How do I word a wedding invitation when we are already married?

Question

My husband and I had a small ceremony and not all of our friends and family could be there. Now, on our two year anniversary, we are having a renewal of vows and reception so we can get everyone together to celebrate. We would also like to include both of our sets of parents on the invitation, but my parents are the ones hosting the event. Just to make things a little more complicated, our last name is not the same as either of our parents'. What should I write?

Answer 1

Check at theknot.com (one word)
It is great for advice on weddings & renewal of vows.

Mr & Mrs. blah blah(your parent's names) request your presence at the renewal of the vows of our daughter, your name and her husband, his name, son of , Mr. & Mrs blah blah on the date at the time.

The person hosting is always 1st since they are paying & thus giving the event (paying & hosting). Be sure your name includes you married name , so people know you are already married. It also solves the different last names problem. His parents names are like on some wedding invitations - for information only.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How do I word a wedding invitation when we are already married?
My husband and I had a small ceremony and not all of our friends and family could be there. Now, on our two year anniversary, we are having a renewal of vows and reception so we can get everyone together to celebrate. We would also like to include both of our sets of parents on the invitation,...

Answer 3

Married people do not have weddings. Vow renewals are not necessary-- your vows are for life, even if it was a simpler wedding that you had.

Just issue invitations to an Anniversary Banquet, hosted by your parents, and in honor of you and hubby (as his parents are not hosts, there is no place for them on the invitation-- it's not a family tree or pedigree-- it's a social invitation).

When people arrive at the event, then you can have your brief vow renewal as part of the festivities if you really want to. But don't make the pretense like this is a wedding invitation or wedding ceremony. It is tacky to "re-do" your wedding.

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Wifesparents
request the pleasure of your company
at an Anniversary Banquet
in honor of their daughter and son-in-law
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Alreadymarried
etc

Answer 4

my husband and i were married in the philippines where i came from and weren't able to have a reception in his hometown (hawaii) due to the fact that my visa wasn't ready sometime after the wedding. so right now we are planning to have a reception in hawaii on july. we will not be having a renewal of vows though... as it has only been a year since we got married =)

here's what i used on my own invites:

Mr. and Mrs. X and Y Zee
Mr. and Mrs. A and B Cee

invite you to share with them
as they celebrate the marriage of their children

L and M

date
time
venue

it's an informal event which is why my invitation is worded like that. however, i wanted to emphasize that we are married by using the term "celebration of marriage." i just made that up so i'm not sure if it's standard.

uhm... for your case, maybe you want to put your parents names first since they are hosting. my husband's parents names are up before mine coz they are hosting... contrary to the custom of putting the bride's parents first. for your names though, you could do what i did, go with the husband's name before yours to signify your married state and then have your last name on there. like:

Mr and Mrs Bill and Hillary Clinton
together with Mr and Mrs George and Laura Bush

invite you to share with them
as they celebrate the marriage of their children

Jack and Jill Hill

anyway, hope i didn't make it more confusing to you... =)

Answer 5

I am sort of just winging it, but here goes:

Julia and Michael
would like the favor of your company
on May 17th, 2007,
as they renew their wedding vows
on the second anniversary of their wedding.

The ceremony will take place at 2:00 in the afternoon
at the home of Barbara and Denis Tolman,
261 East Lark Avenue,
Morrisville.

Okay, all of the above would be center justified, meaning centered on the invitation. Then, the following two paragraphs would be added at the bottom, with the first being left justified, and the other being right justified, so they are facing one another.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Jenkins
are the proud parents of
Julia.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Alden
are the proud parents of
Michael.


Or, I guess you could go with the more traditional form, and just change it to suit your needs. I imagine it would look something like this:

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Jenkins
request the pleasure of your company
as their daughter
Julia Marie Christensen
renews her vows of fidelity and love
with her husband
Michael Craig Christensen,
son of
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Alden.

The ceremony will take place....(you get the picture).

I would imagine that either of those would work. I have seen invitations to renewal of vows ceremonies, but they were anything but formal, so my suggestions are really just that--imagined suggestions.

Hope those ideas help.

Congratulations on your vow renewal! We are waiting three more years, for our 20th anniversary, to do ours!

Answer 6

Well, a renewal of vows isn't another wedding, so you don't need formal invitations at all. A renewal of vows is just a simple blessing or ceremony for close family and friends, sometimes followed by dinner at your home. So you don't need to worry about how to word invitations at all, since it is NOT another wedding. Your marriage ceremony was what it was at the time, regardless of the circumstances.

Answer 7

Phrase it more in terms of a celebration of renewal of vows, rather than calling it a "wedding invitation." The way you actually word it will depend on how formal the event is.

Answer 8

Suzy and Jimmy Smith would like to invite you to their renewal ceramony, Hosted by Rob and Mary Jones and honered guests Mike and Lora Black.

Answer 9

Mr and Mrs InsertLastNameHere invite you to join them as they renew their vows to one another...and then insert date, time, place and all that...keep it simple, it doesnt have to be anything as formal as your wedding invites unless you want it to be.

Answer 10

It is actually bad manners to have a "re-run ceremony."

Check these 2 Miss Manners articles:

http://www.unitedfeatures.com/ufsapp/viewFeatureSample.do?featureId=21&sampleId=1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A45233-2004Jan24¬Found=true

Just have an Anniversary Celebration and be done with it. There is no need to renew vows-- your original vows last a lifetime.