Nigerian Wedding Invitation Card Wordings
What And What Not To Say
Well, a lot of couples know that they are not supposed to mention where they had their proposal on the wedding invitations… however, it can be a bit tricky when it comes to wording a wedding invitation card correctly.
With a few exceptions, nothing but the standard parent’s names, couple’s name, date, time and location of the ceremony or ceremonies should be listed on the actual wedding invitations.
This article is going to help you understand how to word a Nigerian wedding invitaion card in different scenarios.
Wording A Nigerian Wedding Invitation
There are one or two things you should know about wording A ‘Nigerian’ Wedding Invitation Card…
The first is that, the bride’s family name ALWAYS comes first when listing the names of the families and this has nothing to do with whether they are the sponsors or not. I think it’s just tradition.
Also TITLES are very important when writing out the parent’s names. So if your father is a chief in his village or a pastor or reverend, be sure to include it with their names on the invitations or you may just find yourself printing another batch of invitations.
More so, if both parents have different titles, both names will have to be spelt out differently. See sample below:
‘Dr’ Mr Olanshile O and ‘Rev’ Mrs Olamide Olajide
I have experienced instances where the family of the bride had demanded for a re-print of the invitations, just because their name was listed after the groom’s family.
I have also had couples confused on how to word a wedding invitation when one or both of the parents are deceased. Or when one or both of the parents are separated or divorced.
Here are some elements of a Nigerian wedding invitation card:
- Couple’s parents name (Bride’s family first followed by the groom’s family)
- The request to come to the wedding
- The names of the couple (Bride’s name first)
- The Church information
- The date and time
- Reception information
- Time
- Colour of the day
- Traditional ceremony information
- Date, time and venue
- RSVP (name plus phone number or just phone number)
- This Invite admits one or any other detail (optional)
The following are the basic invitation wordings that I send to my couples to pick from.
Basic Format 1
The families of
(bride’s family) and (groom’s family)
Cordially invite you to the wedding ceremony of their children
(Bride’s First Name and Middle Name)
and
(Groom’s First Name and Middle Name)
at (Church Venue)
on (Wedding Date)
at (Time)
Reception Follows at
(Reception Venue)
by (Reception Time)
Colours of the Day: (Wedding Colours)
_____Traditional ceremony_____
Date
Time
Venue
Colour of the day: Traditional Wedding Colours
RSVP
Name and Number
Name and Number
{OPTIONAL}
Strictly by invitation.
Related: 6 Weird But Necessary Things You Can Put On Your Nigerian Wedding Invitation
Basic Format 2
Bride’s Name
&
Groom’s Name
Together with the families, invite you to share in the joy of their matrimony
at (Church Venue)
on (Wedding Date)
at (Time)
Reception Follows at
(Reception Venue)
by (Reception Time)
Colours of the Day: Wedding Reception Colours
_______Traditional ceremony_______
Date:
Time:
Venue:
Colour of the day: (Traditional Wedding Colours)
RSVP
Name and Number
Name and Number
{OPTIONAL}
Strictly by invitation
If the parents are divorced
The families of
Mrs (Bride’s mother’s maiden or remarried name) and (Bride’s father’s name)
Together with the families of
(Groom’s parent’s name)
Requests the honour of your presence at the marriage/wedding ceremony of their children
If both parents are remarried
The families of
Mrs (bride’s mother’s name plus new husband’s surname) and Mr (Bride’s father’s name plus surname)
Requests the honour of your presence at the marriage/wedding ceremony of their children
(Bride’s name and middle name)
And (Groom’s name and middle name)
If one parent is deceased
Please note that in the abroad, the deceased parent’s name is normally not listed on the invitation for practical reasons, as a deceased person cannot invite people to an event.
On the contrary, the opposite is done in Nigeria, as deceased parent’s names are listed on Nigerian wedding invitations, this is perceived as a sign of respect to the dead.
Late Mr (Bride’s father’s name) and Mrs (Bride’s mother’s name)
And
Mr (Groom’s father’s name) and Late Mrs (Groom’s mother’s name and Groom’s father’s surname)
NOTE: Even if all the parents are deceased, all the names will be listed on the invitations as Late Mr and Mrs this or that. Check out the sample below:
If The Parents Are Separated
The families of
Mrs (bride’s mother’s name plus maiden name) and Mr (Bride’s father’s name plus surname)
Requests the honour of your presence at the marriage/wedding ceremony of their children
NOTE: However, there are some few exceptions, where the groom’s family’s name is listed first. This normally happens when the groom’s family are the ones paying for the wedding. It is not the tradition but sometimes, the family may want to be recognised as the host or wedding sponsors and this is one way to show this.
WEDDING TIP: If all these are stressful for you, you can always opt for ‘The Basic Format 2’ wordings and save yourself and everybody the stress of wording the invitations correctly.
THEMED WEDDINGS
Themed wedding invitations are also worded differently from normal invitations. The words are often coined from the key words of the wedding theme.
For instance, a movie theme will have words like, starring, star studded, filmed on location, screening etc…
A travel themed wedding invitation will have words like, departure, boarding pass, boarding date, flight, landed etc…
While a fairytale wedding invitation will have words like, once upon a time, happily ever after, Princess, Prince etc
I hope you get my point…
IGBO WEDDINGS
IGBO wedding invitations are worded slightly different from the other cultures. For the Igbos, they prefer to add their local government area, states and names of families when listing parents names.
Here is what it looks like:
You can also order for your Beautiful Nigerian wedding invitaion cards HERE
I hope you had as much fun reading this article, as much as I enjoyed writing it…
You Know I Love You
X.O.X.O Your Integrity Planner
Olamide~ The Heiress
Head Planner,
La’ Heiress Weddings
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