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Is the name Mayden a male or female name?

On a wedding invitation, does female name go before the male's name when I'm not using Mr or Mrs?

  • I'd like to mention our parents names (first names...not just Mr. and Mrs. John Edward Doe) on our wedding invitation. Would it be Jane and John Doe or John and Jane Doe? I always thought it was the male's name first but I was just told (not sure how reliable the source) that you never "separate the male's first name from his last name"....? Pls help. Thanks!

  • Answer:

    Ugh, stupid etiquette issues. This isn't the 1900s. On our invitations, I put the name of the person we knew better first. For example, one of my bridesmaids was Katie Feller (name made up). Her husband was Max Taylor. Katie is my close friend. Max we are also friends with, but not as closely. So on the invite I put "Katie Feller & Max Taylor." For another friend who was married but took her husband's name, again I knew her better (and didn't know her husband at all, so he was more like a +1), so I put her name first. I used first names only, no Mr., Mrs., Ms.. The wedding wasn't formal enough to make addressees sound stuffy. And I most certainly didn't NOT put Mr. & Mrs. John Doe on ANY invitations. I feel it's highly disrespectful to the wife to not include her first name. She is a person, not an extension of her husband. I'll probably get a "thumbs down" for not using "proper etiquette," but sometimes I feel like following etiquette is unnecessary. If it makes sense and serves a purpose, follow the rules. If it doesn't serve a practical purpose, why bother?

M_R_J at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Best practice is Mr. and Mrs. John Doe. The 2nd option is Mr. John and Mrs. Elizabeth Doe (if keeping with a semi-formal / formal address. Not good etiquette to drop the Mr. and Mrs unless we are talking about an informal event). The man's name (etiquette) should come first when talking about a married couple with the same surname. The only exception is when discussing "rank" (such as military) and the wife out ranks her husband. If they were married but they carried different last names, than it goes alphabetically.

It should be the males name first in any type of marriage situation.

usually the husband's name goes first. so John and Jane Doe is how it would be printed.

Flip a coin! It's not that huge of a deal which one goes first and which one goes second. I can promise you that your guests won't be inspecting the invites with a magnifying glass to look for anything that might maybe have been an etiquette faux pax in the 1800s. And if you're not supposed to separate the male from his last name then why is it "Mr and Mrs John Doe"? What I usually do is either go alphabetically so Jane comes before John. Or I just put it whichever way sounds the best, like with my parents it just sounds odd (for some weird reason) to have my Mom's name first even though it's low on the alphabet. You could also ask your parents which way they prefer to have their names listed.

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