Evening Wedding Invitation Wording (UK): Examples, Etiquette and What to Write

Evening wedding invitations are one of the most British things about a British wedding. Most UK couples invite a smaller group to the ceremony and wedding breakfast, then open the doors to a bigger crowd for the party. Getting the evening wedding invitation wording right means those guests know exactly when to arrive, what they’re coming to and that they’re genuinely wanted. Below you’ll find the etiquette, what to write, and more than fifteen evening invitation examples you can copy and adapt.

For the main day invitation, our wedding invitation wording examples cover every situation. This guide is just for the evening.

What is an evening wedding invitation?

An evening invitation (sometimes called an evening reception invite, or simply the “evening do” invitation) invites guests to the celebration after the meal and speeches: usually the cutting of the cake, the first dance, evening food and dancing. Evening guests don’t attend the ceremony or the wedding breakfast.

Who usually gets one?

• Colleagues and team-mates you see every day.
• Friends from clubs, the gym or the school gate.
• Neighbours, and your parents’ friends.
• Wider family, such as second cousins, when the day guest list is tight.
• Partners of friends you don’t know well, when you can’t fit plus ones at the meal.

The difference between day and evening wedding invitations

Do you send wedding invites to evening guests?

Yes. Evening guests should receive a proper invitation, not a text or a Facebook message, and the etiquette is simple:

• Send evening invitations at the same time as your day invitations. If they arrive weeks later, evening guests can feel like an afterthought, and they need the same notice to book babysitters and taxis. Our timeline guide has the dates.
• Use the same design. A matching evening invitation looks considered, and nobody feels second best when they compare notes with a friend who’s coming for the day.
• Address the envelope the same way. Name everyone invited, exactly as you would for day guests. Our guide to addressing wedding invitations covers hand-delivered evening invitations too.
• Save the dates are optional. They’re thoughtful for a peak summer Saturday; use “save the evening” wording so nobody turns up for the ceremony. See our save the date wording for examples.

What to write on evening wedding invitations

Every evening invitation needs the same handful of lines, in roughly this order:

1. Who’s inviting: the couple, the couple “together with their families”, or the parents.
2. What they’re invited to: an evening reception, evening celebration or party. Say “evening” clearly.
3. Why: “to celebrate their marriage” or “to celebrate their wedding”.
4. The date: in the same style as your day invitations.
5. The start time: “from 7.30pm” rather than a vague “evening”.
6. The venue: name, town and postcode.
7. The finish: “Carriages at midnight” tells guests when to book their taxi.
8. Optional extras: evening food, “adults only”, dress code or how to RSVP, if you’re not adding a details card.

Evening wedding invitation wording examples

Swap in your own names, dates and venue. Each of these fits comfortably on a 5×7 invitation.

Formal evening reception wording

Classic and relaxed wording

Informal and fun evening wording

Evening wording with food

If you’re serving evening food, say so. Guests will plan their dinner around it, and nobody wants to arrive having eaten when there’s a hog roast waiting.

Adults-only evening wording

Name only the adults on the envelope, and add one gentle line if you’d like to be clear. Our guide to adults-only wedding wording has plenty more ways to say it kindly.

After a small ceremony or a wedding abroad

More couples now marry with just a handful of people, at a register office or abroad, then throw one big party. Here, the evening invitation is the main invitation, so it can be a little fuller.

Evening-only weddings

If your whole wedding happens in the evening, with a ceremony at six and dinner afterwards, everyone gets the same invitation. Just make the start time unmissable.

Short wording for a hand-delivered card

Timings to put on an evening invitation

The start time is the one detail evening guests rely on most, so give a specific time. Pick one that falls just after your speeches finish: arriving to an empty room is awkward, and so is walking in during the best man’s speech.

RSVP for evening guests

Do evening guests need to RSVP? Yes. Your venue will want numbers for evening food, and it helps you judge the bar and the size of the dance floor. You don’t need meal choices, so the reply can be short. Use the same RSVP date as your day guests, and choose whichever reply method suits them: an RSVP card, your wedding website, or a text to one of you.

Our guide to RSVP wording has plenty more reply card examples.

How many evening invitations to order

Count households, not people, exactly as you did for the day. A couple from work gets one invitation; a family of four gets one. Add five to ten per cent spare for mistakes, late additions and a keepsake.

Worked example: 60 day guests in 32 households, plus 50 evening guests in 28 households. You’d order 32 day invitations and 28 evening invitations, then about 3 spares of each: 35 day and 31 evening invitations.

Because evening guests don’t need hotel lists or meal choices, many couples order a simpler set for them: just the invitation and envelope, with the RSVP details printed at the bottom. On our autumn floral barn owl invitation, for example, you can choose the full suite for day guests and the invite-and-envelope package for the evening. Some of our suites have a minimum order of 30, so check the listing, and see our guide to how many wedding invitations you need for more on counting.

How to invite evening guests without hurt feelings

Evening invitations can sting a little if someone expected to be there all day. A few small choices make a big difference:

• Treat both lists the same. Same design, same envelope colour, same postage day. Nothing says “afterthought” like a printed-at-home evening card.
• Be consistent within groups. If you invite one colleague for the day, think about how the rest of the team will feel when they compare invitations.
• Make the evening worth coming to. Save the cake cutting and first dance until evening guests arrive, and say so on the invitation or details card.
• Write a personal note on invitations to people you’d have loved to have all day: “We’re so sorry we couldn’t fit everyone in for the day. We can’t wait to dance with you.”
• Don’t apologise on the card itself. A printed “due to numbers” line can read as defensive. A quiet handwritten word is kinder.
• Upgrade guests quietly. If a day guest drops out and you invite an evening guest to the whole day instead, ring them rather than sending a new card, and keep it low-key.

Evening invitations to match your day stationery

Most of our designs can be laid out as an evening invitation with your own wording (just ask if you’re not sure), and you’ll see a digital proof before anything is printed. If you’re hand-delivering at work, we can print your guests’ names on the envelopes so the evening set looks just as finished as the day set. Not sure yet? Order a sample pack to see the card and colours in person.