Wedding verse etiquette

It's interesting:
"Wedding days are meant to be unforgettable occasions, and this one certainly will be. The weather held out, the ceremony went without a hitch, and now a ..."

Wedding invitations often begin with a verse that expresses the couple's love for one another or the hosting couple's excitement over their child's upcoming marriage. In the context of wedding invitations, "verse" refers to the wording used on the invitation itself to announce the hosts, engaged couple and date, time and location of the wedding. Etiquette guidelines exist that guide how titles, capitalization, times and dates are listed.

1. Opening Verse

   • There are multiple ways to open a wedding invitation. You may choose to be poetic and start the invitation with a stanza from the couple's favorite poem, song or passage of scripture. The selection should reflect the couple's values and love for one another. This section is optional. If you don't wish to include a poetic, scriptural or inspirational passage at the opening of the invitation, you can open the invitation with the names of the hosting couple.

   Hosting Couple

   • Following the verse is the listing of the couple who is hosting or paying for, the wedding. In traditional ceremonies, the bride's parents (either one or both sets if the parents are divorced and remarried) are listed first as the hosts of the wedding since they traditionally pay for the wedding. However, the engaged couple may also be the host, in which case their names should be listed first. Include punctuation after titles such as "Mr." "Mrs." and "Dr." and use first and last names only. Follow the hosting couple's names with an invitation such as "request the honor of your presence" or something less formal such as "invite you to celebrate the marriage of their daughter ... ." If the engaged couple is hosting the wedding, proper wording includes their full names, including middle names, followed by "invite you to share in the joy of their marriage" or "request the honor of your presence" or "would be honored to have you join them at the celebration of their marriage."

   Ceremony Location and Time

   • The next section of a wedding invitation is the announcement of the location of the wedding ceremony. A formal wedding invitation to a ceremony held in a church, synagogue or other house of worship always uses the words "request the honor of your presence" after the hosting couple's names. If the ceremony is being held outdoors or at a secular location, the wording "request the pleasure of your company" is appropriate.

     The date is listed immediate following the engaged couple's names which are listed on separate lines with the bride preceding the groom. Dates are listed with the day first, spelled out, followed by the number of the day and the month. The time wraps up the date line and is also spelled out.

   Reception

   • Listing the reception information is the last task on a wedding invitation. If you are hosting a reception after the ceremony, write "Reception to follow immediately after ceremony" or "Reception to follow at <-time>-" after the location of the ceremony. Beneath the reception time, list the address of the reception site. Include a separate response card only if you are having a reception. Indicate on the response card whether or not children under age 12 are welcome at the reception- if they are not, write "M___________" to indicate the names of the people attending followed by a line that says "Number of Adults____." Or, politely write "Please arrange childcare for guests under age 12" on the response card. Include a small envelope for the reply card to be mailed back to you on which is pre-stamped and filled with the address of the couple hosting or planning the reception.

Source: www.ehow.com

Tags: engaged couple, hosting couple, wedding invitation, couple hosting, couple names, honor your, honor your presence