— Guide
Wedding invitation wording when parents are hosting
The first line of a wedding invitation tells guests who is doing the inviting, and that's usually whoever is hosting the day. Find your situation below, copy the line that fits and swap in your own names.
Bride's parents hosting
Ayşe and Murat Yılmaz would be glad to have you with them as their daughter Selin marries Arda Kaya.
Mr and Mrs Yılmaz ask you to join them on the day their daughter Selin and Arda Kaya are married.
Ayşe and Murat Yılmaz hope you'll be there when Selin, their daughter, marries Arda.
Groom's parents hosting
Leyla and Hakan Kaya warmly ask you to their son Arda's wedding to Selin Yılmaz.
Mr and Mrs Kaya would love your company as their son Arda and Selin Yılmaz become husband and wife.
Both families hosting
The Yılmaz and Kaya families ask you to share in the marriage of Selin and Arda.
Ayşe and Murat Yılmaz, together with Leyla and Hakan Kaya, would be happy to see you at Selin and Arda's wedding.
Two families, one table. The Yılmaz and Kaya families hope you'll join them as Selin and Arda marry.
Selin and Arda are getting married, and both their families would be honoured by your company.
Couple and parents hosting
Together with their parents, Selin Yılmaz and Arda Kaya ask you to be with them on their wedding day.
With their families behind them, Selin and Arda would like you there as they marry.
Selin and Arda, with their parents beside them, hope you can come to their wedding.
Couple hosting
Selin Yılmaz and Arda Kaya would like you with them on the day they marry.
We're hosting our own wedding, and we'd love you to be one of our guests.
Selin and Arda are getting married and saving a seat for you.
Divorced parents
Ayşe Demir and Murat Yılmaz would be glad to see you on the day their daughter Selin marries Arda Kaya.
Ayşe Demir, and Murat and Nur Yılmaz, ask you to join them as Selin marries Arda Kaya.
Selin's mother Ayşe Demir and her father Murat Yılmaz hope you'll be there when she marries Arda.
Remembering a parent
Ayşe Yılmaz and the late Murat Yılmaz would have loved to see their daughter Selin marry Arda Kaya. Please join us.
Selin, daughter of Ayşe Yılmaz and the late Murat Yılmaz, and Arda Kaya would like you at their wedding.
Ayşe Yılmaz asks you to share the day her daughter Selin marries Arda, with her late husband Murat in our thoughts.
A short line at the foot of the invitation
Dad, you're in every part of this day.
Without parents' names
Selin and Arda are getting married and hope you can come.
Please come and see Selin and Arda say yes to each other.
Selin Yılmaz and Arda Kaya are marrying in June. Your company would make the day.
Line above the names
Short line above the names
Our families invite you
Short line above the names
With our parents beside us
Who counts as the host
Traditionally the host was whoever paid. Today most families split the cost, so think of the host as the people whose names you want guests to read first. If one set of parents is carrying most of the day, naming them is a thank-you as much as a rule. If everyone chipped in, a shared line such as "together with their families" keeps it simple.
Order of names
- Hosts first, then the couple
- When both families host, either family can go first, many couples lead with the bride's side
- Married parents can share a line, divorced parents get a line each
- A step-parent sits on the same line as the parent they're married to
- Use full names for formal wording, first names for everything else
Divorced or separated parents
Give each parent their own line and never join them with "and", which reads as if they're still a couple. If a parent has remarried and the new partner is helping to host, add them beside that parent. When relations are tense, leaving every parent's name out and opening with the couple avoids a seating chart of feelings on the very first card.
Remembering a parent who has died
A parent who has died can't host, so the living parent issues the invitation and the late parent is named alongside with "the late". Another option is to keep the invitation itself about the wedding and remember them in the closing line, where it feels like a tribute rather than a formality.
Where parents' names go on a digital invitation
On a Digitally Invite invitation, the couple's names have their own fields. There's no separate field for parents, so their names go in the short note to guests or in the line above your names, written out the way you want them read. The wording generator can draft the family line for you if you'd rather start from a template.
Frequently asked questions
Do parents' names have to be on a wedding invitation?
No. Many couples host their own wedding and leave parents off. Naming them is a courtesy when they're hosting or helping to pay.
Whose parents go first?
Tradition puts the bride's parents first, but either order works. Pick one and use it everywhere, on the invitation, the website and the programme.
How do I include a parent who has passed away?
Name the living parent as host and add "the late" before the other parent's name, or remember them in the closing line instead.
What does "together with their families" mean?
It tells guests the couple are hosting with help from both families, without listing every name.