Traditional Wedding Invitations

Wedding invitations are an important step in the wedding planning process. It sets the tone for the wedding and lets guest know what to expect come wedding day. Traditional wedding invitations make a formal announcement and therefore must follow a formal format. Presentation, wording and style are all aspects in traditional wedding invitations.

Presentation for traditional invitations consists of three parts: the invitation, the reception card and the response card. The invitation is the first piece of presented information that guests will view. It contains all of the information regarding the wedding ceremony. Everything from the date and time to the location is listed here. All of this information accompanies the names of the bride and groom along with their parents.

The second piece of presentation aspect is the reception card. This details the information on where the reception will be held and what time it starts. Additional information included on the reception card is the menu that may be served and whether or not children are welcome at the reception. The final piece of presentation to a traditional invitation is the response card. This is the part of the invitation that guests send back to the couple. From the response cards received, the couple is able to determine how many guests will be attending the ceremony and plan accordingly.

Wording for traditional invitations adhere to formal rules of wedding etiquette. These include such things as listing the time of the ceremony in proper format. For example, a wedding ceremony set for 4:30 in the afternoon must appear on a traditional invitation as half past four o’clock in the afternoon. The place of the ceremony deems a certain type of wording etiquette as well. Other wording for traditional wedding invitations includes properly listing parent names and the date of the ceremony. The date is typically worded in a day-month-year format as opposed to the normal way a date would be listed.

The final aspect in traditional wedding invitations is style. Standard style layouts for traditional invitations use basic colours of white, black or gray. There is a small hint of the wedding colours displayed on the invitation but the overall style colour is one of those three listed. For a touch of elegance, there may be a ribbon included in the style format. An embossed border may accompany the invitation as well. The formal aspect may be taken one step further by acquiring the services of a professional calligrapher to address each invitation. The look and feel to the invitation is subtle and classy following etiquette rules from beginning to end.

Traditional wedding invitations set the tone for an equally traditional wedding ceremony. It is the formal announcement that a wedding ceremony is right around the corner. For many couples it is an exciting time and also a nervous time. Anticipation is felt each day as the mail returns response cards from family and friends eager to come help the happy couple celebrate the start to their new life together. Traditional wedding invitations mark the start of that new, exciting life together.

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