How to word an evening-only wedding invitation

Tell evening guests when to come, and make it obvious they are not expected earlier. Trouble starts when the evening card looks exactly like the day card with a different time written in.

The examples below use a fictional couple, Anna and Tom, whose evening party starts at 20:00 at The River Garden. Change the names, places and times to your own.

What it has to say

• Whose wedding it is, and that this is the evening celebration.
• The date.
• When to arrive, written once and plainly: 20:00, or 8 p.m. if that is how people write times where you live. If guests travel from another country, say it is local time.
• The venue and its full address, with where to park or how to get home late at night.
• Who is invited: the names of everyone on the invitation.
• How and by when to reply.
• Whether there will be food, if you know. "Food from 21:30" saves guests from guessing whether to eat first.

What to leave out

Leave out the ceremony time, the dinner time and the full order of the day. A schedule listed "for information" reads as an invitation to all of it.

If your evening guests are also invited to the ceremony: give the ceremony a line of its own with its time and place, then say when to come back, for example "and back with us for the evening party from 20:00". Leave out everything in between.

On its own, "Join us to celebrate our wedding day" suggests the whole day, so name the evening.

A formal version

Mr and Mrs Novak
request the pleasure of your company
at the evening reception celebrating the marriage of
Anna Novak and Tom Becker
on Saturday 17 July 2027
from 20:00
at The River Garden, 12 Riverside Lane

Kindly reply by 1 June 2027

A warm, informal version

Anna and Tom are getting married!
We would love you to join us for the evening party
on Saturday 17 July 2027 from 20:00
at The River Garden, 12 Riverside Lane.

There will be music, dancing and food from 21:30.
Please tell us by 1 June whether you can come.

A plain-text version for a message or an email

In a message or an email, put the facts in the first lines, so they show in the preview before anyone opens it:

Anna & Tom's evening party
Saturday 17 July 2027, from 20:00 (local time)
The River Garden, 12 Riverside Lane
Food from 21:30. Last bus back to town at 00:40.
Please reply by 1 June: [your link]

Partners, children and plus-ones

Write the names of everyone who is invited: "Tom and Eva" tells Tom exactly who is welcome, while "Tom and family" leaves him to guess. If a guest may bring someone, write "Tom and a guest". If children are not invited, a short, kind line near the reply details is easier to read than a note on the front, for example: "We have planned the evening for adults, and we hope you understand."

Replies

Ask a question that can be answered in one go: "Will you join us in the evening?", with yes or no. If you also need to know about food allergies or a lift home, ask in the same reply rather than in a second message.

Check everything an evening guest receives

A wedding website showing the whole day, a calendar entry starting at 13:00, or one group message to everyone will undo careful wording.

On BigDaySite, each guest's page, reply form and calendar file will take their time from the same arrival time you set, and you will be able to open the site as one of your evening guests to check it. How this works for evening guests

Checklist

• It names the evening celebration
• One arrival time, written once, with "local time" if guests travel
• The full address and a way home
• The names of everyone invited
• A reply deadline and how to reply
• Food, if you know
• No dinner times (and no ceremony time, unless they are invited to it)