Addressing invite to teenage cousins

ljsquintz

I am addressing an invitation to FI's aunt, uncle and two college-age cousins.  I was planning to send one invite to "The ____ Family" since the two kids are away at college.  They are not getting a date option.  Do you think it is clear that the 4 of them are invited, and without dates for the kids?  Is this right thing to write?

rsanna

Are the two cousins over 18?  If they are, they should really get their own invitations and if they have a SO, he or she should be invited as well.  I have heard some stories of people not realizing they are invited because they were included on their parent's invitatio instead of receiving their own.

maribeth721

If they are in college it sounds like they are adult-children which would mean they should get a separate invitation. If you don't want them to bring a guest dont add "and guest" onto their invites, just address it to them.

wrigleyville

"Family" can be a bit ambiguous. I would send the cousins their own invitation since they are over the age of 18. That leaves no room for confusion.

If the cousins are in relationships, their SOs must be invited. If they are truly single, then you can invite them solo.

ljsquintz

This is very helpful, thanks ladies!

andra loves andre

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_addressing-invite-to-teenage-cousins?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:211e05ec-eb15-4ae3-ac2c-7c60cd444edfPost:bdba608f-870d-493f-8310-0dddfeda056c">Re: Addressing invite to teenage cousins</a>:
[QUOTE]Are the two cousins over 18?  If they are, they should really get their own invitations and if they have a SO, he or she should be invited as well.  I have heard some stories of people not realizing they are invited because they were included on their parent's invitatio instead of receiving their own.
Posted by rsanna[/QUOTE]

<div>I second this, as it happened to me. My parents got an invite that said "The X family", but I was no longer living with them at that point. My parents went to the wedding, and they had 3 seats at the table, not 2 just for my parents! Apparently they thought that I was also coming. I was already with fh at that time, so if I were to have been invited alone, I would not have attended. BUT I would have RSVPd no, which I didn't get the chance to do since I wasn't invited.</div><div>
</div><div>From what I know, writing "The X family" isn't the way to go, you should write "Mr and Mrs X" on the outer envelope, and then on the inner, write "husband'ss first name, wife's first name, kid 1, kid 2. That way it's clear that they're invited.</div><div>
</div><div>If they have a date though, and the date wasn't invited, then I wouldn't be surprised if they don't come. Technically they should receive their own invites, with a guest option (they might be in a relationship, after all... do you happen to know if they are or aren't?).</div><div>
</div><div>Good luck!</div>