I’m working on our wedding invitation suite to be sent. Almost all of the examples I see have the Bride’s name first. I thought my name should always be the first? BIG asked. No one really knows if the chicken came first or the egg, but when it comes to wedding invitations, the bride always comes before the groom. 

The answer in typical protocol says that prior to the wedding day (on Save the Dates, Invitations, etc.) the bride’s name should precede the groom’s. And after the wedding day (on Thank You cards, Address Labels, etc.) that the groom’s name precedes his new wife.

Traditional wedding invitations always begin with the bride’s parents’ names written in full. If the groom’s parents are also hosting, their names follow those of the bride’s parents, bride and groom’s names can be listed after a simple statement such as “Together with their families." But in our case, BIG and I alone are hosting, we just leave out the statement about our families.