Providing a dress code for your guests is not only polite, but it also helps to set the mood for the event – not to mention reducing the stress on your guests.
Setting a dress code gives your guests more scope for choosing their outfits and avoids the extreme interpretations that may result.  Do you want somebody in a tuxedo standing next to the guy in a polo shirt in your wedding photographs?

Read more: Dress Codes

More and more often, couples are choosing to live together before commiting to marriage.  So, when it comes time for their wedding they don't need the traditional gifts of toasters and towels.

Today it is becoming more common for couples to request money rather than gifts, allowing the couple to spend the money on the bigger things such as a home, honeymoon, or any big item that they couldn't ask a single person to purchase for them.  Don't be deceived though, asking for money instead of a gift is still a minefield and can often be softened with a well considered poem or verse, rather than a bold directive.

Read more: Wishing Well

Once upon a time, couples lived at home before marriage and needed everything to set up their new life and home as a married couple.  Today, many couples have lived out of home and have most of the things they need – in fact, they often end up with double the ‘things’ when they move in with their husband/wife.

This makes gift giving rather difficult for wedding guests.  Thank goodness for Gift Registries! Not only do Gift Registries make life easy for the guests to select something they know the newlyweds would love, it also saves the newlyweds the trouble of having to return the unwanted and duplicate items to the store.

We have collected a range of verses to help you ask politely for the gifts of your own choice:

Store registry:

Honeymoon registry:

Selecting your wording is a personal thing.  The following wording suggestions are just a guide to help you to create the wording for your own invitations.  

Your invitations can be quite easily created using the following template:

1. Who is hosting
2. Requesting attendance
3. Your details
4. Ceremony details
5. The location
6. The Reception*
7. The RSVP*
8. Dress Code

1. Who is hosting (paying for) your wedding?

You and your fiancé

[Bride full name]
and
[Groom full name]
(Middle names are optional)

Bride’s parents

Formal:  
Mr and Mrs [Bride’s father’s first name] [Family surname]
Informal:
[Bride’s fathers first name] and [Bride’s mothers first name] [Surname]

Groom’s parents

Formal:
Mr and Mrs [Groom’s father’s first name] [Family surname]
Informal:
[Groom’s fathers first name] and [Groom’s mothers first name] [Surname]

Both Bride and Groom’s parents

Formal:
Mr and Mrs [Bride’s father’s name] [Family surname]
and/with
Mr and Mrs [Groom’s father’s name] [Family surname]
Informal:
[Bride’s father’s first name] and [Bride’s mother’s first name] [Surname]
along with [Groom’s father’s first name] and [Groom’s mother’s first name] [Surname]

Divorced parents

If the parents on either side of the family are divorced, separate the names of the divorced couple:

If you find the family scenario is way too difficult to put on paper, or if you families are unable to assist in the payment but you would still like to honour them, try this introduction:

Requesting attendance

Request the honour of your presence
At the marriage of...

Request the pleasure of your company
At the marriage of...

Would be delighted by your presence
At the wedding of...

Are proud to invite [guest name]

Would love for you to join us
at the wedding of our children

Would like to invite [guest name]
To join them in celebrating the wedding of

Your details

Formal:
[Bride first name] [Bride middle name]
to
Mr [Groom First Name] [Groom Middle Name] [Groom Surname]
Informal:
[Bride first name] [Bride surname]
to
[Groom first name] [Groom surname]

Ceremony details

Formal:
[Day], the [Extended date ie Tenth] of [Month]
[Extended Year ie two thousand and eleven ]
At [Extended time ie three o’clock]
Informal:
[Day], [Month] [Date], [Year]  eg. Monday, 12 January 2010
at [Time] eg. 3.00pm

The location

[Name of ceremony location] if applicable ie. Church name or venue name
[Ceremony address]
[Ceremony suburb/town]
[Melways reference] if applicable

*The Reception

Putting reception details on the invitation card can leave the card quite crowded.  If your reception is being held at another location, consider including a separate card.

*The RSVP

Refer to our RSVP section to find out about the different variations of wording for RSVPs.

Dress Code

Refer to our Dress Code section to find out about the different styles and what they mean.

*Sometimes Reception and RSVP details are set out on their own cards as part of the invitation suite.  If so, you don’t need to add it to the invitation text.

Timing

Traditionally, wedding invitations should be received at least six weeks prior to the wedding.  If you have guests travelling long distances, your invitations should be received up to 8-10 weeks in advance.  It's always nice to send out a Save the Date card if you know your guests will have to travel great distances to attend.

In addition to this, you will need to allow approximately 2 weeks for your invitation design to be completed and approved, as well as 3-4 weeks for your invitations to be created.  Refer to the Bumbleberry Ordering Process and Terms and Conditions for more information.

General Rules

• Spell out all Avenues, Roads, Streets, Boulevards, etc.
• Avoid nicknames.  Use the complete name of guest: i.e. Jessica, not Jess
• For formal invitations, write out numbers one to twenty; higher numbers write numerically