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Wedding Welcome Sign Ideas: Nine Wordings to Copy
Your welcome sign is the first thing guests read, and it has to tell them they've found the right wedding before they've even reached the door. The best wedding welcome sign ideas start from what the sign must carry: your names and the date first, then the venue, and a greeting, hashtag or unplugged note only if you want one sign to do a second job.
Every welcome sign carries your names. Most add the date, and many add the venue. Everything else is optional. Pick the wording by what the sign has to do, then choose a look that keeps it readable from the path.
Start with this table. Find the row that matches what your sign must carry, then read the idea below it.
| What the sign carries | Example wording | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Names only | Ana & Luis | A venue that hosts one wedding at a time |
| Names and date | Ana & Luis · June 12, 2027 | Most weddings |
| Names, date and venue | Welcome to the wedding of Ana & Luis · June 12, 2027 · The Orchard House | Hotels and venues with more than one event |
| Names, date and hashtag | Ana & Luis · June 12, 2027 · #AnaAndLuisSayIDo | Couples who want guests' photos in one place |
| Names, date and unplugged note | Welcome to our unplugged ceremony · Ana & Luis | A ceremony entrance with no separate unplugged sign |
1. "Welcome to the wedding of" with names, date and venue
The classic welcome sign has four lines. They are the greeting, your names, the date and the venue. Guests read it in a second, and it works at a barn, a ballroom or a beach.
The venue line matters more than couples expect. Many hotels and event spaces host more than one event in a day. A sign with your venue and your names tells a guest they're at the right door.
The Emily Post Institute's column on printed items for your wedding tells exactly this story. The writer drove up a secluded mountain road with confidence because a sign for "Dan and Kara's wedding" told her she was on the right track. A welcome sign does the same job at your entrance.
2. Names only, for a modern or minimalist sign
A names-only sign is the simplest wedding welcome sign you can make. "Ana & Luis" in large letters, with plenty of white space around it, looks calm and modern.
Use it when nobody could get lost. A private home, a small restaurant you've booked out or a venue that hosts one wedding a day all fit. You can add the date in small capitals under the names. Leave out the greeting, because the empty space is the point.
3. Alternatives to "Welcome to our wedding"
The greeting line is where you can sound like yourselves. Swap "Welcome to our wedding" for a line you'd actually say at the door:
- We're so glad you're here
- Welcome to our happily ever after
- Welcome to our forever
- Thank you for being part of our story
- Two families, one celebration
- Come on in, the party starts here
Keep the greeting smaller than your names. A long line set in the same size as your names turns the sign into a paragraph. Guests should still see whose wedding it is first.
The Emily Post column on printed items sums up the tone question well. It says cheeky can still be elegant, and formal can be warm and welcoming. Pick the line that matches how you'll greet people in person.
4. Funny wedding welcome sign wording
A funny welcome sign suits a relaxed wedding where the party is the main event. Keep the joke to one short line and let your names do the rest.
- Eat, drink and be married
- Finally!
- We said yes. Now let's party.
- Happily ever after starts here. The bar starts on the left.
- Ana & Luis. Best decision we ever made.
One joke works. Three jokes make guests stop and read, and the line behind them stops too. Save the other lines you love for the bar sign or the guest book sign.
5. Welcome sign with your hashtag on the last line
Your hashtag fits well on the welcome sign when you want guests' photos in one place. Everyone passes it on the way in. Put the tag on the last line, smaller than the date: "Share your photos #AnaAndLuisSayIDo."
Search the tag before you print it. Make sure nobody else has used it for their own wedding. Capitalize each word, so "AnaAndLuisSayIDo" reads as six separate words.
6. Welcome sign with an unplugged ceremony note
A small ceremony with one entrance can combine two jobs on one sign. Under your names and date, add a line such as "Welcome to our unplugged ceremony. Please put away your phones and cameras."
An unplugged note only fits until the ceremony ends. After that, the note is wrong. If the same sign moves to the reception, cover the bottom line or print a second version without it. At a bigger wedding, a separate unplugged sign by the seats is clearer, as the wedding signs guide explains.
7. A short quote under your names
A quote gives a ceremony entrance a quieter, more personal feel. Choose one line from your reading, your vows or a poem that means something to you both.
A favorite for weddings is the opening of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, as printed by the Folger Shakespeare Library: "Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments." Set the quote in small letters under your names and date. A quote that pushes the date off the sign has taken over.
8. Two families or two languages on one sign
When both families host, the greeting can say so. "The Sharma and Patel families welcome you to the wedding of Priya & Arjun" honors both sides in one line. The same wording suits an Indian wedding welcome sign, or any wedding where both sets of parents host.
If your guests speak two languages, set the greeting in both. Put the language most guests read first on top, and keep the second line the same size. Names stay as they are spelled on your invitation.
9. Welcome party sign for the night before
A welcome party the evening before the wedding needs its own sign. The wording is looser, because nobody is looking for a ceremony. A line like "Welcome to Savannah! We're so glad you made the trip" works well, followed by your names and the weekend's dates.
Don't reuse the wedding day sign for this. The date and venue would be wrong, and guests who see the same sign twice notice. A simple sheet in a frame on the welcome table is enough.
Lettering and looks that guests can read from 10 feet
Guests read a welcome sign while they walk, often from 10 feet or more. Script looks lovely but is hard to read from a distance. The federal accessibility standard for building signs, the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, says sign characters shall not be italic, oblique, script or highly decorative. A wedding sign isn't a building sign, but the reason holds. Keep script for your names, set large, and put the date and venue in plain capitals or a classic serif.
The ADA standard also asks for a non-glare finish and strong contrast, dark letters on a light background or light on dark. Mirror and clear acrylic signs struggle here, because they reflect the sky and the room behind. On paper, a matte finish with dark ink reads best outdoors.
For letter heights at different distances, and which poster size gives you that, see the wedding welcome sign size guide. As a quick reference, the standard works out to capitals at least 1 1/8 in tall for a guest 10 feet away.
The look you want decides the rest. An elegant or classic sign uses a formal script and wide spacing. A modern or minimalist sign uses one plain font and lots of white space. A floral or botanical sign frames the names with greenery, and an arched sign sets the names inside a curved top. Boho, vintage and beach looks lean on warm colors and texture. Whatever you pick, the names and the date have to stay clear of the decoration.
Our printable wedding welcome sign comes in four of these looks: Olive Grove (botanical), Meridian (modern minimal), Copperplate (classic, formal) and Wild Pampas (warm boho). Each has six color palettes and two layouts. The wording is the classic one from idea 1: "Welcome to the wedding of" above your names, date and venue.
A welcome sign does its job when a guest can read your names before they reach it.
How to choose wedding welcome sign ideas for your day
Go down the table and pick the row that matches your venue and how many jobs you want the sign to do.
| Idea | Best for | Lines on the sign | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Names, date and venue | Most weddings, any venue with other events | 4 | Main entrance, on an easel |
| Names only | Private homes, booked-out venues, modern style | 1 to 2 | Entrance or ceremony aisle |
| Warm greeting | Couples who want it to sound like them | 3 to 4 | Main entrance |
| Funny line | Relaxed parties | 3 | Entrance or cocktail hour |
| Hashtag line | Couples who want guests' photos | 4 | Where guests gather and take photos |
| Unplugged note | Small ceremonies with one entrance | 4 | Ceremony entrance only |
| Short quote | Ceremony entrance | 4 | Ceremony entrance |
| Two families or two languages | Families who host together | 4 to 5 | Main entrance |
| Welcome party sign | The evening before | 3 | Welcome table |
Our welcome sign fits the first row, and it is the wrong choice if you want any of the others. The heading "Welcome to the wedding of" is part of the design, and you edit the names, date and venue. For a funny line, a quote, a second language or a welcome party sign, you need a template where you write the whole text, or a sign maker. A hashtag or an unplugged note can go on its own sign instead. Our signs pack has both, as separate signs, for $15 per design.
If the classic wording is what you want, our wedding welcome sign costs $8 per design. After you pay, a download link arrives by email. You open the personalizer from the downloaded folder in Google Chrome on your computer, type your names, date and venue, watch the preview and click Download PDF. You get an 8 × 10 in sign and a full Letter or A4 sheet to print at home at Actual size (100%), plus 18 × 24 in and 24 × 36 in poster PDFs and a JPG at 300 ppi to take to a print shop. The files are for your own wedding only.
Frequently asked questions
What should my wedding welcome sign say?
Your names, the date and, if the venue hosts more than one event, the venue name. A short greeting such as "Welcome to the wedding of" or "We're so glad you're here" sits above the names. Add one more line only if the sign has a second job, such as your hashtag.
What to say instead of welcome to our wedding?
Try "We're so glad you're here", "Welcome to our happily ever after", "Thank you for being part of our story" or "Two families, one celebration". Keep your names as the largest line, so the greeting changes the tone but guests still know whose wedding it is.
Whose name goes first on a wedding welcome sign?
There's no rule for a sign. Most couples use the same order as on their invitation, so guests see one order everywhere. If neither of you minds, pick the order that sounds better said out loud.
What font is used for welcome signs?
Most welcome signs pair a script for the names with plain capitals or a classic serif for the date and venue. Script is hard to read from a distance, so use it only for the largest line and set everything else in a font with simple letter shapes.
Conclusion
Decide what your welcome sign has to carry before you pick a look. Your names come first and largest, the date and venue follow, and a greeting, quote, hashtag or unplugged note is one extra line at most. Set the date and venue in plain letters, keep script for the names, and print a test sheet you can read from 10 feet. If you want a second job done, such as asking for phones away, give it its own sign.
