Wedding announcements are an important piece of stationery

Wedding announcements are often misunderstood. While they can definitely be used for such a reason, wedding announcements are not solely for couples who may have eloped and now want to get gifts from all of their loved ones in some sort of greedy mass mailing. In fact, that is one of the last times wedding announcements should be used. Traditionally, wedding announcements are used for those couples who, for whatever reason, had a smaller ceremony or reception than their circle of loved ones numbers, but still want to include their relatives in their happiness.

Wedding announcements are often formatted in much the same manner as other wedding stationery, so the wording for wedding announcements is very similar to that of wedding invitations. For instance, if your parents footed the bill for your marriage, your wedding announcements would read “Mr. and Mrs. James P. Anderson wish to announce the happy union of their daughter Janet to…” If, instead, you and your fiancé were responsible for financing your celebration, your wedding announcements would read simply “Mr. and Mrs. Jason T. Kilborne wish to announce their happy union on September 8, 2003.”

Wedding announcements definitely do not have to be formal. Instead, they should stick with whatever tone you wish to convey to your loved ones. If they know you as fun-loving and impulsive, then your wedding announcements and the wording can be a little more casual. If, instead, you have already had a reception and are including more formal wedding announcements for an extended group you couldn’t attend, then stick with something elegant and simple.