Titles on Invitations

00kim00 · February 2014

We're having an informal wedding, and we want our invites to reflect that so people know what to expect. It's outdoors, essentially camping, and for people who ask us what to wear the answer is basically "it's outdoors, in the evening, in the mountains, in May. Dress comfortably and be aware of the weather. Jeans and sweaters are perfectly fine."

My question is, as we address the envelopes on the invitations, do we have to use titles? It feels very odd to call my brothers "Mr. X" and also seems like it's giving an inaccurate representation of the formality of the wedding. If we're writing the envelopes to match the formality of the wedding, it seems like we shouldn't use titles. However, do we need to anyway for etiquette reasons?

CMGragain · February 2014

Your wedding invitation is a formal note, regardless of how formal your wedding is going to be. Are you wearing a traditional floor length wedding gown?
I generally say to use titles. It is good manners, and won't offend anyone. Not using proper titles may caused some raised eyebrows, especially from older guests.
I also advise brides to use traditional wording on their invitations. The informality can be shown by colorful designs on the paper. Informal wording is OK, but so many times it just doesn't do the job of telling people the necessary facts without being wordy or sentimental. Necessary fact are who, what, when, and where - not why or how.

KittyKaty20 · February 2014

CMGragain said:

Your wedding invitation is a formal note, regardless of how formal your wedding is going to be. Are you wearing a traditional floor length wedding gown?
I generally say to use titles. It is good manners, and won't offend anyone. Not using proper titles may caused some raised eyebrows, especially from older guests.
I also advise brides to use traditional wording on their invitations. The informality can be shown by colorful designs on the paper. Informal wording is OK, but so many times it just doesn't do the job of telling people the necessary facts without being wordy or sentimental. Necessary fact are who, what, when, and where - not why or how.

So glad to have this reminder. Our wedding is as formal as I dared go at an afternoon start/early evening end. But the addresses are all in calligraphy, and it looked so incorrect to say "Joe and Jane Smith" without using titles.