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Mr. Guinea Pig and I have been working on the wording for our invitations, and surprisingly, it has been a bit of a struggle! Our invitations have a floral design on them but they’re not overly formal, and we’re having trouble finding a balance with the formality of the wording.
Our invitation designer recently sent us several options to choose from but Mr. GP and I gravitate towards different ones. Here are a few of the options we saw:
1) Dad and Mom Guinea Pig request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter…
2) … joyfully invite you to share in the marriage of their daughter…
3) … invite you to share in the celebration of the marriage of their daughter…
4) … invite you to share in the joy of the marriage of their daughter…
So, Mr. Guinea Pig likes #1 (I, for some reason, have a completely baseless aversion to saying it this way), and I like #3, but I don’t like all the ’of’s. #2 sounds like I’m asking people to share my marriage! I’ve been trying to find other options for this type of wording (i.e. my parents doing the inviting), and it turns out, there aren’t as many choices as I would have thought. Some other ones I’ve found are:
5) … invite you to share and celebrate the marriage of their daughter…
6) … invite you to share their happiness at the marriage of their daughter…
7) … would be delighted for you to attend the marriage of their daughter…
I think #5 could be a good way to get around the ’of’ problem in #3, but secretly I really like an option that isn’t on this list…
?) Dad and Mom Guinea Pig request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their daughter…
The reason it’s not on this list? We’re not getting married in a church, so according to etiquette, we are not allowed to use this! But it is an honor! Nature can be just as spiritual as a church, so you can still be honored to attend, right?! {Sigh} Unfortunately I fear that this may be too formal to convince Mr. Guinea Pig, but I will certainly try…
Did you have trouble deciding how you wanted to invite your guests? Should I buck tradition/etiquette and use the ’hono(u)r of your presence’?
ummmmm who cares what what the rules are?? I have never heard you can only say “honor” for church and I doubt many people even know that. Go with what you like.
@Miss Burgundy: Teeechnically, according to strict etiquette I think it’s only supposed to be used if you’re having your wedding ceremony in a church (which we are not).
@CorgiTales: Ha- I certainly don’t care! Some people do, though
Use “honor”! What’s that rule based in, anyway? And who came up with it? Break it!
Screw that, I used “honor of your presence” and our ceremony is outdoors, too. Rules, Schmules. Whatev.
i think you’ve come up with some great options (i think i’m going to use something similar to #5), but if you want to use “honor” then go for it! i do have to admit, though, i also shied away from “honor” because of the old school rules. but you can be revolutionary!
You could always write “honor of your presence” with an asterisk, and them at the bottom clarify “and if you have a problem with our wording, shove it!” That’s polite enough for a wedding invitation, don’t ya think? No curse words 
LOL
@Miss Rainbow, Ms Potato Chips: Yeah, I totally broke the rule and went ahead and used it 
I thought it would be tough to convince Mr. GP, but he was like - uh, that sounds fine. Yes!
@Miss Rainbow: Ha! I should totally hand-write that asterisk on the invitations of the people who will actually care!
I have never been to a wedding that I was not honored to attend. I am aware of etiquette dictating that “honor” only be used with a church wedding, and I think it’s silly. Etiquette also dictates that a woman’s title of “Doctor” is negotiable, whereas with a man, it must be used. This is also crap. Use “hono(u)r” if you want to.
I havent heard the etiquette that you cant use option 8 if you arent marrying in a church…I seriously doubt anyone would even think of that. If that is the wording you like, use it! I sued “five oclcok in the evening” even though tradition states that 5 is still afternoon…nobody noticed
I say use “honor” but dont spell it “honour”. We did “requests the pleasure of your company”. Our wedding was semi-formal but the ceremony was outside on deck overlooking a harbor.
I said “invite you to share in the love” because our ceremony is so hippy-dippy. I don’t think I ever saw it on any etiquette sites, but whatevs. I think some of these nitpicky things you should just do what sounds right to you.
@naangel55: The only reason I considered honour (with a ‘u’) is because my parents are Canadian and that’s actually how they spell it. But since most of our guests (and Mr. GP and I) are American, I decided it sounded too snooty! Somehow that added ‘u’ makes it sound so much more formal!
… invite you to celebrate the marriage of their daughter…
I like honor! Without the “u” because that seems less formal than honour.
if you want to use “honor” go ahead and use it! there are no etiquette police going over every invite to make sure things are used “properly.” so relax and extend the honor to everyone
We will be using #3, just minus the “in” before the celebration.
Something like B’s parents and G’s parents invite you share the celbration of the union blah blah blah…..
But if you like the honor one, then screw etiquette! I don’t think that most people will care about etiquette anymore for such a small detail.
What about “request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter…”
It IS an honor, regardless of where the wedding is held. Forge your own path It’s your wedding.
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Mrs. Guinea Pig, Baltimore, MD Age and Occupation: 26, PhD student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Operations Director at a non-profit Engagement Date: December 25, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2010 Venue: The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club About Me: I'm a tomboy science nerd whose girly side has made a startling appearance thanks to wedding planning! I love to bake, knit and sew but I also ride a motorcycle (that Mr. Guinea Pig wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole). We live with our three crazy cats and love to read, travel, watch movies, and do home improvement projects together! My parents/family are Canadian but I'm definitely American, although I've lived in 5 different countries, 6 different states, and speak Russian fluently. Mr. GP and I met online (did I mention I'm a scientist?) and had a whirlwind romance - now we can't wait to get married & celebrate with all our friends and family in a blue and yellow waterfront affair!
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