Addressing chinese wedding invitation envelopes can be intimidating if you do not know what is the proper chinese title for your paternal grandmother’s sister’s husband or maternal grandmother’s elder brother.

But it is really simple. Just learn the proper chinese title for your relatives from the Three Generation Relationship Chart and follow these 3 steps.

1. For chinese wedding invitations, the guest name is written on the envelope only. The guest’s formal title will be used. Family friends and relatives are invited by the groom’s or bride’s parents. Only the groom’s and bride’s friends are invited by the young couple.

2. Remember to indicate if you are inviting the guest’s spouse 夫妇，伉俪 or whole family 阖府统请;. If you are inviting the whole family, then do follow up with the guest on how many seats to provide.

3. Usually “升” or “台升” is used after the name as a form of respect to the guest. “升” described the upward presentation of the invitation card from a lower position. “台” is an honorific reference for “brother”, used in polite language in the olden days to address one’s friend or acquaintance.

Examples,

for just the couple “XXX夫妇台升” ,
or for the whole family “XXX夫妇阖府统请”.

How to Write Chinese Wedding Invitation Envelopes

Who should you send invitations to?

In the past chinese extended family lived together under patriarchal rule. Chinese wedding invitations are issued by the groom’s or bride’s father under his father’s 奉严命 or mother’s order 奉慈命. Hence there is no need to issue invitations to his siblings, except to the husbands of his sisters.

Moreover, wedding banquets in the past were conducted at the residence so guests will just turn up during dinner time.

Nowadays, wedding banquets are usually held at restaurants or hotels and to prevent miscommunication, wedding invitations are also issued to the groom’s and bride’s paternal uncles.

Remember to use “家兄” meaning “brother within the family” (blood brother) before the brother’s name on the invitations’ envelope.

Depending on the family, a typical list of relatives the groom’s and bride’s father will issue invitations to are:

grandparent’s siblings,
parent’s siblings,
siblings,
married sisters’ husbands,
wife’s parents,
wife’s parents’ siblings,
wife’s siblings,
wife’s married sisters’ husbands,
son-in-law’s parents,
daughter-in-law’s parents,
cousins,
god-brothers and sisters,etc.

Addressing relatives related by marriage

For relatives related by marriage, such as the wife’s siblings, you can add “姻亲” before the chinese name to indicate your relationship to each other. The title for the person will be added either before or after the name.

For example, inviting the husband of one’s sister will be “姻亲XXX贤妹夫” or “姻亲贤妹夫XXX 先生”.

Find out how to address three generations of relatives on the wedding invitation envelopes. Refer to the Three Generation Relationship Chart- Grandparents, Parents and Siblings.

Chinese wedding invitations wording are vertical and read from right to left. Information for the groom will be presented first before information of the bride.

The chinese wedding invitation will include the following information as a minimum:

- the Gregorian calendar and chinese calendar dates, if available, for the wedding banquet,
- order of birth and names of the bride and groom,
- name of the parents,
- dinner venue,
- time for cocktail reception,
- time for dinner.

Chinese Wedding Invitation Content

Explanation [Chinese wording]

“After careful consideration [谨订], on such date of the Gregorian calendar [公历 / 阳历] and such date of the Chinese calendar [农历], on such day of the week [星期], our eldest son [长男], XY and our youngest daughter [幼女]，XX will have their wedding ceremony [举行结婚典礼].

We will prepare food and drinks [敬备薄酌] in anticipation of your presence [光临].

By my father’s order[奉严命], Groom’s parents, and
By my mother’s order [奉慈命], Bride’s parents,
we are co-hosting the dinner [同敬约].

We apologize in advance for any shortcoming in our service [恕乏] and please be punctual [价催].

Address of dinner venue [席设,地点] and time [时间] for cocktail [迎宾酒会] and commencement of dinner [晋席] event.”
Things to amend:
1. Dates
2. Birth order and names of the bride and groom
3. Names of co-hosts or host
4. Indicate if grandparents of bride and groom are alive
5. Venue and Time

1．Dates

If you have selected auspicious dates for the events of the chinese wedding then you will naturally have the chinese calendar dates and the Gregorian dates handy. Otherwise, you can just print the Gregorian dates on your chinese wedding invitation.

I am no calendar expert but for a quick reference only, the chinese year begins on the following dates:

Gregorian, chinese zodiac animal, chinese year

22 Jan 2004, Monkey, 甲甲
9 Feb 2005, Rooster, 乙酉
29 Jan 2006, Dog, 丙戌
18 Feb 2007, Boar, 丁亥
7 Feb 2008, Rat, 戊子
26 Jan 2009, Ox, 己丑
10 Feb 2010, Tiger, 庚寅
3 Feb 2011, Rabbit, 辛卯
23 Jan 2012, Dragon, 壬辰
10 Feb 2013, Snake, 癸巳
31 Jan 2014, Horse, 甲午
19 Feb 2015, Ram, 乙未
9 Feb 2016, Monkey, 丙甲
28 Jan 2017, Rooster, 丁酉
16 Feb 2018, Dog, 戊戌
5 Feb 2019, Boar, 己亥
25 Jan 2020, Rat, 庚子

For the both the Gregorian calendar [公历 / 阳历] Chinese calendar, fill in year before [年] month before [月] and date before [日].

The twelve months are:
January， 一月
February， 二月
March， 三月
April， 四月
May， 五月
June， 六月
July， 七月
August，八月
September， 九月
October， 十月
November， 十一月
December， 十二月

The dates are:
1st 一日
2nd 二日
3rd 三日
4th 四日
5th 五日
6th 六日
7th 七日
8th 八日
9th 九日
10th 十日
11th 十一日
12th 十二日
13th 十三日
14th 十四日
15th 十五日
16th 十六日
17th 十七日
18th 十八日
19th 十九日
20th 二十日
21st 二十一日
22nd 二十二日
23rd 二十三日
24th 二十四日
25th 二十五日
26th 二十六日
27th 二十七日
28th 二十八日
29th 二十九日
30th 三十日
31st 三十一日

The days of the week are:
Monday 星期一
Tuesday 星期二
Wednesday 星期三
Thursday 星期四
Friday 星期五
Saturday 星期六
Sunday 星期日 or 星期天

2．Birth order and names of the bride and groom

The wording for addressing the bride and groom on the invitation will depend on who is hosting the wedding banquet.

If the wedding banquet is co-hosted by the parents, the names of the bride and groom are usually written without the surname.

If the parents have both passed away, then an elder member usually on the paternal side such as the father’s sibling or even an elder brother of the bride and groom may host the wedding banquet.

When the dinner is hosted by parents the order of birth of the bride [女] and groom [男] will be mentioned.

Order of birth:
Eldest- 长
Second- 次
Third- 三
Fourth- 四
Fifth- 伍
Sixth- 六
Seventh- 七
Eight- 八
Ninth- 九
Tenth- 拾
Youngest- 幼

If hosted by one of the paternal grandparent [祖父母] the birth order and name of the late father, in addition to the bride or groom’s birth order may be stated. E.g. my late eldest son xx’s eldest daughter xy [已故长子xx之长女xy].

If there is no wish to mention if the father is alive or not, then simply state that bride or groom is the host’s granddaughter [内孙女] or grandson [内孙].

If hosted by the paternal uncle, and there is no wish to mention if the father is alive or not, then simply state that bride or groom is the host’s niece [侄女] or nephew [侄儿].

If hosted by an elder brother, simply state the bride or groom’s position in relation to the host, e.g. second sister [次妹] or second brother [次弟].

3. Names of co-hosts or host

If both parents are alive, the chinese equivalent of “Mr & Mrs” [夫妇] will be used.

If only the father is alive, use Mister [先生] after the parent’s name.

If only the mother is alive, use the mother’s married name followed by [女士]. See this pdf file, Chinese wedding invitation wording co-host by bride’s mum only
for sample.

Married name is the maiden name with the addition of the husband’s surname. For example [张陈细妹女士] where [陈细妹] is the maiden name and the husband’s surname is [张]

If the mother is not using the husband’s surname, then remember to add the surname before the bride’s or groom’s name.

Co-hosted

If the wedding banquet is paid jointly by the bride and groom’s family, then the invitation will have the names of both set of parents appearing before the phrase co-hosted [同敬约].

Hosted by groom’s parents only

In many cases, the bride’s parents may choose to invite only the closest of relatives and friends to the wedding dinner utilizing only the number of tables included as part of the betrothal gifts. In such cases, only the groom’s parents name will appear before hosted [敬约].

In addition, the bride’s name will not be written side by side with the groom’s. Her parent’s name will be inserted after the groom’s name and before her name.

4. Indicate if grandparents of bride and groom are alive

If the grandparents of the bride and groom are alive, then it will be mentioned above the names of the parents.

If the grandfather is alive, it will state [奉严命]. If only the grandmother is alive, then it will state [奉慈命]. If both the grandparents have passed away, then it is left blank.

5. Venue and Time
Unless chinese is used regularly as part of the address system in the country it may be more confusing than helpful when included.

Include a location map whenever you can. Remember to state the ballroom or hall for the wedding banquet especially if there are a few within the same venue.

The commencement time for cocktails, dinner and any other events should be clearly stated.

Now that you know how to write your own chinese wedding invitations, learn to address the chinese wedding invitation envelopes.

Provided by www.chinese-wedding-guide.com

Eight weeks before the wedding…

You can start preparing your chinese wedding invitation once you have decided on the wedding banquet dates and reserved the restaurant.

Some hotels or restaurants will provide blank wedding invitation cards for a certain percentage of the number of guests as part of the wedding banquet package. The couple will usually need to pay for printing of the cards themselves.

If you are not satisfied with the wedding invitation cards provided in the wedding banquet package or there is none, you will need to source for the cards yourself.

As it is customary to issue chinese wedding invitation at least two to four weeks in advance, you will need to select the cards eight to ten weeks prior to your chinese wedding, if not earlier.

You will need to:
- select the cards,
- find the printer,
- prepare the invitation text, and
- proof-read the prototype before final printing.

Will any colours do?

Chinese wedding invitations were traditionally red but due to western influences pink, cream, maroon, purple, magenta, etc are also becoming popular.

Colors of mourning such as black, blue and green are avoided. Gold or silver fonts are popular choices although other colors are also used to match the card.

One fold, two fold, centre fold?

For standard single fold wedding invitation the english invitation wording will be printed on the left and chinese wording on the right.

For cards folded two times it is easier to distribute the vertical chinese text over the two smaller panels. To avoid confusion, keep the main text on one panel and have the venue and program information on another.

Chinese wedding invitation wordings are layout vertically and read from right to left.

Information to include

The chinese invitation will include:

- the Gregorian calendar dates,
- chinese calendar dates ,
- order of birth of the bride and groom,
- names of the bride and groom,
- name of the parents,
- dinner venue,
- time of cocktail reception,
- time of dinner,
- RSVP information,
if this is different from english invitation, and
- Table number,
if available at the time of issuing invitation.

Remember to include a map of the dinner venue and other helpful information for getting there.

Dress code, if any, should also be indicated.

An RSVP response with indication for number of attendance and special meal preferences is also useful.

When collecting the printed wedding invitations, remember to check
- invitation text,
- envelopes sizes,
- insert sizes,
- quantities of cards, inserts and envelopes

Sample Chinese Wedding Invitation Wording

Distributing the chinese wedding invitations…
After the betrothal, the bride’s and groom’s parents will distribute the chinese wedding invitation for the wedding banquet and wedding cakes to their close relatives and friends.

It is also acceptable to distribute chinese wedding invitations by post.

Ehh¡­there’s no where to write the guest’s name?

For chinese wedding invitation, the guest name is written on the envelope only. The guest’s formal title will be used.

Remember to indicate if you are inviting the guest’s spouse [夫妇]，[伉俪] or whole family [阖府统请]. If you are inviting the whole family, then do follow up with the guest on how many seats to provide.

Usually [升] or [台升] is used after the name as a form of respect to the guest. [升] described the upward movement in presenting the invitation card from a lower position. [台] is an honorific used in polite language to address one’s male friend or male acquaintance.

Learn how to address chinese wedding invitation envelopes.

What if you also have a church wedding and reception?
If you have a church wedding and reception as well as a wedding banquet you will probably have different groups of guest for both events. To avoid confusion, you are better off with wedding invitations for each event rather than just one for both events.

Hopefully you are not having it on the same day or you will definitely be pressed for time and the logistics would drive you nuts.

What if you are having not just one but two wedding banquets?

Sometimes the bride and groom are from different countries or the bride’s parents decide to throw a separate wedding banquet for their friends and relatives.

For chinese, preserving the face of one’s friends and relatives is very important. Some may think having more guest means being more influential and wealthy. Some feel that if the bride’s side has too many guests compared with the groom’s side it will embarrass the groom’s parents.

So when the bride’s parents has so much more quest to invite that the bride’s and groom’s quest are unable to balance out the numbers, they may choose to have separate wedding banquets.

In such cases, you will need a set of chinese wedding invitation for each wedding banquet.

www.chinese-wedding-guide.com