LGBTQ+ Wedding Invitation Wording: Names, Roles and Guests

You open the template and the first field is already wrong. Bride and groom. You delete it. Next line: 'Together with their parents, the bride and groom invite you…' Gone too. Twenty minutes in, the design still doesn't know who you are.

It's not a taste problem. It's a form built for one kind of wedding, and nobody checked it against yours. The parts you actually have to fix are short: the name line, the roles, the plus-ones, the dress code. Get those right and the rest of the invitation writes itself.

The name line on an LGBTQ+ wedding invitation

Start with the two of you, on one line, in the order that sounds right out loud: 'Ana García and Marta Ruiz'. Both full names, joined by a clear word — and, &, with. If you go by a surname that isn't on your ID, use the one people know you by. Gay wedding invitation etiquette only turns complicated when you copy a form that was never meant for you.

• Both full names on the same line with a clear conjunction: 'Ana García and Marta Ruiz' or 'Tomás Ruiz & Andrés Ruiz'.
• No 'parents of the bride' or 'parents of the groom' when there is neither. Name the parents, or write 'The families of Ana and Marta'.
• If you name hosts, name the people who are genuinely hosting: 'Sara and Tomás Ruiz invite you to the wedding of their daughter Marta and Ana García'.
• Children and pets get their own short line underneath: 'With Julia and Nilo'.

Roles without borrowed labels

Bridesmaid. Maid of honour. Best man. Those words assume a bride, a groom, and a straight line between them. If they don't describe the people in your life, skip them. A role is a name plus what that person is doing on the day.

A friend leading the ceremony becomes 'Ceremony led by Carmen'. The people who sign as witnesses are witnesses, or 'the people standing with us', followed by their names. Anyone beside you is 'standing with Ana' or 'standing with Marta'. Nobody will ask what it means. They'll know exactly where to stand.

The label isn't the point. The people are — and the part they play.

Plus-ones: one open field beats a headcount

'Number of guests: 2' tells you nothing. A partner? A brother? A friend you didn't plan a chair for? Leave a text field in the RSVP and ask for names: 'Ana García and Nuno Ferreira'. If you're inviting a household, put 'The Pérez family' on the invitation and say whether the children are counted, so nobody has to message and ask.

When the guest list changes, the link keeps up

A plus-one confirms on Thursday. A cousin brings their partner. The ceremony moves an hour later. With a digital invitation you edit it and the same link shows the new version — no reprints, no paper, no second round of messages. Replies arrive inside the invitation in one ordered list instead of scattered across chats. Try a design for free, edit the names and wording in your browser, and publish when it reads right: 29.99 EUR per invitation, one payment, no subscription.