How to write a formal Wedding Invitation

"Wedding Etiquette: Containing proper forms for Invitations, Announcements, Reception and At Home Cards. And Neccessary Stationary for other Social Functions connected with the Wedding"
Printed with the compliments of: Everett Waddey Company, Richmond VA.

I just happened upon this adorable little book which gives an abundant amount of information on Wedding Invitations & how to write them! The title of the book is "Wedding Etiquette" it was produced by a stationary company for purposes of selling their own stock & informing the public as to the "proper" way to write an invitation....an art form that I think is now long lost...

Allow me to quote from page 3, "Fashion sways a sceptre of absolute sovereignty over the human race, and though there are times when we may defy her decree, there are occasions when her laws must be obeyed, and especially is this true in all matters pertaining to social and wedding etiquette. At such times public attention is centered upon the principals in such events and each friend and stranger is a self-constituted critic. "Simplicity and Moderation" must be observed, for an attempt at elaborate display, especially where means do not justify it, will only be met with unkind criticism."

Here are the basics of Wedding Invitations & Announcements:

1. They should be issued in the name of the parents of the bride elect (or in the name of the surviving parent or guardian if they are deceased).

2. When preparing the invitation be careful not to employ abbreviations, yet make the phraseology as concise as possible.

3. The proper form for a Single Wedding at home invitation is as follows:

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander North Strange
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughter
Alice Greever
to
Mr. Charles Frankfort Madison
on Wednesday afternoon, July the sixth
at five o'clock
Five Hundred and two Boulevard Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida

4. Proper form for a Double Wedding at home (do people even do this anymore?):

Mr. and Mrs. John Roanoke Randolph
request the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of their daughters
Mary Ellen
to
Dr. Francis Mercer Tyler
and
Josephine Snow
to
Mr. Halyburton Burgess
on the evening of Thursday, June tenth
at eight o'clock
At Home
"Tuckahoe"
Goochland County, Virginia

5. Parents names can be substituted for legal guardian names or relative's names, and instead of "at the marriage of their daughter" it should say "at the marriage of his sister (cousin, etc)"

6. The line "requests the pleasure of your company" can be replaced by: "requests the pleasure of your presence" "requests the honor of your presence" "requests your presence" "invites you to be present" or "desires your presence".

7. Full names should be written, as initials do not always sufficiently identify.

8. The date line must indicate morning, afternoon, or evening. The year line, however, in an Invitation is considered superfluous, but must always be stated on the Announcement.

9. The Home Address lines can be substituted for the Church, Court, Hotel, or Banquet Hall address:

Saint Bartholomew's Church
in the City of Boston

10. Apparently, you are never to use "request the pleasure of your company" in an invitation to a Church Wedding (do not ask me why, it just says so).

**Rsvp's will be covered next....till then, good luck & have fun brushing up on your wedding etiquette!**

1920s Vintage Wedding Photo Featured in my store...is she a bride or a princess?

Announcing your Engagement

A lovely vintage wedding photo c1950s from my ebay store Catherine Simms

From the booklet entitled My Wedding circa 1952, see how times have changed:

"Announcing your Engagement
Your family is given the honor of releasing the news of your engagement to friends and the press. You may make the first announcement to friends at a social gathering-luncheon, tea or dinner-and give the information to the press the following day, or you may announce the engagement through the newspapers alone"

2010 Advice on announcing your engagement: Your engagement is one of the most spectacular pieces of information you share in your entire life. Nothing is as exhilarating as contacting someone you love and letting them know your big news! For myself, my husband and I were engaged overseas, so when it came time to tell family members most of them were in a different time zone. In this rare instance I think it is important to respect the people you call, making sure that it is not inconvenient to them, but also to call if you know they do not care to be inconvenienced. This was especially true of my parents and my husband's parents whom we woke up in the wee hours of the morning just to tell them we were engaged.

In general the protocol is as follows:
1. Contact close friends and family members first, preferably in person or over the phone. Failure to follow this protocol can result in hurt feelings if they hear third person. Also, texting can be an impersonal way to communicate something of this magnitude, but understandably it may be the only option and is therefore better than nothing.

2. Surprise family members & friends at a social gathering, dinner, or event. Again, just make sure that if any close family members or friendsthat they are not in attendance are contacted before third party "extras" tell them via Twitter, Facebook, or any other impersonal means.

3. Make your announcement via your favored social network, a special blog post, a unique Twitter message, a Facebook quote on love, or an email with a photo of you and your fiancee. (Please do not only send/post a photo of your bling bling as people find this rude and oftentimes very showy) It is, however, appropriate to post a photo of your engagement ring only after you have already posted a photo of yourself and your soon to be husband or wife. Make sure to put the emphasis on your relationship, and not the size of your diamond.

4. Post an engagement announcement in your local paper. Please note that unlike the 1950s suggestion, most newspapers post these monthly or at most biweekly. So, it is not always the most efficient way of communicating your engagement. Also, unfortunately many people do not read local papers. Make sure that you contact them within 40 days of your actual wedding to acquire an announcement. Be prepared to pay a fee for both an engagement announcement and a wedding announcement. And, if you think that it may not be worth it for you, take my advice, you will have wished you did. (I did not even think of it, I assumed our family would do this, and now wish I would have remembered this fun detail, even if it would have only been treasured in the pages of my scrapbook.)

5. Finally, when you have a date in mind and have officially booked a location send out postcards, notes, magnets, or anything your heart can think up to announce the date of your wedding to those you will invite. Please make sure to send out "SAVE THE DATES" only to those you will be inviting. I know that may seem fairly obvious, but I know many brides who have made this fatal mistake. (They thought they could invite so and so, but then paired down their number of guests. "Ouch" to the person who still has the magnet on their fridge but who was not invited to the event!)

*Good Luck and I hope this helps!*

WHICH OF THESE IS THE UGLIEST?

Bride 1

Bride 2

Bride 3

Bride 4

Bride 5

Bride 6

Bride 7

Bride 8

Bride 9

Bride 10



All of these are funky Vintage Wedding Photos c1940s
I feature them on my eBay Store Catherine Simms...I just thought it'd be fun to take a poll as to which is the ugliest!