How to write parents' names on wedding invitations

For many years the bride’s parents paid for the wedding and were the hosts of the wedding.  You were not invited by the bride and groom, you were invited by her parents.  Times have changed and many couples are paying for their own weddings in part or all of it.  Couples today are older now than they ever have been before and are taking more control of their weddings, including paying themselves.

Some people still choose to include their parents’ names on the wedding invitations.  Whether it is one set of parents or both sets of parents.  While there are many ways to do this it is important to choose the best one for you and your situation.

Sometimes the situation is complicated.  If one or both sets of parents are divorced, or remarried, it can be confusing to know how to list them on the invitation.

Lets run through some ways to show how to use parents’ names on wedding invitations.  These would all be above the couple’s names on the invitations :

No parent’s names:  “Together with their families” or nothing at all above the couple’s names

Bride’s parents inviting:  

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith 

invite you to the wedding of their daughter

Bride’s parents inviting but they are divorced: 

Ms. Samantha Smith (in this case the mother’s name always goes first)

Mr. John Smith

Invite you to the wedding of their daughter

Bride’s parents inviting but are remarried:

Mr. and Mrs. Gavin Stewart (mother and current husband always go first)

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith

Invite you to the wedding of their daughter

Including both sets of parents’ names:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith 

invite you to the wedding of their daughter

Grace Smith to Liam Collins

The son of Mr. and Mrs. James Collins

As you can see, there are many options for how to list parent’s names on wedding invitations.  There is no “right” or ‘wrong” way to do it. There are more traditional ways to do it too but not required.   There are only preferences.  Your preferences may be your parents’ preferences.  Ultimately it is up to you how you want it worded though.

Keywords: Parents names, hosting the wedding, divorced parents, remarried parents, wedding, wedding invitations