Wedding Invitation Wording

Once the style of the invitation has been chosen, there is still the matter of what to say on the invitations and how to word it.

Below is a guide that applies to both your Traditional and White Wedding.

Who's hosting the wedding

With both families involved in paying for and hosting the White Wedding, the invitations are worded with the names of both families. When it comes to the Traditional Wedding, the Bride’s family who host would be named on the invitation.

The request to come to the wedding

Traditional and religious ceremonies call for formal wording e.g. ‘request the pleasure of your company…’.

The names of the couple

Usually, the bride’s name comes before the groom’s. The location of the wedding Formal invitations tend to list the entire address, including postcode.

The date and times

Stick to standard time and date formatting for a traditional feel or be a little more creative by writing out your dates in full, e.g. First of August Two Thousand and Eighteen.

Reception information

Let your guests know where the reception will be held and what time they can expect it to finish.

RSVP details

You can include instructions on how and when to RSVP at the bottom of your invitation, your info card or a separate RSVP card. Keep the RSVP cut-off of 4 weeks before the wedding.

African Fairytale wedding

This wedding was spectacular, to say the least, and went viral afterwards and was especially a hit on Instagram!

We joined the couple in planning 8 months before the wedding and from the very beginning, I knew how special this wedding would be. We worked with Jane and Azeez to create personal touches that incorporated both cultures and honoured both the Rwandese and Nigerian guests in attendance.

The day started at the Savoy Hotel where the bridal party prepped their hair and make up with the Deborah Lola and Edith Williams team in the Bride’s Suite, before heading downstairs to the Abraham Lincoln suite for the ceremony. For the Muslim Nikah ceremony and vows, we envisaged a floral canopy being the backdrop and a great compliment to the art deco in the room. We enlisted one of London’s top floral company’s Kuy and Co florals to decorate, and the room was breathtaking, to say the least! The intimate ceremony was followed by a reception in the adjoining Manhattan room where guests drank champagne and sampled the Savoy Hotels finest Canapés & a selection of oriental and eastern dishes with Michelin star service.

For the 500 guests invited for the evening’s reception, we headed to North London’s largest venue- Meridian Grand.

The wedding was themed “fairytale” and for that our friends Enchanted by Syma created a bespoke set and stage along with a dance floor and walkway which adorned large florals and fairytale creatures. The set included features such as two water fountains, over 50 tables adorned with beautiful floral arrangements and one of our biggest set designs to date. No detail was left to chance to make sure that each guest was well looked after no matter where they sat in the ballroom.

Guests were ushered to their seats to the sounds of DJ Neptizzle before the reception began. one of the things we worked on during planning was an evening program which involved both families and reflected the couple's personalities. Our MC Eddie Kadi guided the evening effortlessly from the entrances and entertainment such as games before taking us through an evening of entertainment that saw Ballerina’s, London’s leading Rwandese dancers and special performances by Nigeria’s top Musicians King Wasiu Ayinde & Davido.

Congo Meets Ghana

On first meeting with Stephanie at Claridge’s hotel for our consultation, I knew instantly we would be a fit! Straight away, it was clear this multi-cultural celebration spanning two continents was about to be spectacular! The Bride from Ghana and Groom from Congo had great plans for a bilingual wedding that celebrated both cultures in the heart of Central London.

From the traditional wedding we were fortunate to be able to familiarise ourselves with the families so when it came to the big wedding on July 20th 2019, it was like seeing old friends again!

PLANNING

The planning phase is always exciting me; I love everything about wedding design and planning and how we take a blank canvas, infuse the couples’ taste and needs to produce a wedding that truly reflects them. We always start with a moodboard and look at wedding branding such as the logo, colour schemes and overall feel before instructing our carefully selected suppliers to help us bring the vision to life.

London’s most Central Venue Northumberland Avenue was the chosen venue for its grand ballroom, various rooms available and late finish time of 2am!

The guest experience is always at the forefront in all planning and decision making, I always look to how each guest will be guided through the day from the initial invitation ( we had beautiful acrylic Bilingual invitations created) to the actual day being guided to church, the reception and their onward journey.

The Grooms family came from Belgium, France and Congo so we hired 4 coaches to transport them through the various locations for the day and take out the hassle of finding their own way. Each coach had a bilingual hostess on board who was the point of contact and assisted with any queries. (They came really handy when a coach dropped off guests at the top of a road and told guests to walk 10 minutes up the road at the wrong location!) Needless to say, all guests arrived safe and sound, well hydrated and on time at each of the locations.

THE BIG DAY

We started the day at Bride’s apartment for hair by the talented Kirby of Platinum Tresses and celebrity make-up artist Alexandrina of Alexiglam who glammed up our Bride and Bridesmaids ready for the day. Prep was followed by a photo and video shoot that captured a beautiful gift from the Groom to his Bride on their wedding day.

In the heart of central London, the Groom too prepped with his groomsmen ahead of their morning photoshoot with Zapfoto before heading to the church service in Hampstead.

Following the service and mini reception in the grounds of Hampstead free Church, cars arrived in 5 minute intervals to transport guests to the reception where they were greeted by the EBP hostess team, while the Bridal party were whisked off to Mayfair for a Royal photoshoot and dress change for our bride at the Ritz Hotel.

At the reception, the guest experience began in the Annex which held cocktail hour with food from Favour Catering (who wowed us with Traditional delecacies the whole evening), the bespoke photo area and had live jazz & soul music. This room was relaxed and warm with food circulating and drinks flowing before guests were ushered by their hostess upstairs to take their place at one of the 150 place settings each with a handwritten place card with their name (so many compliments and many took them home)

The reception was magical! Everything from the place settings, tablescapping and entertainment was planned with the guest experience at the forefront. The uber talented team at Enchanted By Syma created the dream reception for our couple which included hues of blush, ivory and white peonies, roses and hydrangeas with foliage. One of my favourite aspects of the reception setting was the half-moon gold and white tables that added and extra special touch to the floor plan. A combination of candlelight and gobo lighting was used to set the romantic scene throughout.

This wedding reception was beautiful in not only the look but in the moments created for both the couple and the guests. We were guided through the love story of the couple with moving speeches, (Stephanie surprised her groom and new family with a speech in French) there was ample entertainment in the form of a Congolese Live band, Ghanaian dancers and DJ set to end the party!