Invitation Wording: Wedding or Marriage

I think Marriage of

I had a post of my invites previously asking about wording of this. Some people said "marriage", others said "wedding". I think either is okay... but will probably go with "marriage" myself (it seems to be a catholic ceremony common wording? not sure)

I like marriage. But that's personal preference.

I choose wedding. You are attending a wedding, not a marriage. A marriage is what lasts a lifetime. A wedding lasts a day (unless you drag it out into a weekend haha). A wedding is an event, a marriage is a legally binding tie between two people.

@Rusty I think that's what is confusing me!! Most of the examples say "marriage", but "wedding" makes more sense to me logically

@CaboBride2018, if it makes sense to you, use wedding! I saw that more commonly with mine, but I imagine its where you look. Grammatically marriage doesn't make sense to me.

Ours said "you are cordially invited to the wedding of...."

I second what Rusty said. The wedding is the event your guests are invited to, the marriage is what lasts forever.

@Kate, that still doesn't answer her main question, which is should it be wedding or marriage? So in your wording, is it "the honor of your presence at the wedding of or marriage of...?"

Haha I just had to double check mine, we went with the term marraige.

I think marriage is more traditional. The meaning and usage of words drifts over time.

You could do "to celebrate the marriage of" but I think that sounds like you could already be married...

I think of marriage as what comes after a wedding.

Of course, if the invitation says something along the lines of "join them as they exchange their vows of ______" marriage makes more sense than wedding. But, you could say, "join them as they exchange their wedding vows."

I think of a wedding as an event and a marriage as a state of being. The wedding is what people are coming to see; the marriage lasts a lifetime!

I always think "celebration" implies that it is just a reception or a reception after an elopement. I am writing "Bride and Groom joyfully request your presence at their wedding".

ETA: Essentially to me:

Marriage = lifetime commitment

Wedding = the event of the union and the party

Celebration = party

I went with wedding since marriage seems like you're already married like a PP said.

Depends on how your invite reads. Marriage also means the combining of two things. So really just depends on how you're using it - either way you can't really go wrong with using 'wedding.'

Edit: If you marriage - marriage of Jane to John. If you use wedding - wedding of Jane and John.

Thanks for all the opinions. I decided to use "wedding" and sent the invitations off to the printer

"Wedding" is the verb .. so I'd go with that- just the English teacher in me.

We're using wedding celebration. Just cuz it sounds more fun

I don't think there's a wrong answer.

Marriage of