This week we're taking a deeper dive into wedding invitations from the 1900s. As we mentioned in the last History of Wedding Invitations blog post, printed wedding invitations were fairly common by the 1900s. We've gathered a few examples of what wedding invitations looked like during the first decade of the twentieth century.

Our first wedding invitation is from 1900, inviting guests to a marriage in Massachusetts. As you can see, it has many of the parts of a modern wedding invitation. The announcement begins with the host line, followed by the bride's name, groom's name, date, and location. This invitation style could easily be adapted for use today thanks to its elegant script font and timeless feel.

This 1904 invitation features old English calligraphy and announces a wedding in Georgia. This announcement includes a little more detail than the invitation from 1900. It opens with a hosting line, the bride and groom, date, and a specific wedding location instead of only the city and state. Old English calligraphy was a popular style in the early 1900s, making this a fashionable announcement for the time period.

The Roosevelt-Longworth announcement from 1906 is the most upscale and formal invitation of the bunch. Alice Roosevelt was U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt's daughter, and the invitation was sent out on White House stationery featuring gorgeous, thin script font and a presidential seal. The ceremony itself was held at the White House with 800 guests! The announcement opens with a hosting line, followed by a request line seen in proper wedding invitations. The request line was replaced with an announcement line in the last two invitations as they were not formal ceremonies. After the request line, the invitation continues by listing the bride, groom, and day of the event. This invitation also lists the time of the formal ceremony and requests a reply from the invitee. On today's wedding invitations, all of this information is usually included--even for casual ceremonies.

Our last example comes from 1909 and was used in an etiquette guide, so this is presumably the style in which most invitations were created from 1909 on. This announcement includes a hosting line, the bride and groom, date and time, specific wedding location, and a request line. The announcement features pretty, legible font and all parts of a typical wedding invitation by today's standards. We absolutely love how timeless wedding invitations are.

Click here to see our take on timeless and elegant wedding stationery.

Sources: Seaver-Richmond Wedding Announcement Heckle-Fletcher Wedding Announcement Roosevelt-Longworth Wedding Announcement Banning-Warner Wedding Announcement