How to word a wedding invitation in Arabic

The five parts

Nearly every Arabic wedding invitation has the same five parts, in the same order: an opening line, who is doing the inviting, the names of the couple, the when and where, and a closing line. You can drop any of them except the names and the details — but the order rarely changes, and changing it is what makes an invitation feel wrong in a way people cannot always name.

1. The opening line

A short phrase that sets the tone before any names appear. The most common are religious, and the most common of those is a verse from سورة الروم about the affection placed between spouses. Many families use a simpler blessing instead, which carries the same warmth with less formality.

If the invitation is bilingual, the English side is usually shorter and less formal — "Together with their families" rather than a translation of the Arabic. A literal translation of a religious opening tends to read stiffly in English, and nobody expects the two sides to match word for word.

2. Who is inviting

Traditionally the families invite, not the couple. Which family is named first is a real question in some households and a non-question in others — if in doubt, both families together avoids the whole issue and is now the most common form in Egypt.

3. The names

First names alone for a modern invitation; first name and family name for a formal one. The groom is conventionally named first, though plenty of invitations do the opposite now and nobody objects. If the invitation is bilingual, write both names in both scripts — a guest reading only English should not be left guessing at a transliteration.

4. The date, the time, and the place

The part guests actually re-read, so it is the part worth being pedantic about. Give the day of the week as well as the date — people plan around "Friday" far more than around a number. Write the time in the form your guests use rather than a 24-hour clock. And give the venue enough detail that someone can find it without calling you.

If you are having a كتب كتاب and a reception, give each its own time and place. One line covering both is the single most common source of the question every host gets asked: which part am I invited to?

5. The closing line

One sentence, warm, no new information. Its job is to end the invitation rather than to say anything.

A note on formality

There is no single correct register. A formal invitation from both families to four hundred guests and a warm one from a couple to sixty are both right, and choosing the wrong one for your family is a more visible mistake than any wording error. If you are unsure, look at how the invitations you have received recently are written — the answer is usually in your own phone.