Tuesday, July 29, 2008

To announce or not to announce, that is the question

My mother asked me a question. I think she's just trying to flatter me. Thank you for making my day! This one's for you.


A wedding announcement is to let people know (acquaintances, co-workers, far away friends, etc.) that you are getting married. This is not an invitation. Here are some guidelines for a wedding announcement:
  • Send invitations to those whom you wish to attend your wedding.
  • Send announcements to those whom you wish to know that you have gotten married (announcements are generally made a day or a few days after the wedding)
  • It is not acceptable to write "no gifts please" on the wedding announcement, however, the person who receives the announcement is not obligated to send a gift.
  • Wedding announcements may have the same paper as invitations, but they may also be on personal stationary, or you may make special cards to announce the marriage.
  • Always include the year on your announcement so that it's clear to the recipient when the couple was married.
  • Never send announcements and invitations to the same person.
Wording for a wedding announcement might be something like this:

Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth T. Magleby
have the honor of
announcing the marriage of their daughter
Jessica Lane Magleby
to
Mr. Richard Craig Peterson
Saturday, the second of August
two-thousand and eight
Boston, Massachusetts

OR

Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth T. Magleby
and
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Dayton Peterson
announce the marriage of
Jessica Lane Magleby
to
Richard Craig Peterson
Saturday, the second of August
two-thousand and eight
Boston, Massachusetts



At home cards: these are sometimes included in wedding invitations and announcements. *This is the answer to the question, "if I don't include cards for my bridal registry, how will they know where to reach me?"

They are generally printed to match the announcement and they are meant to let the person who receives the announcement the address where the couple will reside and the date after which they will be "at home". These cards may be worded like this:

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Peterson
will be at home (or "At Home"- if you prefer)
after the sixteenth of August
1234 Broadway St.
Boston, Massachusetts
(131) 555-1234

If the bride is keeping her own name, then you would say, "Jonathan Peterson and Jessica Magleby will be at home..."

I think announcements are a wonderful way to share the happy news with everyone who is not invited to the wedding. In many cases, the wedding is far away from one person's home, or both with destination weddings happening all the time. When in doubt, send an announcement.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

congrats to your brother and your family! xo

Anonymous said...

Very good etiquette tip. I actually never knew there was a difference between a wedding invitation and an announcement, much less that you're supposed to send them out separately. Thanks for sparing me the egg on face! :)

 
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