Q: My fiance's parents aren't contributing to the wedding, so we both feel it unnecessary to put their names on the invites. Still, I don't want to start off on the wrong foot and offend them. What should we do?

A: While most may think the names on the top if the invitation signifies who's paying for the wedding (and a lot of the time, the parents listed are paying), the larger meaning is to identify who is hosting the reception. And hosting can mean different things: parents can be official hosts -- they planned the party, they invited the guests, they paid -- or be honorary hosts. So even if you and your fiance paid for your own wedding, you can still honor both sets of parents on the invitation. If nothing else, it's a wonderful way to reach out to your new in-laws.

However, if your parents are paying for the entire wedding, and you're worried about offending them, by all means put their names on the top of the invite. Then you can insert your in-laws after the groom's name, with the line of "son of" in between.