So far this week, we’ve talked a lot about how to word wedding invitations. Not surprising, since this is a wedding blog and we talk a lot about weddings here.

But every once in a while, the actual wedding is held quietly and privately, or is held very far away from many friends and family members, or the happy couple wants to honor some form of milestone by reaffirming their commitment to one another publicly, or the relationship may not be recognized legally where the couple lives, but they wish to make a public commitment anyway. No matter which case is the one that fits your situation, you still need to understand how to word your invitation so that it is both polite and understandable.

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For the last two days, I’ve been schooling you in how to properly word a wedding invitation. Well today we’re going to cover the burning question of how to work the wording when the couple in question is a same-sex one.

Traditionally, the form is ladies first. The bride’s parents were responsible for the entire celebration, and it was often the one day of her life that a woman got to be seriously celebrated. The world has changed, but ladies first is still the rule.

So how do we deal if there are two ladies getting married? What about when it’s two guys and there isn’t a lady to go first?
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Yesterday we talked briefly about the standard forms for wording wedding invitations… and now we start getting into the finer points. What do you do when your parents have divorced? What if they’ve remarried? Multiple times? What if one of your parents has, sadly, passed on?

Not to panic. There are forms that have developed over time, because no matter your situation, you are not the first one facing it.
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If you’ve never had to decide on the wording of a wedding invitation before, it can be a confusing task. Pleasure of your company or honor of your presence? Whose parents’ names come first? How about divorce or dead parents? Two grooms or two brides? Who gets listed first then? Can’t I just send out a viral evite?

Don’t panic. It’s really not as complicated as all that. You just need to know what the rules are and how they affect your choices. Also? Nobody ever died of an ill-worded wedding invitation, so it’s okay to lighten up a bit.
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Most of the time, the content on this blog is the result of my puttering around on Google image search and other wedding blogs and Pinterest until something dazzles me or some piece of advice pops into my head. But I’d like y’all to know that I actually do read my emails, even if I am slow to log in sometimes. And recently, when I finally sat down to check my email, I found a nice note from Courtney of Courtney Khail Stationery inviting me to check out her wedding invitations and other wedding stationery featuring hand drawn illustrations done in ink and watercolor on 100% cotton cardstock.

Have I mentioned lately that I am a 100% sucker for anything that is hand drawn or hand painted? Because it’s true. I am. And why not, when opting for handpainted wedding stationery results in awesome and amazing invitations, etc., like these?

Bees buzz along, birds sing a love song...

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As technology gets better and better – hello, ereaders in color and always in focus cameras – more and more of our correspondence moves online. Seriously, when was the last time someone sent you an actual paper letter? (You lucky thing.) Lagging behind, however, are the online wedding invitation and the email wedding invitation, which my guess are still pretty much universally maligned. Evite for your baby’s first birthday party or your anniversary luncheon? No prob. Something like My Invitation Link? Not so much.

You are cordially and electronically invited.

Since I like to keep on top of how people directly involved in the world of wedding planning and those who are expecting wedding invitations are feeling about everything from favors to stationery, I thought it was high time for this wedding aficionada to check in with the next round of brides-to-be, grooms-to-be, and guests-to-be to weigh in on the subject of online wedding invitations and email wedding invitations. Still utterly déclassé? Or gaining ground in terms of acceptability as a paper wedding invitation alternative now that we’re all spending half our lives online anyway?

How would you react upon finding a link to an electronic wedding invitation in your inbox?

It struck me just the other day that we probably don’t talk about wedding photography as much as we could around here. Possibly because we’re not expert wedding photographers – unless Twistie has been keeping secrets from me. Or I’ve been keeping secrets from her and from you. But I haven’t. I’ve just been taking a lot of photographs recently, so photography is on my mind. Wedding photography in particular, of course. And since having a theme for the week makes my life easier and two and two make four, I am declaring this WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WEEK at Manolo for the Brides!

Now, you don’t have to wait until the actual big day to have some serious wedding photography fun. For the hardcore wedding photography enthusiast, there’s the Chinese practice of taking insane amounts of wedding photos way before the actual wedding. And for the less dedicated among us, there are always engagement photo shoots and photo save-the-dates and photo wedding invitations. Which is what Toni shared with me just the other day, and she was kind enough to say I could share with you. (Uh, in case you missed it, our very own Toni is engaged, so show her some love!)

This is the back

And this is the front (or is that the other way around...)

I love ‘em, don’t you?! Toni’s wedding invitation makes me wish The Beard and I had done something with photos of ourselves – even our postcard save-the-dates featured a vintage photo with a dour bride and groom instead of a snapshot of us. Oh, well! That’s why I live vicariously through you lovelies and through all the research I do for this blog. Speaking of, to kick start Wedding Photography Week, I though I’d make a list of some of my favorite posts about wedding photography here at Manolo for the Brides for those who may have missed them the first go around.

• A link to a great instructional site for DIY wedding photos
• Fun wedding photos to take as a group
• Wedding photography etiquette for guests
• Some of the best wedding photos around
• Just some brides on bikes!
• How about those artsy-fartsy wedding photos?
• Handling the taller bride and shorter groom “problem”
• On being yourself in your wedding photos

Enjoy! (P.S. – I may extend Wedding Photography Week into two weeks, just because there’s plenty to talk about! P.P.S. – Want to share your wedding photos or wedding photos you’ve taken? Email me the best ones, and I’ll post them!)