Wedding announcement - sample wording for your cards

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Wedding announcements are different from either engagement announcements or wedding invitations. They serve a particular purpose, which is announcing that your wedding has taken place and you are now a married couple. They are commonly sent to friends or relatives who live a long distance away and would not have attended the wedding. However, with the increase in couples choosing to marry abroad, there is often the situation where very few people are able to attend the wedding itself. The wedding announcement is the perfect way to shout your good news to all those who couldn’t join you on the actual day. You may be having a small wedding reception with a limited guest list, so consider sending announcement cards to colleagues, distant relatives or acquaintances you are unable to invite. However, there is no need to send a wedding announcement if you have already sent that person an invitation.

Traditionally, the bride’s parents send the announcement cards. That said, it is completely acceptable if the groom’s parents wish to send them, or if the couple would prefer the wedding announcements to be addressed from themselves. This is often the case with second marriages, or where the couple is funding their own wedding. A typical wedding announcement from the newlyweds should look thus:

Mr Lawrence James Fox

and

Miss Eleanor Rebecca Smith

announce their marriage

on Saturday, the ninth of July

two thousand and five

Chesterfield, Derbyshire

If the announcement had come from the parents, similar to wedding invitations, they should begin ‘Mr and Mrs Smith announce the marriage of their daughter, Elenaor Rebecca, to Mr Lawrence Fox’. There are a few variations, such as demonstrating emotion by adding ‘delighted to announce’, however in general these announcements are very standardised.

Wedding announcement cards are usually printed on the same paper as your invitations, and it is customary for them to be posted either on the day of your wedding, or the day after. Never send your announcement cards before your wedding day — not only is this considered bad luck if you are superstitious, but will also be received with confusion as the wording suggests that the marriage has already taken place.

Upon receipt of a wedding announcement card, it is courteous to send wishes of congratulations to the couple. If you are away on your honeymoon, these kind wishes can be directed to your parents' address. Announcement cards do not require a gift to be send, but this does not mean that some generous distant relative won’t take the initiative anyway!

Wedding announcements can also be used for a practical purpose; informing people that the bride has changed her name, or in some cases that the address of one or both the newlyweds has also changed.

© The Pink Fridge Online Magazine 2008

- Wedding Announcements