Etiquette Guide

Wedding Etiquette

These are some general rules that you should keep in mind when writing your invitations.

Punctuation

Punctuation is not used at the end of lines (commas, periods, colons, etc.); however, commas are used within lines to separate the day from the date, the city from the state and a man’s surname from “Jr./junior/II/III”, etc.

Capitalization

Only those words that would normally be capitalized (proper nouns) should be capitalized on the invitation–couple’s names, church name, etc. For example: “Sunday, the fifth of November”, OR “on Sunday, the fifth of November”.

Exceptions:

• The first word of the year is capitalized: e.g. “Two thousand”
• The beginning of a new sentence or thought: e.g. “T” in “The favour of a reply is requested” or “Reception to follow”

Spelling

Names should be spelled out in full. “Ryan Thomas Matthews” or “Ryan Matthews” is acceptable but not ““Ryan T. Matthews”. Also, use proper given names, for example – Anthony, not Tony; Cynthia not Cindy.

Do NOT use abbreviations other than Mr., Mrs., Dr., and Jr. “Road”, “Street”, “Avenue”, “Reverend”, “Doctor”, and all military titles should be spelled out.

Dates and times are written out. For instance, half after five o’clock, two thousand and three. There’s no need to note AM or PM. When time of day is unclear, you can then use “in the morning” or “in the evening”. However, numerals may be used for street addresses.
Note: Afternoon starts at noon and evening starts at six o’clock.

If the wedding is during Daylight Saving Time, this may be included: “at four o’clock, Daylight Saving Time.” (Note there is no “s” at the end of “Saving” and that all three words are capitalized.)

“Honour” vs. “Pleasure”

The “honour of your presence” is properly used for church weddings. For weddings held at a hotel or home, it’s more appropriate to use less formal wording. For example, “request the pleasure of your company”.

Reception card

If you are not using reception cards, you may include the information as the last line of the invitation: “Reception immediately following”, or “Reception to follow.”
These sentences indicate that the reception will be held at the same place as the wedding. If the reception will be held at another location, you should consider ordering a separate reception card.

R.S.V.P. card

An R.S.V.P. card is not included with invitations for guests invited to the ceremony only. The R.S.V.P. is predominantly needed to provide a head count for the catering at the reception.
If you are not using a separate response card, include “The favour of a reply is requested” and a response address on your invitation.

Note: Since R.S.V.P. is an abbreviation for the French sentence, “Répondez s’il vous plaît.” which translates to “Respond please”, never say “Please R.S.V.P.” as that would be redundant.


NOTE: Remember to check spelling and information carefully! It is imperative that dates are accurate and that everything is spelled correctly. Especially note capital letters and spacing on unusual names like Degracia, De Gracia, DeGracia, etc. Clarify all uncommon copy.