• If you choose a colored ink for your invitations, address them in the came color ink.

• Keep your invitations in the same mode as your wedding. A lovely verse and sea shell on the invitation announce the story that the wedding will be at the beach even before the wording. By the same token, a formal church wedding pleads to be treated with dignity - the time proven standard engraved invitation .

• If there is a child involved from a previous marriage, it is courteous to invite the grandparents.

• Honor a deceased parent in other ways, but do not include the name on your invitations.

• Do not abbreviate words when addressing invitations - with one exception. The United States Post Office prefers the name of the state be abbreviated.

• When two unmarried people live together, the names are put on separate lines, in alphabetical order.

• When parents are divorced but remain on friendly terms, the invitation can be issued jointly. The mother's name is listed first. "And" is not used to join the names.

• When an invitation is issued by a mother and stepfather, the invitation may read "at the marriage of her daughter" followed by the bride's full name on the next line.

• When there have been several marriages and divorces by the parents of the bride, it is often kinder for the bride and groom to issue their own invitations.

• When a couple marries in a civil ceremony and decides later to have a church event, it is not a wedding. It is a reaffirmation of vows and should be thus stated.

• When a reception follows the wedding weeks later, it is a reception, not a wedding reception.

• Announcements are never sent to anyone who attended the wedding.