A Crusade Against the"M"

I love blogs. I love the opportunity to have a forum to be able to rant about silly little things like the seemingly harmless "M." To which "M" am I referring? The one that traditionally appears on a typical response card as a lead-in to the line where the guests are meant to write their names. The "M" and long line that follows it have been printed on response cards since response cards have been printed. So why a crusade against them? Well, it's simple. The world today is different. Etiquette has been thrown about and tossed around and scattered to the wind. I would say that most people today do not have a grasp on the social niceties and their nuances that were vitally important for hundreds of years. Basically, your guests may not understand the "M." Heck--I'm a stationer and I get confused when I get a response card with that "M." Do I write "Mr. and Mrs. David LaMarre" or do I use the "M" and write "r. and Mrs. David LaMarre"? See? It's awkward. Not something you want your guests to feel. I had a wedding with five doctors and one rabbi. How do they fill that out? MRabbi and Mrs. . .? MDr. and Mrs.? Maybe. . .they put the "MD" instead of the Dr.? So what to do? I have two suggestions for you: either write "Name(s) _____________" which clearly indicates what's to go on that line, or get a little more traditional and have just "Please respond by ..." with your respond date and leave the rest of the space blank like this sample. The guests still might be a little bewildered with this second method and you may get a few back blank, but then again, you may get some lovely responses like, "Mr. and Mrs. David LaMarre will be honored to attend and can't wait to share your beautiful day." Isn't that nicer than "r. and Mrs. David LaMarre"? What's an "r." anyway?

Invitations shown as samples can be found at http://www.fairytalewedding.cceasy.com/