WeddingTemplates releases a new analysis of 9,860 wedding invitations showing how often couples and parents are named as hosts and how the host line shapes invitation wording.

SHERIDAN, US — November 9, 2026 — WeddingTemplates, a digital wedding stationery platform operated by DigiVault LLC, has announced the release of a new analysis of the hosts named on wedding invitations. The analysis finds that couples named themselves as the hosts on 74% of the 9,860 invitations made on WeddingTemplates from January 2025 through September 2026. Parents were named as hosts on 23%, and grandparents or other relatives on 3%.

Formal wedding invitation suite on a table with a fountain pen

The research examines the host line, the opening line of a formal invitation, where the bride’s parents have traditionally been named as hosts. It also compares formal and informal invitation wording.

The findings come as couples are marrying later. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age at first marriage reached 30.8 for men and 28.4 for women in 2025, up from 23.5 and 21.1 in 1975, based on estimates from its Current Population Survey.

Analysis Finds Most Couples Host Their Own Weddings

The analysis identified the following hosts across the 9,860 invitations:

  • The couple “together with their families,” or similar wording: 41%

  • The couple alone: 33%

  • One set of parents: 13%

  • Both sets of parents: 8%

  • A single parent: 2%

  • Grandparents or other relatives: 3%

Couples named themselves as hosts on 72% of invitations made in 2025 and 76% of those made in 2026. Parents were named as hosts on 25% and 21%, respectively.

Results also differed by ceremony venue and format. Where an invitation named a house of worship for the ceremony, parents were the hosts on 34% of invitations, compared with 19% for other venues. Couples named themselves as hosts on 81% of invitations shared digitally and 71% of those downloaded to print.

Shared Host Lines Acknowledge Both Families

“Together with their families” was the most common shared opening, appearing on 31% of all invitations. “Together with their parents” appeared on 6%, and other variations, such as “Along with their families,” on 4%.

This wording allows a couple to acknowledge both families without naming either set of parents as hosts. On 11% of couple-hosted invitations, both sets of parents were also named elsewhere on the invitation, usually beneath the couple’s names.

When parents hosted, 58% of their invitations named them with courtesy titles such as Mr. and Mrs. A parent who had died was named on 3% of all invitations, most often with “the late” before the name.

Invitations Show Who Hosts, Not Who Pays for the Wedding

Search analytics company Semrush estimates that “who pays for the wedding” is searched about 2,900 times a month in the United States, and “wedding invitation wording” 5,400 times.

A wedding invitation does not record who paid, only who is hosting. The Emily Post Institute notes that “a wedding invitation is issued by the host(s),” and by tradition those hosts were the bride’s parents. The host lines in the analysis show how often couples now present the wedding themselves, alone or together with their families.

WeddingTemplates said that seeing how other couples word the host line, with or without their parents’ names, can make it easier for couples to write their own and to discuss it with both families.

Host Line Influences Formal and Informal Invitation Wording

The formal phrase “request the honour of your presence” appeared on 19% of the invitations, and “request the pleasure of your company” on 8%. The remaining 73% used informal wording such as “invite you to celebrate” or “please join us.”

According to the Emily Post Institute, “the honour of your presence” is used when the ceremony will take place in a house of worship, while “the pleasure of your company” is the traditional wording for other venues. Of the invitations that used “the honour of your presence,” 41% named a church, chapel, synagogue or other house of worship for the ceremony, compared with 9% of those that used “the pleasure of your company.”

Parent-hosted invitations used one of the two formal phrases 64% of the time, compared with 16% for couple-hosted invitations. Formal phrases appeared on 29% of invitations made in 2025 and 26% of those made in 2026.

Where “honour” or “honor” appeared, 68% of invitations used the British spelling “honour,” as Emily Post’s guide does, and 32% used “honor.” In Canada, 93% used “honour.”

Beyond the invitation phrase, 12% of invitations or their details cards requested an adults-only celebration.

Results Vary by Design Style and Country

Parents were named as hosts on 37% of invitations with Classic designs, 24% with Floral designs and 16% with Minimalist designs, compared with 14% with Rustic designs and 12% with Boho designs.

Couples in Canada named themselves as hosts on 80% of their invitations, compared with 73% in the United States.

Research Methodology and Scope:

WeddingTemplates analyzed 9,860 wedding invitations made in its online editor between January 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026: 4,210 in 2025 and 5,650 in 2026. Couples in the United States made 81% of them, couples in Canada 8% and couples in other countries 11%.

Invitations were classified as couple-hosted when the couple issued the invitation, alone or with “together with their families” or similar wording; as parent-hosted when one or both sets of parents, or a single parent, issued it; and as hosted by other relatives when grandparents or other family members did. Formal wording refers to “request the honour of your presence” or “request the pleasure of your company,” in either spelling.

Houses of worship were identified from the ceremony venue named on 8,920 invitations. Each couple was counted once, and test and staff accounts were excluded.

The figures describe invitations made on WeddingTemplates, not all weddings, and show who is named as hosting, not who paid. Search figures are Semrush’s average monthly U.S. estimates, retrieved October 30, 2026. The full analysis is published on the WeddingTemplates blog.

About WeddingTemplates:

WeddingTemplates is a digital wedding stationery platform operated by DigiVault LLC. The company provides customizable templates for wedding invitations, save-the-date cards, thank-you cards, menus, signs and place cards, which couples personalize in a browser-based editor. Designs can be downloaded in PDF, JPEG or PNG formats for printing or digital use. WeddingTemplates also publishes informational resources related to wedding stationery and planning.

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