How do I list all of our parents in engagement and wedding announcements, etc?

Question

My fiance's side is easy -- one set of parents. (He's 30)

I was adopted at the age of 4 by John & Barb. When I was 15, they divorced and have since both remarried. Around this same time, I was reintroduced to my birth mother, Laura.

I am now 24.

My adoptive mother, Barb now lives states away with her second husband and I only see her a couple times a year and speak with her MAYBE once a month. We are cordial to each other, but we don't have a close Mother/Daughter relationship. She is very, very excited about our wedding and she IS my mother... so I do want her involved.

My adoptive father, John, only lives 30 minutes from me, and although we used to be extremely close... there were 2 1/2 years where we did not speak to each other. My relationship with him and his second wife is very, very tense. Six months ago, my fiance pushed me to try to reconnect with him. Although, we are now speaking -- it is rocky. Again he IS my father... so I want him involved.

My birth mother, Laura, lives in the same town that I do. We talk and e-mail several times a week, have lunches together and even attend the same church. We have become extremely close and have a very, very good relationship. We do have some sort of a mother/daughter bond, but there is also a lot of friendship, support and acceptance. In the last 8 years I have now met all of my biological family and celebrate birthdays & holidays with them. Ten years ago I wouldn't have dreamed that she would be at my wedding -- and now I'm thrilled that she will be here in whatever way I do or don't want her to be.

As you can see, I have three SETS of parents who will all be invited to our small (45-60) wedding. I do not want to hurt anyone's feelings, but cannot figure out how (if) I should honor them on announcements, invitations, church seating, etc.

My fiance and I are paying for our wedding, we both have solid careers and are blessed that we can pay for a small wedding. HIS parents also want to help. Even though my parents could contribute to our expenses, they have not offered.

I give you this "financial" information in case that makes a difference on announcement wording.

Answer 1

Bob Jones, son of Larry & Mary Jones, and Betty Allen, daughter of John & Hannah Allen; Laura & Walter Chase; & Barbara Morgan, are pleased to announce their engagement & pending wedding….

An alternative is to say Bob Jones& Betty Allen are pleased to announce their engagement & pending wedding….and then at the end in its own sentence say

Bob is the son of Larry & Mary Jones. Betty is the daughter of John & Hannah Allen, Laura & Walter Chase, & Barbara Morgan.

Answer 2

Since you are really hosting the wedding (your parents donation is a gift) you do not ned to mention parents. However, if you'd like to mention them you can say something like:

Bride

and

Groom

Together with their parents...

Parents are not usually named on announcements unless printed in newspaper.

Answer 3

Your options:

"the families of YOUR NAME and HIS NAME"

"the parents of YOUR NAME and HIS NAME"

"ADOP DAD NAME, ADOP MOM NAME, BIO MOM NAME along with HIS PARENTS NAME"

"YOUR NAME and HIS NAME"

Answer 4

i would just put "the parents of ___"

Answer 5

It should be John x*x and Barb XXXX doesn't matter if they are remarried or not you just list their correct last names.  If you want to include you biological mother just do:

John x*x, Barb x*x and Laura x*x Would like to announce ......  I've never seen were step parents were included on invitations (especially with all the divorces couples these days) unless there is a step parent that raised that person and they are on there inplace of the real parent.

Answer 6

I have a mother, father, step-mother & my husband has a father, mother, step father & step mother ...

We put:

The parents of Andrea & Martin would like to ... etc., etc., etc.