmed that yes, we had already vowed to be married and were simply restated our vows in the presence of our friends and families.

Our invitations were worded something like,

TurtleDove and FirstDH
Along With Their Families
Invite You To A Celebration of Their Marriage Vows

Solemnization of Vows at Church at 4 p.m. on February 26, 2000
Followed by a Reception With Dinner and Dancing at Location

It was clear to everyone that they were not witnessing our wedding, but rather celebrating our marriage.  I would suggest that route for you since you are also already married.

[lofty]

May I ever so humbly suggest a couple of my favorites?

This one gives a nod to your family and simply defines the very happy occasion as a celebration:


This one doesn't mention your families the way it currently reads, but the "first day of their new lives together" is nice for basically saying "this is when our wedding anniversary will be":


Last one - mentions families, asks for the pleasure of company at wedding & celebration: