What exact words should I put on the Quinceanera invitations? Do I have to write a poem? Should I include a famous poet’s verse? Do I quote the Bible? Spanish or English? How important really are the words? In answering all your questions, remember that purpose of the invitations as a starting point. While everyone wants their Quinceanera invitations to be beautiful, don’t overlook the functional aspect of inviting guests.
The most important element of the Quinceanera invitations is conveying details. Make sure you include the date, time, and location of the Mass or ceremony. Leave the specifics of a reception following the ceremony for separate cards to be included in the envelope. The next item is the names of the parents and their daughter, who are doing the inviting. That’s it! Now… on to how to put it on paper.
Keep it Simple
As a rule of thumb, simple is best. A single-face card can provide enough space for the basic details and still look elegant. But too much text can make it look crowded. On the other extreme, imagine a hard bound velvet booklet of several pages with gold cord and tassels from King Arthur announcing the Quinceanera. While this would be a relatively expensive approach, it illustrates the extent of possibilities. Most people take a more modest approach, so let’s go over the details of minimum requirements of the wording of invitations.
Names of Hosts on the Quinceanera Invitations
The names of the parents and their daughter are almost always included on the invitations, generally in the form of:
Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Martinez
request the honor of your presence….at a Mass celebrating the fifteenth birthday of their daughter,
Veronica Marie….
or
I, Veronica Marie
along with my parents
Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Ramirez
cordially invite…
If the parents are separated or divorced, you may refer to them as:
Mr. Carlos Ramirez and
Ms. Maria Ramirez (or whatever last name she uses)
… or if they are remarried:
Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Ramirez and
Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Quintana
the family of Veronica Marie
cordially invite….
On formal Quinceanera invitations, convey the details of date & time by spelling out the numbers in the following format.
Day – Saturday, the tenth of July,
Year – two thousand and eight
Time – … at five o’clock in the afternoon
Location – Saint Paul’s Church
Town – Houston, Texas
Remember to capitalize names of people, cities, states, churches, days, and months. That’s all you need to have the basics covered. Put it all together and you have something like:
I, Veronica Marie
along with my parents
Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Ramirez
request the honor of your presence
at a Holy Mass in the
celebration of my
Fifteenth Birthday held on
Saturday, the tenth of July,
two thousand and eight
at five o’clock in the afternoon
Saint Paul’s Church
Houston, Texas.
If the address of the church would be helpful, feel free to include it. Zip code is not necessary.
Additional Content
You may want to include additional content, something along the lines of :
With the love of my family
I will express my thanks to God
and my feelings of becoming a young woman.
If the space in your Quinceanera invitations allows, you may include a favorite Biblical verse, poem, or something written by you. If godparents are involved in hosting, or helping to pay for the Quinceanera, their names may also be included on the invitations, but it’s not required. Including the names of the court is a possibility as well. If there are 14 males and 14 females, this may come out to quite a list and a large invitation design is necessary. Some online applications such as Paper Shouts, let you see what your layout will look like after entering text and photos.
When you finalize the wording, be sure to proofread it and proof again. Ask family and friends to check for grammar and spelling errors. If your Quinceanera invitations are being professionally printed, be sure to get a proof as well, to let you check no only the text, but the paper and layout as well.
In the big picture, remember that the main purposes of Quinceanera invitations are to announce the ceremony and celebration, and to invite people to attend. While you want something nice, possibly suitable for framing, you don’t have to create a masterpiece. It will set the tone for your celebration, and is just the first step of your magnificent event. Let your Quinceanera be your masterpiece!
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