As you look at your never ending list, you are thankful to see one thing that can be completed in seconds. Engagement announcements! We are proud to announce…Wait a minute. Does a divorced couple announce the engagement together? What about your daughter’s loving step-father? The groom’s family has a similar situation. Where is Dear Abby when you need her?

Take a deep breath and relax. The manners police can’t actually arrest you for imperfect etiquette. To successfully write engagement announcements, you should ask the engaged couple what they want. Perhaps your daughter feels like a step-parent is more of a father than the biological father and wants to have the step-father’s name on the announcements. Maybe she even wants both her biological and her step-father on there. If an announcement that begins with, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Mr. Jones are proud to announce the engagement of their daughter, Jane Jones, to…” makes her happy, go for it. After all, she is the whole reason you need to write engagement announcements in the first place.

If your daughter wants to be sure that you follow proper etiquette, a quick call to your local library to ask the reference librarian to check an up to date etiquette book can help you get the wording right.