The institution of marriage itself has finally become more inclusive, but the traditional wording of wedding invitations still lags behind the times a little. The uncertainty about the semantics of the invitation is compounded when your event not only is an LGBTQ wedding, but also a destination wedding.

Of course, you want the wording of your invites to be as perfect as your ceremony. Here are a few tips to guide you.

Adapting Traditional Invitation Etiquette to a Non-Traditional Wedding

In general, you can’t go wrong in applying traditional etiquette to your invitations. For example, the standard invitation protocol is to spell out all numbers, such as the time, date, and address. With a destination wedding, on the other hand, overly formal wording may seem like it doesn’t quite fit. We agree! The bottom line is that it’s up to you as a couple.

You have a lot more latitude with a destination wedding invitation because it’s so unconventional, so feel free to toss the stuffy wording overboard. The main purpose of a destination wedding invitation is to get your guests excited about the trip and motivate them to book their flights.

What you say and how you say it will set the tone for your ceremony and inform your guests of how much — or how little — formality they can expect. Here are a couple suggestions:

“Brianna and Sarah invite you to celebrate their special day in a seaside ceremony in Cozumel, Mexico, Saturday, the twenty-eighth of May, two thousand and nineteen.”
“Caiden and Rhett ask you to share in our happy day as we exchange vows onboard our dream destination the Celebrity Solstice…”

Addressing the Mr./Mrs. Bride/Groom Conundrum

Some LGBTQ couples get tripped up by the fact that traditional wedding invites typically include some form of “Mr. and Mrs.” or “the bride and groom.” With an LGBTQ wedding, there are so many ways you can approach this, and none of them are incorrect, really.

First, you can get rid of this language altogether. Alternatively, don’t hesitate to say “Mrs. and Mrs.” or “the grooms request your presence.” LGBTQ couples, especially with a destination wedding, have much more freedom to be as conventional or as unconventional as they want.

Now that you have the invitations all squared away, it’s time to start planning! ImagineVIP specializes in coordinating same-sex marriages, and we’re happy to help you find the perfect package for your special day. Whatever your vision is for your ceremony, we can help make it happen.