You’re inviting married couples, non-married couples that live together, couples with children – how do you address your wedding invitations? Here are all the ways!
You can’t wait to celebrate your wedding day with friends and family! But as you start putting everything together, you may start to wonder – how do you address your wedding invitations? Here’s the proper etiquette for nearly any guest on your list.
1. Married Couples
If your invitation is more formal or traditional, heterosexual married couples should be addressed by the husband’s title and name on one line:
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
If your invitations or more informal or casual, you can list both the wife and husband’s first names:
Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith
If a wife has chosen to keep her maiden name, envelopes should be addressed with the following format:
Mr. John Smith and Ms. Jane Johnson
The same format can be used if a wife has chosen to hyphenate her name:
Mr. John Smith and Ms. Jane Johnson-Smith
For same-sex couples, use one line and list names in alphabetical order by last name:
Mr. James Matthews and Mr. Peter Richards
or
Mrs. Sarah Goldberg and Mrs. Melanie Steele
For same-sex couples who have taken one name or chosen to hyphenate their name, one of the following formats can be used:
Mr. Adam Phillips-Green and Mr. Christopher Philips-Green
or
The Messrs. Adam and Christopher Phillips-Green
or
Mrs. Brittany Jones and Mrs. Claire Jones
or
The Mesdames Brittany and Claire Jones
If you’re unsure how a married coupled would like to be addressed, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for their preference.
2. Married couples with titles
If a husband has a title and a wife does not, use one of the following formats:
Doctor and Mrs. John Smith
If a wife has a title and the husband does not, list the wife’s name first:
Doctor Jane Smith and Mr. John Smith
If both the wife and the husband have the same title, list them together:
The Doctors Smith
For a same-sex couple, list the husband or wife with the title first:
Doctor Claire Jones and Mrs. Brittany Jones
For a same-sex couple where both have titles, use the following formats:
The Doctors Phillips-Green
or
Doctor Sarah Goldberg and Doctor Melanie Steele
Again, if you’re unsure how a couple would like to be addressed, it never hurts to ask!
3. Families
If you’re inviting all members of a household and your invitations are more casual, you can list the family name:
The Smith Family
If you’re invitations are more traditional and you’re inviting a family with children under 18, list the married couple on one line and their children on the second:
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
Maxwell and Kaitlin
Or
Mr. John Smith and Ms. Jane Johnson
Maxwell and Kaitlin
Children over the age of 18 get their own invitation, even if they live in the same household.
4. Non-married couples
Non-married couples are listed on two separate lines:
Mr. Michael Thompson
Ms. Hannah Gaines
or
Ms. Nadia Khan
Ms. Christina Nelson
5. Non-binary and trans guests
Typically, the title for a non-binary or gender-fluid guest is Mx:
Mx. Cory Holloway
Mx. can also be used if a guest is trans and Mx is their preference. However, you can choose to use the title that correlates with their preferred pronouns. ALWAYS list the name they identify with – never use a deadname.
Ms. Cory Holloway
or
Mr. Cory Holloway
If you are unsure how a non-binary or trans guest would like to be addressed, reach out and ask them.
6. Military Personnel
If a guest is unmarried, they are addressed by rank, first and last name, and service branch in the following format:
Colonel Steven Brown, U.S. Air Force
If a husband is in the military a wife is not, list in the following format:
Colonel and Mrs. Steven Brown
If a wife is in the military and a husband is not, list in the following format:
Colonel Felicia Brown and Mr. Steven Brown
If both a husband and wife are in the military, list them on separate lines with their title and branch:
Lieutenant Steven Brown, U.S. Army
Colonel Felicia Brown, U.S. Navy
For unmarried couples, list the service member and their branch on one line and their partner on the second:
Colonel Nancy Adams, U.S. Air Force
Mr. Joseph Walters
For married same-sex couples, the same formats as above are used:
Colonel Richard Crane and Mr. Paul Jackson
or
Lieutenant Amy Dennis and Mrs. Whitney Dennis
or
Sergeant Sherry Keller, U.S. Army
Lieutenant Andrea Langford, U.S. Army
7. A divorced guest
A divorced male-identifying guest would be addressed as he would if he was single:
Mr. Lawrence McMillan
If a male-identifying guest changed his name or hyphenated it during marriage, reach out and ask how they would now like to be addressed.
If a female-identifying guest has kept her married name, list Ms. (or other professional titles) followed by her first, maiden, and married last name:
Ms. Rebecca Peterman Williams
If a female-identifying guest has resumed use of her maiden name, address as you would if she were single:
Ms. Rebecca Peterman
8. A widowed guest
If your invitations are more traditional, address a widowed woman using her title and her husband’s first and last name:
Mrs. Andrew Crawford
If your invitations are more casual, use a widowed woman’s first and last name:
Mrs. Silvia Crawford
If your guest kept her maiden name during marriage, address her using her own first and last name:
Ms. Amanda Geller
9. A guest with a plus one
If you’re inviting a guest in a long term relationship, use their partner’s full name. If you’re not sure of their partner’s name, reach out and ask. If you are inviting a guest with a plus one of their choosing and you’re not aware of who they will invite, indicate it on their RSVP card (“Mr. Brian Martin and Guest”) and address their invitation only to the guest (“Mr. Brian Martin”)
