What to Include in a Wedding Invitation: 18-Point Checklist

What to include in a wedding invitation comes down to eight essentials: who is hosting, your names, the request line, the day and date, the time, the ceremony venue, the reception and a reply-by date. Ten more details, from dress code and children to parking, hotels and gifts, go on insert cards or in their own sections rather than crowding the cover.

Below: each detail with its rule and an example, what to leave out, one invitation written out in full and a checklist to print. For the bigger picture, start with our guide to digital wedding invitations.

What to include in a wedding invitation: 18 details in order

A complete wedding invitation answers who, what, when, where and how to reply on its cover, then answers every follow-up question somewhere guests can find it without messaging you.

The eight essentials: what should be on a wedding invitation

These eight lines belong on every wedding invitation, paper or digital, and fit on one card or one screen.

1. Who is hosting

The first line names whoever is inviting: traditionally the people paying, now often the couple themselves or "Together with their families". Our wedding invitation wording examples cover every arrangement, including divorced and late parents.

2. Your names

Use full names on a formal invitation and the names guests know you by on a casual one. When the couple hosts, the names lead into the request: "Giulia Ricci and Edmund Hale invite you…". When the bride's parents host, the request line comes first and she appears by first and middle names only.

3. The request line

"Request the honour of your presence" is for a ceremony in a house of worship; "request the pleasure of your company" is for every other venue. Modern invitations simply "invite you to celebrate their marriage".

4. Day and date

Give the weekday, the date and the year. Formal: "Saturday, the twenty-second of May, two thousand twenty-seven". Modern: "Saturday, May 22, 2027". Check the weekday against a calendar.

5. Time

Print the time the ceremony starts, not an earlier time to hurry guests along. Formal: "at four o'clock". Modern: "4 p.m." For a destination wedding, give the time at the venue.

6. Ceremony venue and address

Name the venue, then the city and state (or region and country), spelled in full: "The Orangery at Villa Corsellini, Lucca, Tuscany". On formal paper the street address goes on a separate card; on a digital invitation it sits behind a map that opens in one tap.

7. Reception

Yes, put the reception on the invitation: one line if it follows at the same place, the venue's name if it moves. "Dinner and dancing to follow", or "Reception at The Glasshouse, Hudson, immediately following".

8. Reply-by date

Set the reply-by date about four weeks before the wedding and write it as a deadline: "Kindly reply by the first of April". Skip "Please RSVP", since the s'il vous plaît is already inside RSVP. Our timeline for when to send wedding invitations works the date out backward from the day.

The ten wedding invitation details guests ask for next

The other ten details answer what guests would otherwise message you about: what to wear, who is invited, how to get there and where to sleep.

9. Dress code

Name it in one to three words, and add a sentence only if the venue changes what that means: "Garden formal: the paths are gravel, so choose broad heels." On a formal paper invitation, a short code such as "Black tie" may sit in the lower right corner; anything longer goes on the details card. Our dress code wording guide explains each term.

10. Children and plus-ones

Who is invited is said by the names you address, not by the cover. On paper, the envelope names each guest and the reply card says "We have reserved two seats in your honor". Digitally, a personal link does the same: Veiloria's guest list manager greets each guest by name and allows +0 to +3 (included on Premium and Bespoke, $65 on Essential, or the equivalent in your currency). To say no children kindly, see our adults-only wedding invitation wording.

11. The program

List each moment with its time and place, so guests know when to eat, when to change shoes and when the last shuttle leaves. "4:00 Ceremony in the Iron Glasshouse · 7:30 Dinner under the glass · 9:45 First dance".

12. Map and directions

Give the street address with its postal code, a map link and one landmark for the last turn. Note steps and gravel for older guests. For guests flying in, our guide to destination wedding invitations covers airports and travel.

13. Parking and transport

Say where to park, when any shuttle leaves and when it comes back. If taxis are scarce after midnight, say so.

14. Where to stay

Name the hotel, the distance, the booking code and the date the room block closes. "Mention our names before April 1 for the garden rate."

15. Gifts

Keep registry details off the invitation itself. The Emily Post Institute advises leaving gift information off the invitation and its enclosures and sharing it by word of mouth and on your wedding website. On a digital invitation, an optional gifts section plays the website's role: one warm line and a link. For funds and cash, see our cash gift wording examples.

16. Dietary needs and song requests (in the RSVP)

Dietary needs and song requests are questions, not information, so they go in the reply, asked per person. A Veiloria RSVP asks these by default, and you choose which stay. Our wedding RSVP questions have the exact phrasing.

17. Who to contact with questions

Name one person who isn't you, with a phone number or WhatsApp: a planner, a sibling or the maid of honor, as long as they've agreed.

18. Languages

If your guests read different languages, every line above has to exist in each one. On a Veiloria invitation each guest reads it in their own language automatically: two languages on Essential, up to three on Premium, as many as you need on Bespoke.

What not to put on a wedding invitation

Leave out anything that asks for something, will change, or only a few guests need.

• Registry links and "cash only" on the invitation itself.
• "No children" or "No plus-ones" on the cover: the names and the reply do that.
• Your website address on the main card. It belongs on the details card; our post on wedding website vs invitation explains when you need both.
• The menu, the seating chart and the wedding party. They change, and they belong on the day.
• Abbreviations on formal cards, except Mr., Mrs. and Dr.

Paper vs digital invitations: where each detail goes

The checklist is the same on paper and on screen; what changes is where each detail lives and whether you can correct it later.

On paper: insert cards

A printed suite splits the 18 across cards: the invitation, a reply card with its stamped envelope, and reception, details, accommodation and map cards as needed.

On a digital invitation: sections guests tap

What to include in a digital wedding invitation is the same list: the cover carries the eight essentials and every other detail becomes a section. On every Veiloria plan they are your sections, in your order, updated free on the same link until the day (see what's inside an invitation).

Beyond the 18 details, a digital invitation has room for what a paper card rarely holds: your photographs and a few lines of your story. Our guides to a wedding invitation with photos (which, where and how many) and to writing your love story help with both.

The Orangerie demo carries most of the 18 as sections, from program and map to stays and the RSVP. Wipe the fogged glass to open it.

A wedding invitation example, line by line

Here is one invitation written out in full from the details of Orangerie's demo couple, Giulia and Edmund, with surnames and a contact added, each line numbered to the checklist.

Lines 1 to 8 fit on one card or one screen. Everything below them waits in a section until a guest needs it.

Printable wedding invitation checklist

Before anything is printed or sent, check each line.

1. Hosts: the first line says who is inviting.
2. Names: spelled in full, in the order you chose.
3. Request line: "honour" for a house of worship, "pleasure" elsewhere.
4. Date: weekday, date and year agree with a calendar.
5. Time: the real start time, at the venue.
6. Venue: name, city and state in full.
7. Reception: one line or its own card.
8. Reply-by: about four weeks before the day.
9. Dress code: one to three words.
10. Children and plus-ones: said by names and seats.
11. Program: every moment with a time and place.
12. Map: postal code, link, landmark, accessibility.
13. Transport: parking, shuttle out and back.
14. Stays: hotel, distance, code, cut-off date.
15. Gifts: off the cover.
16. RSVP: name, attendance and dietary needs per person.
17. Contact: one person who isn't you.
18. Languages: every line in every language.

Then ask someone else to check every date and name.

Sources

• Emily Post Institute, Wedding registry etiquette (read in the Internet Archive copy of August 25, 2026; checked October 19, 2026).

Frequently asked questions