Today I learned from Miss Manners — yes, from the Miss Manners column — that on wedding invitations there is a meaningful difference between requests for "the pleasure of your company" and "the honor of your presence."
I've been alive for more than 60 years, conscious of weddings for close to 60 of those years, and I had no idea. This makes me wonder if that difference still matters.
Miss Manners informs me, and the person who posed the question, that:
[the honor of your presence] is used if the ceremony is held in a house of worship; the [pleasure of your company] if it is held elsewhere.
Upon quizzing, my other half and Daughter Number 3.1 both thought the difference was one of formality vs. informality. That's similar, but not as specific.
I'm skeptical that very many people are aware of this distinction of etiquette, which sounds like a difference that mattered more to Victorians than it would today. I imagine the wedding-industrial-complex tries to enforce it, but they're the only ones who still care about it.
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