Invitation where child goes by middle name

lenergyrlah

I'm working on compiling my invitation addresses and I have a question.  My sister's 10-year-old son goes by his middle name (i.e. his name is John Michael Smith and he goes by Mike).  I'm having a formal wedding (not black tie) so I really want to use the correct wording so that the guests have an idea that it's a more formal event.  Which should I use?

Mr. and Mrs. Smith and John

Mr. and Mrs. Smith and J. Michael

Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Michael

MyUserName1

I'd go with J. Michael.

Because I'm paranoid that they would interpret "and family" to include 18 other people (:

Megbo2012

If it's formal I'd probably go with John Michael, since that is his full name and you are still acknowledging the nickname.

"And family" can lead to issues so I'm going to try and not write that on any invitations if I can avoid it.

annakb8

Mr. and Mrs. Firstname Middlename Smith
Master John Michael Smith

That's the proper, formal way to do it. We used everyone's legal names for invitations, although we might have used Mike on a STD or thank you card or something like that. Also, the kids go on a seperate line than the parents.

froggatt.clare

 "J. Michael" or "John Michael", but personally J.Michael.  Both my dad and my sister go by their middle names.

lbarr088

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_invitation-child-goes-middle-name?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a164f73a-968f-4dbc-aa34-d7cd7ff28829Post:4d8bdd49-9f34-43df-adc8-d7e4e3c358a0">Re: Invitation where child goes by middle name</a>:
[QUOTE]I'd go with J. Michael. Because I'm paranoid that they would interpret "and family" to include 18 other people (:
Posted by MyUserName1[/QUOTE]

<div>That would definitely happen with my family :)</div><div>
</div><div>I agree with the J. Michael.  FI goes by his middle name and some people don't even know that, that is his middle name.  I wonder what they will think when they see his first name on the STDs.... lol</div>

annakb8

Also, this is purely anecdotal, but my H also goes by a nickname of his middle name and he would find it weird if he got a wedding invitation addressed to "Mike Smith." For a birthday card it wouldn't be weird, but he expects formal mail to have his full legal name on it.

But of course you're talking about a 10 year old kid who probably won't even look at the envelope.

tenofcups4me

Dh's father goes by his middle name. When we addressed the invitation to him, we used the full middle name (not this, but like James instead of Jim), but did not include his first name that he never uses.

Matty143

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_invitation-child-goes-middle-name?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a164f73a-968f-4dbc-aa34-d7cd7ff28829Post:c34d2e74-f924-4e3b-abc5-9db4c4587aef">Re: Invitation where child goes by middle name</a>:
[QUOTE]Also, this is purely anecdotal, but my H also goes by a nickname of his middle name and he would find it weird if he got a wedding invitation addressed to "Mike Smith." For a birthday card it wouldn't be weird, but he expects formal mail to have his full legal name on it. <strong>But of course you're talking about a 10 year old kid who probably won't even look at the envelope.</strong>
Posted by annakb8[/QUOTE]

Exactly, and ditto to Anna's suggestion.

lenergyrlah

Thanks guys

I'll probably just do:

Mr. and Mrs. Smith
John Michael

I'm not going to do "and family" because they have a 2-year-old who is not invited.

coopsbaby

I think that's fine, and just John would be as well. Fi goes by a nckname of his middle name and expects stuff like invites to be his legal first name. It always looks a bit weird to me though! I just NEVER call him that!