Est. 1999 · The wedding reference
Today’s Weddings

The wedding reference, since 1999

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Etiquette

Invitations

Wording, envelopes, timing and replies — everything that goes in the post.

The invitation is the first thing your guests hold, and the one place where etiquette still matters to almost everyone. Settle the guest list before you order anything, because the count decides the print run and the postage. Send save-the-dates six to eight months ahead (longer for a destination wedding) and invitations six to eight weeks before the day, with the reply date three to four weeks out. Wording follows who is hosting; addressing follows the formality of the wedding; and a complete suite should be weighed at the post office before you buy stamps.

The guides below cover each step, from the wording for every family situation to addressing envelopes, assembling the suite, collecting replies and the wedding website that now carries the details an invitation can’t.

How to Address and Assemble Wedding Invitations

The EditorsThe names on the envelope are the first thing guests read. How to address couples, families, doctors and officers, put the suite together in the right order, mail it and word the announcement.

How to RSVP, Properly

The EditorsThe guest’s side of the invitation — when to reply, what to say, who is invited, and the handful of things that make a couple’s life much easier.

Invitation Verses: Lines for the Top of the Card

The EditorsOne-line, two-line, three-line and four-line verses for wedding invitations, programs and menus — collected by Today’s Weddings readers since 1999.

Wedding Invitation Wording for Every Situation

The EditorsWhoever hosts the wedding is named first, and that one fact settles most wording questions. The standard form, then the right lines for divorced, remarried and late parents, couples who host themselves, second weddings, vow renewals, double weddings and a wedding that has to be called off.

When to Send the Invitations, and Everything Else

The EditorsThe complete stationery timetable — save-the-dates, invitations, reply cards and thank-you notes — and how to get them all into the post on time.

The Guest List and the Seating Plan

How to cut a list without starting a feud, when to send what, and the method that makes seating take an evening instead of two weeks.

Thank-You Verses for Scrolls, Bookmarks and Favor Tags

The EditorsA few printed lines at each place setting is one of the oldest and cheapest ways to thank wedding guests. How to use scrolls and bookmarks well, what to print alongside the verse, and fifteen short verses written for Today’s Weddings that you are free to use.