Wedding Invitations: Wording, Styles & a Stress-Free Timeline

Your wedding invitations are the first thing guests hold in their hands — the opening note of your whole celebration. Before anyone sees the flowers or tastes the cake, the invitation tells them what kind of day to expect. Here's how to get the suite, the wording, and the timing right.

What goes in an invitation suite

A full suite is more than a single card. The classic anatomy:

• Save the date — sent first, months ahead.
• The main invitation — the who, where, and when.
• Details / info card — dress code, timings, and your wedding website.
• RSVP card — or a QR code linking to an online RSVP.
• Envelopes — outer and (optionally) inner, plus a return address.

Set the tone with your design

Let the invitation echo your wider decor palette and venue. Fine serifs and deckled edges suit a formal ballroom; airy script and watercolour suit a destination wedding; bold type and colour read modern. Pick two fonts, one accent colour, and one motif, then repeat them across every card for a polished, collected look.

Wording without the stress

• Hosts first — traditionally the couple's parents, but anyone can host.
• Request line — "request the pleasure of your company" (formal) or "invite you to celebrate" (relaxed).
• The essentials — full names, date, time, venue, and city.
• Dress code — put it on the details card, not the main invite.

Your invitation timeline

Send save the dates 6–8 months out (8–12 for a destination wedding), mail invitations 6–8 weeks before the day, and set your RSVP deadline 2–3 weeks before so you can finalise catering and seating. Order a few extra of everything — for keepsakes, the photographer's flat-lay, and last-minute additions.

Put your shared album on the invite

The details card is the perfect place to print your Auree QR code. Guests scan it on the day to drop every photo into one shared roll — no app, no account — so the celebration you designed on paper comes back to you as a complete album afterward. It pairs naturally with your other day-of details.