Wedding Etiquette Forum

Addressing Invitation to Widow

My FI's aunt is a widow who has started dating again and is being invited with her long-time boyfriend.  I know the proper form for widows is usually as Mrs. (either with the deceased husband's firstname/lastname, or her first name, his last name, depending on her preference).  But since she's dating again and we're inviting her boyfriend along with her, it feels really weird to address the envelope to Mrs. FI's Aunt and Mr. New Boyfriend.  Does she go back to "Ms." under these circumstances?

Re: Addressing Invitation to Widow

  • Do they live together?  If not, maybe you should send them separate invites and still use "Mrs" for her.  Or you could just ask her like Stage said.
  • Ms. is always in style, no matter what the marital status of the woman is.
    Don't make me mobilize OffensiveKitten

    image

    Anniversary

  • I'd use Mrs. her name/last name and leave the deceased husband off the invitation entirely.  

    Putting her and boyfriend on the same line signifies they are married.  The proper address would be:

    Mrs. fi's aunt (whichever version of her name you use)
    Mr. Boyfriend person
    street
    city, state, zip...

    Separate lines, no "and".
  • its best to check with her. 

    my mom gets really offended by "ms".   after nearly 12 years of widow-hood, she still goes by mrs. john doe
  • arendivaarendiva member
    Third Anniversary 100 Comments 5 Love Its
    edited October 2012
    I think Ms. is unoffensive since it makes no statement about marital status at all. I think sending the boyfriend a separate invite could create confusion. couple's should always be on the same invite as they are a social unit. otherwise your aunt may think he isn't invited and he might recieve an invite and not know who's wedding it is. etc etc.
    If it were me I would address it Ms (first name) (last name) & Mr. (boyfirends firstname) (boyfriends lastname). If you are truly concerned that Ms will cause offence you could just do (aunts first name ) (aunts last name) & (boyfirends firstname) (boyfriends lastname) and leave it out entirely. She probably wouldn't even notice.


    ETA: I would actually advice against asking her what she'd prefer. If I were widowed and I have finally started dating and then someone called me up and asked me if I still wanted to be MRS and have my boyfriend listed I would think they were judging me for dating. Even though that is the farthest thing from your mind that is how I would feel. I would feel guilty that i was dating someone that wasn't my former husband. Side note if I recieved an invite that used MRS and had my bf's name on it it would invoke similar feelings of guilt and judgment.  just my 2 cents.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards