The number of wedding invitations often must conform to the size of the church or the house, and to the character of the wedding. If it is to be a large one, cards are usually sent as liberally as possible.
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Excerpt from the book: MOTHER’S’ REMEDIES
Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada.
By DR. T. J. RITTER PUBLISHED BY G.H. FOOTE PUB. CO. DETROIT MICH 1921
MANNERS AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS FOR OUR GREAT MIDDLE CLASS AS WELL AS OUR BEST SOCIETY
Correspondence, Cards and Introductions, Dress for Different Occasions, Weddings, Christenings, Funerals, Etc., Social Functions, Dinners, Luncheons. Gifts, “Showers,” Calls, and Hundreds of Other Essential Subjects so Vital to Culture and Refinement of Men, Women, School-Girls and Boys at Home and in Public. By MRS. ELIZABETH JOHNSTONE
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An invitation to the church may not invite to the reception at the house afterwards, which may necessarily be limited because of the size of the house or the means of the family.
No guest receiving cards for the church should let herself feel aggrieved because of failure to receive the other. Answers to invitations should invariably be sent; many omit this, not thinking it necessary, but why not?
Announcement cards are sent to everyone you know, or, more properly, to all those whom you wish to recognize socially. It is quite correct to send them to people you know but slightly. They are mailed immediately after the wedding.
They imply no obligation in the way of gift or reply. If an “at home” card is enclosed, calls are expected.
Correct Form.
Wedding invitations of course must be engraved. The following form is employed:
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Harmon
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Harriet
to
Mr. Harrison Richard Ames
on Thursday, the sixth of January,
at twelve o’clock.
Church of the Messiah.
If the wedding is at home, the street and number are given in place of the church.
If the bride has no mother, the invitations are issued in the name of the father; if no father, the mother’s name is used. If an orphan, invitations are issued in the name of the nearest of kin in the town where the wedding occurs. If a married sister and her husband issue, the words “their sister” are used. If a girl has a stepfather her own name is engraved in full.
Announcement cards follow the same rules as to who issues them, and are couched in these words:
Mr. and Mrs. Hughson Smith
announce the marriage of their sister
Bettina
to
Mr. James Rhodes Grayson,
on Monday, the tenth of January,
Nineteen hundred and ten,
at the Church of the Messiah,
in the City of Cleveland.
For a home wedding, this formula is correct:
My dear Mrs. Jennings:
My daughter Julia is to be married to Mr. George Bronson Holmes on Monday, the tenth of January, at twelve o’clock, and it will give Mr. Brush and myself much pleasure if you and Mr. Jennings will come.
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Graves Brush.
For informal church weddings, with small reception to follow, or for a simple home wedding, most people prefer to use the engraved cards, but personal notes may with perfect propriety take their place. For a home wedding, the above formula is correct.
The Bridegroom’s Family.
In inviting the bridegroom’s parents by note, the mother may write: “Will you and Mr. Holmes come to the quiet informal wedding of my daughter Julia and your son on Monday,” etc. Such invitations are written by the mother. Other members of the family are included by adding “you and Mr. Jennings and your daughter will come.” Written invitations may follow the form of the engraved, but for a small wedding at home, which will be of course more or less informal, the personal form seems more in keeping.
Other Items.
Formal wedding invitations and announcements are addressed, one to the head of the family, Mr. and Mrs. Jones; one to Miss Jones, or to The Misses Jones, if there are several daughters, and one to each young man of the family.
Note that the year is given in an announcement, but not in an invitation. Announcements are engraved on note-paper, as in the case of invitations.
A double wedding, which requires two ceremonies, also requires two sets of invitations and announcements.
It is quite correct for a girl who has been employed in an office to send an announcement of her marriage to her former employer, but if he is married, it must be addressed to “Mr. and Mrs.” So-and-So.
Do not abbreviate in writing notes of invitation, nor permit it on engraved invitations. Doctor, Judge, Reverend, are to be in full. Mr. before a man’s name is the only abbreviation permitted. The names of the month, day, year, and of the street or avenue are written out in full.
