Wedding wording etiquette for mr. & mrs.

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Think of etiquette as a guide for appearing proper and classy in significant social events. Weddings are steeped in etiquette- don't think of etiquette as rules or immovable laws that must be followed but rather, as a guide to hosting a wedding with class and style. Etiquette is flexible enough to accommodate your personal preferences in a classy manner. While etiquette helps guide every aspect of wedding planning, it particularly helps for wording and addressing invitations.

1. Wedding Invitation

   • A good general rule to keep in mind with wedding invitations and envelopes regarding the use of "Mr." and "Mrs." is that titles are punctuated. Even in the most formal and traditional invitations, titles should not be spelled out, but rather abbreviated with proper punctuation. Men such as the bride and groom's fathers should be listed as "Mr." while mothers should be listed as either "Mrs." or "Ms." depending on whether or not the mother is married. Married mothers should be identified as "Mrs." while unmarried mothers as "Ms."

   Hosting Situations

   • The most common situation to use "Mr." and "Mrs." on wedding invitations is the traditional setting where the wedding is hosted -- and thus paid for -- by the bride's parents. In that case, the opening line of the invitation should read as: "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith..." where the bride's father's first and last name follow the punctuated titles. If the bride and groom are hosting the wedding, the opening line should read: "The honor of your presence is requested at the wedding of Miss [bride's full name] to Mr. [groom's full name]."

   Honoring Groom's Parents

   • If you want to honor the groom's parents either because they are helping to host the wedding or just because you want them to be recognized for all they did in preparing the groom for adulthood, you can include them after the listing of the groom's name on the wedding invitation. For example, you could word your wedding invitation as "...[bride's full name] to [groom's full name] son of Mr. and Mrs. [groom's father's full name]". As with all titles, use punctuated forms as opposed to the spelled-out versions of "Mister" or "Missus."

   Addressing Invitations

   • Etiquette governs the addressing of wedding invitations too, just as it helps guide the wording of the invitations themselves. Place invitations inside of an inner envelope. The addressing of the inner envelope may be less formal and may just list the first names of the invited guests or may be printed as "Mr. Jones and Family." The outer envelope should include titles and be similar to the wedding invitation wording. Invitations to couples should be addressed as "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith." Invitations addressed to single men should appear as "Mr. John Smith" and invitations to women should appear as "Mrs.," "Ms." or "Miss" depending on whether the woman is widowed, married, divorced or single. It is also appropriate to use the title "Dr." or "Drs." if one or both invited guests are licensed doctors.

Source: www.ehow.com

Tags: full name, full name groom, John Smith, name groom, wedding invitation, wedding invitations, bride full