INVITATIONS, ACCEPTANCES AND REGRETS
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Post, Emily
their dance is temporarily postponed.
When a wedding is broken off after the invitations have been issued:
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Nottingham
announce
that the marriage of their daughter
Mary Katharine
and
Mr. Jerrold Atherton
will not take place
Formal Acceptance Or Regret
Acceptances or regrets are always written. An engraved form to be filled in is vulgar—nothing could be in worse taste than to flaunt your popularity by announcing that it is impossible to answer your numerous invitations without the time-saving device of a printed blank. If you have a dozen or more invitations a day, if you have a hundred, hire a staff of secretaries if need be, but answer "by hand."
The formal acceptance to an invitation, whether it is to a dance, wedding breakfast or a ball, is identical:
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lovejoy
accept with pleasure
Mr. and Mrs. Smith's
kind invitation for dinner
on Monday the tenth of December
at eight o'clock
The formula for regret:
Mr. Clubwin Doe
regrets extremely that a previous engagement
prevents his accepting
Mr. and Mrs. Smith's
kind invitation for dinner
on Monday the tenth of December
or
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Kerry
regret that they are unable to accept
Mr. and Mrs. Smith's
kind invitation for dinner
on Monday the tenth of December
In accepting an invitation the day and hour must be repeated, so that in case of mistake it may be rectified and prevent one from arriving on a day when one is not expected. But in declining an invitation it is not necessary to repeat the hour.
Visiting Card Invitations
With the exception of invitations to house-parties, dinners and luncheons, the writing of notes is past. For an informal dance, musical, picnic, for a tea to meet a guest, or for bridge, a lady uses her ordinary visiting card:
To meet
Miss Millicent Gilding
Mrs. John Kindhart
Tues. Jan. 7.
Dancing at 10. o'ck.
350 Park Avenue