Wording Guidelines for Announcements and Invitations

Party Invitations (wedding, birthday, christening, etc)
What To Include:

• Begin with a short introductory poem or quote
• Include what the event is about (Sasha's birthday party, the marriage of..., etc.)
• Date of the event (with day of the week)
• Time
• Place (with address)/li>
• If you are having a reception at a separate location also give that information
• RSVP name, phone number, and date to RSVP by.
• End with a closing like "we hope you can come! John, Kristy and Sasha Riverton" or "May the presence of your company be your only gift to us"

Wedding and Engagement Announcements
What To Include:

• Begin with a short introductory poem or quote. Example: Love lights the hearts of those who share it. John and Kristy announce...
• Include couples names. There are many ways you can address whose last name the wife will adopt. If the wife has taken her husband's name you can say "John and Kristy Riverton are delighted to announce their marriage..." If the wife will be keeping her maiden name or hyphenating with the new last name, you could do something like: "John and Kristy happily announce their marriage" then at the bottom in small print say "John Riverton and Kristy Smith-Riverton reside at...."
• Details of your event that you want to share. For wedding announcements you can include date and place of marriage ceremony and where the new couple will reside. Engagement announcements you might want to include the date of the proposal and where it took place, and the date that vows will be exchanged.

Birth and Adoption Announcements
What To Include:

• Begin with a short introductory poem or quote. Example: The first steps a baby takes are into your heart. We are delighted to announce the arrival of...
• Child's first and middle name or the full name. If you will be calling your child by a nick name other than their given first name you can word your announcement like this: "Announcing the arrival of William Thomas Zahbanksky. Will arrived on December..."
• Details of your announcement. For birth announcements you might want to include baby's weight, length, birth date, time, and city of birth. For adoption announcements you might want to include date and place of birth and date of adoption.
• End with a closing. Example: "Proud Parents John and Kristy Riverton"
• Closing wording ideas: Proud parents..., Proud family..., Delighted new parents..., Happy new parents..., etc.
• For grandparents: it's a wonderful idea to put the grandparents names after the parents names so that the grandparents can send out announcements to their own friends that may not know who the child's parents are. Give them their own bragging rights.

Gifts
There are instances where your recipient will receive an invitation or announcement and not know whether they should bring/send a gift. A second marriage is a great example. It is perfectly appropriate to extend your generosity by declining gifts on an invitation or announcement. As a loose rule, if nothing is mentioned about not bringing a gift, then a gift will not be refused. As in a child's birthday party. This can save your guest some embarrassment if they show up empty handed. If you decline gifts, the wording should be at the lowest part of your card in small print. Mentioning on the invitation the stores where you are registered is tacky and should never be done. Here's a few wording ideas for declining gifts:
"May your good wishes be your only gift to us"
"No gifts please"
"May the presence of your company be your only gift to us"

RSVP (an abbreviation of the French phrase: réspondez s'il vous plaît)
There are several ways you can word your RSVP. You can follow this wording by the name and phone number they should RSVP to and the cut-off date they need to call or email by. Here a few ideas:
"The favor of a reply is requested"
"Kindly reply to ..."
"Regrets only"
"Please RSVP"
"We do hope you can come. RSVP at your convenience"

Abbreviations
We don't like abbreviations. If you've gone to the trouble of creating a very special invitation, the text should look well thought out and carefully scripted. If space allows, you should always spell out commonly abbreviated words such as street, avenue, saint, months, days of the week, etc. This gives a better flow to the wording and gives a deliberate and thoughtful presentation. You want your guest to sense that you put some time, thought, and energy into your invitation.

Punctuation Ending punctuation (usually periods) is used only when words requiring separation occur on the same line, and in certain abbreviations such as Mr., Mrs., R.S.V.P, etc.