Time Line

An old superstition claims that being married on the half hour brings good fortune since the minute hand is ascending toward heaven, while being married on the hour leads to a bad marriage since, as with the minute hand, it is all downhill from there. Perhaps it is best to be married at noon when both hands are in the praying position. The time of the wedding is presented on one line and all letters are lowercase. If your wedding is being held at six o'clock, the time line simply reads, "at six o'clock." The time line for weddings held at six thirty reads, "at half after six o'clock."

The time line can be used to designate the time of day by using either "in the morning," in the afternoon," or "in the evening." For most times it is not usually necessary, since a wedding held at six o'clock is obviously being held in the evening. Weddings held at eight, nine, or ten o'clock are another matter, since they could be held in either the morning evening. In those cases, a designation denoting the time of day is helpful. In any event, you may always include the time of day if you find it aesthetically pleasing, and most older traditional invitations do include it.

My wedding is being held at noon. Should my invitations read "at twelve o'clock noon"?

Your invitations should simply read, "at twelve o'clock." Unless otherwise noted, "twelve o'clock" means "noon."

If you feel strongly about indicating the time of day, you may use, "at twelve o'clock in the afternoon."

I am being married at 6:45. How should this be read?

The correct wording for 6:45 is "at three quarters after six o'clock." Although correct, the wording may appear awkward to many people, so it might be a good idea to change the time of your wedding to six-thirty or seven o'clock.