Wedding newspaper wording you can copy

How much to write, and in what tone

A newspaper page holds less than you'd think once a photo and a headline are on it. These are working numbers for a Letter or A4 page, not rules:

• Headline: 2 to 6 words. Deck (the line under it): 10 to 20 words.
• Welcome or thank-you note: 40 to 70 words.
• Front-page story beside a photo: 120 to 170 words.
• How we met: 100 to 230 words; the proposal, up to about 110.
• Captions, memorial lines, sign-offs: one sentence each.

Pick one tone for the whole paper and break it only on purpose. A funny paper can carry a sincere memorial line, and the contrast is what makes it land. If two of you are writing, read everything aloud together once: any line that makes one of you wince comes out.

Front-page headline and deck

The headline shouts, the deck explains. Write them as a pair.

• Romantic: FOREVER STARTS TODAY. After six years, three apartments and one stubborn trivia rivalry, Maya and Jordan say "I do" at Lakeside Barn.
• Romantic: TWO HEARTS, ONE HEADLINE. The story that started at a crowded bar table ends, and begins again, on June 5.
• Funny: LOCAL COUPLE ENDS RIVALRY, MERGES TEAMS. Sources confirm the trivia-table dispute of 2021 has been settled out of court, by marriage.
• Funny: SHE SAID YES. HE SAID FINALLY. Jordan, who has demanded a rematch since the night they met, has been granted a lifetime one.
• Classic: MAYA AND JORDAN TO WED. The couple marry this Saturday at Lakeside Barn, surrounded by family and friends.
• Classic: A WEDDING IN MADISON. Saturday, June 5, 2027. Lakeside Barn, half past three.

The headlines guide has many more.

Welcome note from the couple

• Romantic: Welcome, and thank you for being here. Everyone in this room has shaped our story in some way, and today we get to celebrate it with all of you in one place. Eat well, dance badly and stay late. With love, Maya & Jordan
• Funny: Welcome to the wedding! The schedule is on page 3, the crossword is on page 6 and the bar is to your left. We waited six years for today and you've waited about forty minutes, so thank you for your patience. Please enjoy yourselves. It's in the vows. Maya & Jordan
• Classic: Dear family and friends, we are so glad you could join us. Your love and support have carried us to this day, and it means a great deal to share it with you. With love and thanks, Maya and Jordan
• Short: Thank you for coming. Read the paper, do the crossword, and save us a dance. M & J

How we met, in three tones

Keep yours to one scene and what came after it.

• Romantic: It was a Tuesday trivia night, and Jordan's team had taken the last free table. Maya's team had taken it first, or so Maya says. A polite argument became a rematch, the rematch became dinner, and dinner became six years. Maya still says she won that night. Jordan says it doesn't matter, because he went home with her number.
• Funny: Maya and Jordan met in 2021 in a dispute over a bar table, which Jordan's team was sitting at and Maya's team had, according to Maya, reserved with a coat. Jordan demanded a rematch. He lost. He demanded another. Six years, three apartments and one beagle later, both parties have agreed to settle the matter for life.
• Classic: Maya and Jordan met at a trivia night in 2021, playing on opposite teams. A friendly rivalry turned into a first date the following week. In the years since, they have shared three homes, one beagle and a great many quiz nights. Jordan proposed on a lake dock in the summer of 2026.

For longer versions and the proposal story, see the love story examples.

Order of events phrasing

Same day, three voices. Pick one time style and stick to it: 3:30 PM in the US, 3.30pm is common in the UK and Australia.

Classic

• 3:30 PM: Ceremony
• 4:15 PM: Cocktail hour
• 6:00 PM: Dinner and toasts
• 8:00 PM: First dance and dancing
• 11:00 PM: Carriages

Funny

• 3:30 PM: The vows. Tissues are under your seat.
• 4:15 PM: Cocktail hour. Puzzles encouraged.
• 6:00 PM: Dinner, then speeches. The best man has been told five minutes.
• 8:00 PM: Dancing. No line-dance requests before 10.
• 11:00 PM: Last shuttle to town. Shoes optional by now.

Romantic

• 3:30 PM: We say our vows on the lawn
• 4:15 PM: Drinks in the garden while we steal away for photos
• 6:00 PM: Dinner together, and words from the people we love
• 8:00 PM: Our first dance, then yours

Photo captions

Every photo gets a caption, even if it's only names. Put people left to right, and add a place and year when you know them.

• Romantic: Six years in, and he still looks at her like that.
• Funny: Jordan, moments before losing the rematch. He would like it noted that he is appealing.
• Funny: The proposal. The ring made it. The sunglasses did not.
• Funny: Biscuit, who was not invited to the ceremony and has asked us to say he's fine about it.
• Classic: Maya and Jordan on the evening of their engagement, summer 2026.
• Classic: The bride's grandparents, Rose and Henry, on their wedding day in 1962.

Unplugged ceremony and cards and gifts notes

Unplugged ceremony

• Romantic: We invite you to be fully present with us. Please put away phones and cameras during the ceremony; our photographer has it covered, and we'll share every picture afterward.
• Funny: Phones away for the vows, please. Our photographer is a professional and your thumb is not. You'll get the good pictures soon, we promise.
• Classic: We kindly ask that all phones and cameras be switched off during the ceremony. Photographs will be shared with you afterward.
• Partly unplugged: Phones down for the vows. Snap away from the first kiss onward.

Cards and gifts

• Romantic: Your presence is the greatest gift. If you brought a card, there's a table for it by the entrance.
• Funny: Having you here is the gift. If you insist, the card box is by the door, guarded by a beagle.
• Classic: Your presence is all we ask. For those who wish, a card box is at the welcome table.
• Honeymoon fund: We already have a home full of everything we need. If you'd like to give a gift, a contribution toward our honeymoon would mean a lot; details are on our website.

In loving memory lines

Keep it to one or two sentences, check every name's spelling with family, and ask before you include someone whose loss is recent.

• Remembering Grandma Rose, who never missed a trivia night and would have been first on the dance floor.
• In loving memory of those who can't be with us today, and who are part of every reason we're here.
• Forever in our hearts: Robert Chen (1948–2024). We saved you a seat.
• Remembering Grandpa Joe, who taught us that every party needs one more song and one more slice of cake.
• We honor the memory of our loved ones who are no longer with us. Their love lives on in this day.

Thank-you notes and sign-off lines

Thank-you notes

• Romantic: To everyone who flew, drove, babysat, baked, lent us chairs or simply showed up: thank you. Every person in this room has loved us well, and tonight is our small way of saying so.
• Funny: Thank you for coming. Thank you for dressing up. Thank you in advance for the dancing you're about to do, which we will be filming. And to our parents: thank you for everything, including the bar tab.
• Classic: With heartfelt thanks to our families and friends for your love, your support and your presence today. We are grateful to share this day with you.
• For parents: Mom, Dad, Linda and Paul: thank you for showing us what a good marriage looks like.

Sign-offs

• With love, Maya & Jordan
• That's the news. Now go dance.
• Stop the presses: we're married.
• Printed with love, best read with cake.
• Read it, keep it, spill something on it.
• Until death do us part, or the bar closes, whichever comes first.
• Est. June 5, 2027.
• With gratitude and love, the newlyweds.

Making yours with VowPress

VowPress can write the first draft. You answer questions in a chat on the homepage for about ten minutes, rough notes are fine, and it writes the front-page story, headlines, love story, wedding-party blurbs and the rest from your answers, in the tone you pick: Romantic & heartfelt, Funny & playful, Classic & elegant, Tabloid gossip, Vintage newsroom, Faith-filled, or your own words. Names, dates and times print exactly as you typed them.

Click any words on the page to swap in a line from this guide. The preview is free; you pay once for the print files, and the Wedding Suite plan adds matching unplugged, cards & gifts and in-loving-memory signs in the same design. Start your newspaper and see how your words look in print.