When a parent has died

An invitation is issued by living hosts, so a parent who has died is not named as one. Many couples still want them on the card, and there is a way that is both correct and kind: a line that remembers them, rather than a host line.

Traditional Warm Modern

Traditional

Mrs Vikram Rao
requests the pleasure of your company
at the marriage of her daughter
Priya to Etienne Moreau
Saturday, the twelfth of June
at four o’clock

The surviving parent hosts, exactly as one parent would. The classic “daughter also of the late Vikram Rao” follows the bride’s name. To remember him on the card itself, use the warm wording.

Warm

Together with their families,
and remembering Vikram Rao,
Priya & Etienne
invite you to celebrate
their marriage
Saturday 12 June 2027
at 4pm

He is remembered in the opening lines rather than listed. Warm, accurate, and nobody has to explain it.

Modern

Priya & Etienne
are getting married.
We’d love you with us.
Saturday 12 June 2027
at 4pm

Some couples keep the card plain and remember a parent elsewhere: a reading, a word on the website, an empty chair. That is equally right.

What people ask

Can we name a parent who has died as a host?: Convention says not, because hosts issue the invitation. Naming them after the bride’s name (“daughter also of the late…”) or in a remembering line is the accepted way to include them.
Where else can we remember them?: Your website is a gentler place for it than the card: a line in your story, or a note about a reading. Guests see it before the day.
Both parents have died. Who hosts?: Usually the couple, with “together with their families” if you want family on the card, or a grandparent, sibling or other relative who is giving the wedding.

Last checked 4 October 2026.

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