Responding to Wedding Invitations

This page is intended to illustrate the proper way to respond to wedding invitations, including how to fill out response cards.

Handwritten acceptance, most formal

This is the most formal way to respond to a wedding invitation. Most people today do not use this form, and I do not really recommend it, because it provides more opportunity for confusion if the host is unfamiliar with the formal conventions. Notice that our guests are accepting the invitation to the reception. Traditionally in the United States, it was impossible to accept an invitation to the ceremony, because they took place in a house of God, which requires no invitation for entry.

Note that the location of the reception is optional, and both the location and the time are omitted when declining.

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Jones
accept with pleasure
the kind invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
to the wedding reception of their daughter
Maria Louise
and
Mr. John Matthew Smith
on Saturday, the twenty-third of March
at three o'clock in the afternoon
128 North Main Street

Handwritten acceptance

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Jones
accept with pleasure
the kind invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
for
Saturday, the twenty-third of March
at one o'clock in the afternoon

Handwritten regrets

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Jones
regret that they are unable to accept
the very kind invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
for
Saturday, the twenty-third of March

Handwritten split acceptance/regret

If more than one person has been invited, but not all are able to attend, the following form is used:

Mr. Mark Jones
accepts with pleasure
the kind invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
for
Saturday, the twenty-third of March
at one o'clock in the afternoon
Mrs. Mark Jones
regrets that she is unable to attend

Handwritten acceptance with children

If you and your children are invited on one invitation, their names should have been written on the inner envelope along with yours. You would respond the same way:

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Jones
Maria, Charles and Margaret
accept with pleasure
the kind invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
for
Saturday, the twenty-third of March
at one o'clock in the afternoon

Response Cards

A response card usually looks like this:

The favour of a reply
is requested before the seventeenth of March
M _____________________________
will ________ attend

Fill in the names of the people on the longer line. Notice that the M of your title is already printed, so you would actually write something like r. and Mrs. Mark Jones

If you have a title that does not begin with M, you may strike out the M and put down your proper title.

Then, if you are accepting, do not put anything on the second line. If you are declining, write the word not on that line.


Page last modified: Sunday, May 16, 2004

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