Invitation wording

[curlygirl]

OK, what do you all think--is it five o''clock in the afternoon or five o''clock in the evening? I''m really struggling with this one and everyone I ask has a different response. Help!!

 

[LollyBear]

My wedding was at five and I had the same problem. I finally found a website that said evening does not begin until 6, so I went with afternoon.

 

[glaucomflecken]

have you asked your invitation people? the ones who did mine had a lot of information on wording and etiquette!

 

[rms]

I looked up the definition in multiple places. Here is the definition of evening from www.m-w.com

Main Entry: 1eve·ning
Pronunciation: 'Ev-ni[ng]
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English [AE]fnung, from [AE]fnian to grow toward evening, from [AE]fen evening; akin to Old High German Aband evening and perhaps to Greek epi on
1 a : the latter part and close of the day and early part of the night b chiefly Southern & Midland : AFTERNOON c : the period from sunset or the evening meal to bedtime
2 : the latter portion
3 : the period of an evening's entertainment

...makes me think that you should consider the location and time of year and whether the sun will have set already at 5 o'clock on your big day.

 

[Scintillating]

I just got a very formal wedding invitation that says Five o''clock in the evening.

I don''t know it could go either way, but five o''clock in the evening just sounds right to me. (?)

Scintillating...

 

[Tybee]

OH, I agree with RMS,
I would bet that 5:00 could be evening depending on what time of the year your wedding is. If it''s winter time, and it gets dark earlier, than 5:00 would be considered evening, but if it''s summer time and the sun will still be up for hours, it''s going to be afternoon.
Good call RMS.
Tybee

 

[curlygirl]

Thank you, ladies! All the stuff I have read says it is afternoon until 6:00. My invitation people told me it can go either way and it's really up to me. Since it is a formal winter wedding (February) and it will be getting dark by 5:00, I think I'm going to go with evening. It just sounds better to me!

 

[ame]

I called it afternoon.

 

[Angel7]

I do invitations on the "side" and all of my vendors use in the "evening"

 

[flopkins]

if you want it to be more formal, go w/evening!