A formal wedding invitation is written in the third person and follows a fixed order: the host line (who's inviting you), the request line, the couple's names, the date and time spelled out in full, the venue, and a reception note. Spell everything out — the year, the hour, the place — and let the host line set the tone for the whole invitation.
The classic structure never changes: host line, request line ('request the honour of your presence'), the bride's name, 'to' or 'and,' the groom's name, then the date, time, and venue, and finally the reception note. Each element gets its own line, centered, working from the most formal at the top to the practical at the bottom. Learn the skeleton once and every wedding invitation you write falls into place.
Whoever is hosting — traditionally the bride's parents — leads the invitation, and their names signal its formality. 'Mr. and Mrs. James Whitfield request the honour of your presence' is the most formal; 'Together with their families' is the modern, egalitarian choice when both sides contribute or the couple pays their own way. If the couple hosts alone, they can simply invite guests in their own names.
Formal wedding invitations spell out numbers rather than using digits: 'Saturday, the fourteenth of June, two thousand twenty-six, at half past four in the afternoon.' The city and state are written out in full, no abbreviations, and 'half past four' is preferred to '4:30.' The traditional 'honour of your presence' spelling (with a u) is reserved for a religious ceremony; 'the pleasure of your company' is the phrasing for a non-religious venue.
Copy-ready examples
Traditional (bride's parents host)Mr. and Mrs. James Whitfield
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Eleanor Rose
to
Thomas Andrew Bennett
Saturday, the fourteenth of June, two thousand twenty-six
at half past four in the afternoon
Grace Cathedral · San Francisco, California
Both families hostingTogether with their families
Eleanor Rose Whitfield
and
Thomas Andrew Bennett
request the pleasure of your company
at the celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the fourteenth of June, two thousand twenty-six
at half past four in the afternoon
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Modern (couple hosts)Eleanor & Thomas
are getting married —
and they'd love you there
Saturday, June 14, 2026 · 4:30 in the afternoon
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Dinner and dancing to follow
Questions
It's the traditional, most formal request line, and the British 'honour' spelling is used specifically for a ceremony held in a house of worship. For a non-religious venue — a garden, a hotel, a hall — the correct phrasing is 'request the pleasure of your company.'
Skip the parents' host line and have the couple invite guests directly, either 'Together with their families' or simply in their own names: 'Eleanor and Thomas invite you to celebrate their marriage.' This is the standard modern approach and reads warm without losing elegance.
On a formal invitation, yes — 'Saturday, the fourteenth of June, two thousand twenty-six, at half past four in the afternoon,' with the city and state written out fully. A modern or casual wedding can use numerals; match the wording to the formality of the day.
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