Wedding Etiquette Questions: Ask the Etiquist

How do you word an invitation to a single person when no guest is invited?

Q. How do I word on the reception invitation that only the person is invited, without a guest.

A. When a single person is invited to a wedding, the words "and guest" are usually used on the inner envelope to indicate that they are welcome to bring someone. If this is not on the inner envelope, the invitee is supposed to understand that they are not to bring a guest with them.

Unfortunately, some people disregard the rules of etiquette and feel they have the right to bring a guest with them - they may actually show up with an uninvited, unexpected guest.

If this is the unfortunate case, most caterers will find a way to accommodate them, and it is best to be gracious in the face of the invitee's bad manners.

It can help to let it leak out through the "grapevine" that singles are not supposed to bring guests and hope that your wishes are respected. Any single invitee that brings an uninvited guest oversteps the bounds of manners and is in the wrong.

On the other hand, if an invitee has a fiance or live-in partner, it is rude to exclude their other half from the invitation - they should be treated as a married couple.

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