Wedding Invitations

What do you need to know about wedding planning or even just weddings in general?  Turn to a wedding etiquette expert.  You see, one wonderfully handy thing about wedding etiquette is that it makes it very easy to find information about every detail of a wedding, from the very largest to the very smallest detail.  No matter what, the odds are good that you’ll find that wedding etiquette has an opinion on the matter.

Here’s some good examples.  Maybe you didn’t realize it but there’s etiquette regarding the wedding and the engagement ring.  Etiquette says that the wedding band must not be put above the engagement ring.  The wedding band is worn at the base of the finger with the engagement ring (if any) immediately following, as if to stand guard.  On her wedding day a bride either leaves her engagement ring at home when she goes to the church or she wears it on her right hand.   She should switch it back to her left hand following the ceremony.

Need another example?  How about seating in the church?  Members of the two families and a few most interested friends are seated in the front reserved pews.  All of the other guests are seated according to the general rule of first come first served.   It would be most helpful to have someone in the vestibule to identify family members and point these out to the ushers so that the proper seating is achieved.  The groom’s mother is escorted up the aisle on the arm of an usher, usually the head usher,with the groom’s father following behind.  They are seated in the second pew on the right. The first pew remains empty.  The bride’s mother is then escorted to her seat. (second pew on the left).  No person should be seated after the entrance of the mother of the bride. So you can see, while some might think wedding etiquette is outdated, the truth is that it’s a helpful guide for many brides today.

Here’s a little riddle for you: how is your wedding ceremony like a movie theatre? Don’t spend all day racking your brains trying to come up with the answer, we’ll tell you right now. The way that your wedding ceremony and movie theatres are the same is that both places need to remind guests to shut off their cell phones while there.

Believe it or not, it’s become quite usual for brides to have to print in their ceremony program a note about silencing cell phones. Some wedding venues even have it listed, front and center, in their event guidelines and regulations, to remind guests to silence or shut off cell phones. A gentle reminder in the program is the most ideal method to ensure no one’s raucous ring tones interrupt the quieter and more tender moments of the wedding. According to Emily Post, absolute wedding etiquette expert, it is also acceptable to have a little sign by the guest book at a ceremony. Mrs. Post notes that a verbal announcement (something like “The ceremony is about to begin; could everyone please make sure their cell phones are silenced?”) would be acceptable wedding etiquette, but the written reminders are more preferable.

The silencing of cell phones should not be limited to wedding guests, though. All too often, members of the wedding party neglect to shut off their phones, only to discover the error at a very inopportune moment in the ceremony, for instance, while in the middle of the vows! Many wedding venues or wedding coordinators are there to assist the wedding party just prior to the ceremony; you could ask them to be in charge of making sure the bridesmaids and groomsmen have silenced their phones.

Wedding Etiquette: what’s the difference between a wedding announcement and wedding invite?

My cousin is getting married later this year, and my sister and I cannot wait to go.

We first heard about this forthcoming blessed event via a wedding announcement. Then, a couple of months later as I recall, we received our formal wedding invitation.

The flow of this correspondence, in the order it came in, produced a question that just so happens, our wedding etiquette expert Debby answers:

The purpose of the wedding announcement is to let family and friends who were not invited know that the wedding took place. They are traditionally sent out by the parents the day after the wedding. They can be sent out up to a year afterwards but the sooner of course, the better.

They follow the same format and are usually printed on the same stock as the invitations but do not include the time or physical address of the wedding, just the day, year and name of location (i.e.: First Baptist Church, Rockville, Maryland).

The announcement usually begins with the parents names “have the honour of announcing” or “have the honour to announce.”

The wedding announcements can also be issued by the bride and groom in which case their names will appear on the first three lines then continue with simply “announce their marriage.” It would be presumptuous for them to include “have the honour” so that is not included if the announcements are from them. Also the word “joyfully” is not properly included as it is assumed that they are happy.

Wedding announcements are usually sent with “At-Home Cards” which are small enclosure cards on which their new address is given. These at-home-cards are not expected. They are just a nice and easy way to let people know your address. Wedding gifts are not expected upon receipt of a wedding announcement as they are upon receiving a wedding invitation.