proper wording for Catholic wedding invitation

[jmjfam7]

With an upcoming wedding for my daugher, I need to know if I have the correct wording for the invitation

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
request the honour of your presence
at the Nuptial Mass at which their daughter
Mary Elizabeth
and
Joseph Francis
will be united in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony
on Saturday …
St. " " Catholic Church
etc.

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

 

[1ke]

With an upcoming wedding for my daugher, I need to know if I have the correct wording for the invitation

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
request the honour of your presence
at the Nuptial Mass at which their daughter
Mary Elizabeth
and
Joseph Francis
will be united in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony
on Saturday …
St. " " Catholic Church
etc.

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

I suggest rephrasing to active voice. Also, include groom’s last name

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
request the honour of your presence
at the Nuptial Mass uniting their daughter
Mary Elizabeth
and
Joseph Francis Smith
in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony
on Saturday …
St. " " Catholic Church

 

[Spencerian]

In addition to 1ke’s advice, I’d also spell “honour” and similar words in the American English format, with no “u”, unless you are British, Canadian or have guests who are from those nationalities.

 

[happymommy]

In addition to 1ke’s advice, I’d also spell “honour” and similar words in the American English format, with no “u”, unless you are British, Canadian or have guests who are from those nationalities.

When we got married it was then “proper” to spell honour like that on formal invitations…but that was 17 years ago, so things might have changed.

 

[twoangels]

When we got married it was then “proper” to spell honour like that on formal invitations…but that was 17 years ago, so things might have changed.

All the advise I got from books and websites on how to spell honor said to spell it “honour” as well. I don’t believe it is out of date to spell it that way.

 

[1ke]

In addition to 1ke’s advice, I’d also spell “honour” and similar words in the American English format, with no “u”, unless you are British, Canadian or have guests who are from those nationalities.

If it is formal invitation, it is correct to use “honour” in the US.

If it is an informal wedding, the correct phrase to use is “pleasure of your company”.

 

[twoangels]

Here was our wording

Brides parents [Mr. and Mrs. Man’s first name, middle name and last name]
&
Grooms parents [Mr. and Mrs. Man’s first name, middle name and last name]
Request the honour of your presence
At the Traditional Latin Nuptial Mass
At which
Bride [first, middle, last]
and
Groom [first, middle, last]
Will be joined in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony

Saturday, the seventeenth of April
Two thousand and ten
At eleven in the morning

[Church name]
[Street]
[City State]

Luncheon and dancing immediately following ceremony
Out of respect for the bride and groom’s religious sentiments, guests are asked to dress modestly for the ceremony.

===================================

My mom hated that I asked people to dress modestly. She thought it was rude. I tried to find as polite of a way from saying it and that is what I came up with, especially considering several of the guests were not Catholic or even Christian. Mom felt that people would open it up and find it had a “holier than thou” attitude.

I didn’t get any comments though except one letter of praise.

 

[AnnArbor]

In addition to honour with a ‘u’, it is also proper to use the term half after if one is being married on the half-hour.

For example,

…on June 2, 2012 at half after six o’clock in the evening.

I love formal wedding invitations.

 

[agapewolf]

The mass doesn’t do the uniting.

The mass is offered for the marriage.

The first option was technically more correct.

 

[chevalier]

request the honour of your presence

You all guys have forgotten to add, “whereof fail you not or you shall do so at your utmost peril.”

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

I suggest rephrasing to active voice. Also, include groom’s last name

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
request the honour of your presence
at the Nuptial Mass uniting their daughter
Mary Elizabeth
and
Joseph Francis Smith
in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony
on Saturday …
St. " " Catholic Church

This seems like a good suggestion – it also eliminates what seems to be the awkwardness of the two “at’s.”

 

[dixieagle]

In addition to honour with a ‘u’, it is also proper to use the term half after if one is being married on the half-hour.

For example,

…on June 2, 2012 at half after six o’clock in the evening.

I love formal wedding invitations.

So do I!!!

I am something of a stickler when it comes to wedding invitations, and am pretty much over those with fuzzy velvet, ribbons, bells, birds, etc. Our girls got to choose between white and ecru, raised border or no, and from a few traditional fonts. Period. It’s funny, as I am not particularly old-fashioned about other things.

Definitely “honour”, btw.

 

[NSFrame]

I used the traditional wedding wording straight out of Miss Manners. The fact that there is Mass does not change anything, as far as I understand. I believe this is how it was, approximately:

Mr. & Mrs. Ambrose F Smith
request the honor of your presence at the wedding of their daughter
NSFrame Middlename
to
DearH Middlename Jones
on Saturday, the twenty-fourth of September, two thousand and five
at ten o’clock in the morning
St. Bartholomew’s Church, Church Street, Podunk, Massachusetts

Reception immediately following at Country Club, Smalltown, Massachusetts

 

[agapewolf]

I used the traditional wedding wording straight out of Miss Manners. The fact that there is Mass does not change anything, as far as I understand. I believe this is how it was, approximately:

Mr. & Mrs. Ambrose F Smith
request the honor of your presence at the wedding of their daughter
NSFrame Middlename
to
DearH Middlename Jones
on Saturday, the twenty-fourth of September, two thousand and five
at ten o’clock in the morning
St. Bartholomew’s Church, Church Street, Podunk, Massachusetts

Reception immediately following at Country Club, Smalltown, Massachusetts

I would prefer to know that it is a mass ahead of time, so I am prepared.

 

[1ke]

I used the traditional wedding wording straight out of Miss Manners. The fact that there is Mass does not change anything, as far as I understand. I believe this is how it was, approximately:

Mr. & Mrs. Ambrose F Smith
request the honor of your presence at the wedding of their daughter
NSFrame Middlename
to
DearH Middlename Jones
on Saturday, the twenty-fourth of September, two thousand and five
at ten o’clock in the morning
St. Bartholomew’s Church, Church Street, Podunk, Massachusetts

Reception immediately following at Country Club, Smalltown, Massachusetts

That is the wording for a non-Catholic ceremony. You will find wording for Catholic, Jewish, and Mormon invitations in Crane’s Blue Book, Emily Post, etc.

 

[NSFrame]

I thought it was correct the way I had it? I pulled it straight out of a Miss Manners book from the 90s. There was nothing in there, that I remember, that said the wording was different for Catholic weddings versus other church weddings.

Everyone knew the church and that my family is Catholic, so that wasn’t an issue. If people didn’t know ahead of time that it was a full Mass, well, I guess too bad?

 

[agapewolf]

I thought it was correct the way I had it? I pulled it straight out of a Miss Manners book from the 90s. There was nothing in there, that I remember, that said the wording was different for Catholic weddings versus other church weddings.

Everyone knew the church and that my family is Catholic, so that wasn’t an issue. If people didn’t know ahead of time that it was a full Mass, well, I guess too bad?

Just because someone is catholic and is having it in a church does not necessarily mean it is a full mass, it could be a liturgy of the word.

I appreciate knowing ahead of time. If for some reason I needed to go to confession (and would normally wait until the usual Saturday late afternoon time, knowing I need to fast before EUcharist, etc).

 

[_Jenn]

Just glanced at my wall to see what mine said (friends of ours got married 2 months before us, and received as a gift their invitation beautifully framed; name of the business was on the back, so they did this for us as a gift)…

Mr. & Mrs. myparentsnames
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
my name
to
dh’s name
Saturday, the {date here} of {month here}
two thousand and one
at two o’clock
St. __________ Church
City, State

Ours was not a Mass, as my dh is not Catholic. So nothing in the wording about a nuptial mass.

Very standard wording. We considered doing the joint type of wording, like

my name
and
dh’s name
together with their parents,
mr & mrs. my parents
and
mr. & mrs dh parents

Nobody had a strong opinion either way, and the latter felt too “wordy” for my liking, so we went w/ the more traditional of the two.

 

[CSLP]

My husband and I got married a few months ago in the U.S. Our wedding invitation format was as follows:

John and Anita Cragen
warmly invite you
to the wedding of their beloved daughter
Serena Casey
and
Adam Michael Stabler
on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.
at St. Rita Roman Catholic Church
1234 God’s Love Road, City Name, State Name

I used this website for information during my wedding planning: catholicweddinghelp.com. Maybe it has information about wedding invitation wording.

This website may also help you: invitationsbydavidsbridal.com. It provides a variety of wording suggestions. You can select a card, then proceed to personalize it, and in one of the steps in the personalization process, you can select viewing “verse” selections, and it’ll show you different types of wording formats.

I had also found a couple of websites through a Google search (unfortunately, it looks like I’ve deleted them from my browser’s Bookmarks/Favorites) that offered formats appropriate to the family/host situation i.e. if both sets of parents are hosting then correct wording is such-and-such; if bride and groom are hosting then correct wording is abc; if groom’s parents are divorced and one is re-married then appropriate wording is xyz.

I wish you and your family a successful and peaceful wedding planning stage, and your daughter and future son-in-law a beautiful married life!

 

[chevalier]

What’s with you Americans suddenly putting the “u” in “honour”? I’d probably consider dropping it if inviting an American addressee and here you’re all putting it in on your own accord!