Common Wedding Invitation Wording Mistakes Part 1

Your wedding invitations are one of the most important parts of your wedding.  So you want them to be correct.  Here are a few tips to help you get things right.

Abbreviations:
It is considered socially correct to spell out all words on invitations, accessory cards and envelopes.  For example, you would use road instead of rd., boulevard instead of blvd., etc.  There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule.  Titles may be abbreviated, for example, Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr.  Instead of spelling out Saint or Saints, it is acceptable to use St. or Sts.  Numerical time should use the abbreviations like a.m. and p.m.  When used in a name, Jr. and Sr. can be abbreviated instead of using Junior and Senior.

Time:
To be socially correct, invitations require that time be spelled out.  However, numerals may be used on accessory cards.

Invitations:

  • Time should be spelled out, but never capitalized.
  • If the time is on the hour, it should be followed by o’clock.  Note the proper way is to have it all
  • Lower case with an apostrophe.
  • Do not use o’clock if the time is not on the hour.
  • Time not on the hour should be hyphenated.  For example, one-thirty instead of on thirty or twelve forty-five instead of twelve forty five.
  • Time should always be followed by in the morning, noon, in the afternoon, in the evening or midnight.  To clarify which is which, 12:01 a.m. – 11:59 a.m. is morning, 12:00 p.m. is noon, 12:01 p.m. – 5:59 p.m. is afternoon, 6:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.m. is evening, and 12:00 a.m. is midnight

Accessory Cards:

  • Time can either be spelled out using the invitation rules above or numerals may be used.
  • When numerals are used, they should be followed by a.m. or p.m.  Note the proper way is lowercase and periods.
  • Immediately can be used instead of an exact time.  The use of immediately and a time is unnecessary.  For example, ‘Reception immediately following ceremony’ is correct, but ‘Reception immediately following ceremony at six o’clock in the evening’ is incorrect.

 


Read:  Part 2 |   Part 3

 

 

 

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