Write Your Engagement Announcement
December 18, 2009
Announcing to the world that you are engaged is an exciting part of getting married and shares with your community your happy news. Writing an engagement announcement doesn’t have to be difficult and is something you can definitely do yourself. Follow these simple steps and your engagement announcement will be ready for the papers in no time!
Most wedding announcements are written as if coming from the brides family, although sometimes the couple does the announcement coming from themselves as well.
If you are looking for a longer announcement you will need to gather information from both the bride and the groom such as their parents names and hometowns, where the couple is from as well as careers and education. You can also choose to include the actual or approximate wedding date. Many newspapers will provide you with a standard template or a form to fill out information or you can start with the following template when writing your own:
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith are happy to announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Jane Smith, to Mr. John Doe, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Doe. A January 31st wedding is planned at the Church of Our Lady in Our City, State.”
Be considerate of your own special circumstances when parents are concerned.
If the parents are divorced:
(Bride’s mother) is pleased to announce the engagement of her daughter…
(Bride’s mother) and (Bride’s Step Father) are pleased to announce the engagement of (Bride’s mother) daughter…
(Bride) is also the daughter of (Bride’s father)….
If one parent is deceased:
The engagement of (Bride), daughter of (Bride’s mother) and the late (Bride’s father), to (Groom)…
There are other circumstances to be aware of and must be addressed for your family individually.
You may wish to have an engagement portrait done by a professional photographer or find your favorite snapshot of you and your fiancé to include with your announcement. Check with the publications you will be publishing your announcement in to find out size specifications and if it can be color or black and white.
Most announcements are typically placed in the newspapers of the hometowns of the bride, groom and their parents two to three months prior to the wedding date.