Yours faithfully? Yours truly? Something else?

[mummynumber2]

Know I should know this one. If I'm replying to a formal wedding invitation and start the letter with 'Dear .......' How should I end it?

Dear Sir? Dear uncle Sue?

Depends how it's addressed.

Dear Sir or Madam = Yours faithfully
Dear Uncle Sue and Auntie Derek = Yours sincerely

Yours sincerely, if "Dear" is followed by a name - is the business correspondence rule.

But actually, the total formal wedding reply rule is in the third person (maybe you knew this, but anyway ...) so:

"Gertrude Trumpington thanks The Right Reverend and Mrs Whatserface for their kind invitation to the wedding of their daughter Minky-Rae ...."

In truth, if you are replying per ordinary letter format, ie in the first person, I don't think you need to sign off formally. I think "best regards" or even "love from" will be happily accepted.

Dear ... Yours sincerely

Dear Sir [or Madam] ... Yours faithfully

But if replying to a properly formal wedding invitation you don't use either. It should go

Mr. and Mrs. mummynumber2 accept with pleasure the kind invitation of to the wedding of and on at .

Ah! It's Dear Mr and Mrs ....' So it's yours sincerely.

Thanks WanderingTrolley!

Reply to those who invited you, eg parents of the bride....Dear Mrs and Mrs

Sign it Yours sincerely

The Yours sincerely/faithfully rule is that if you address it to a specific name, then it's yours sincerely. If you say Dear Sir/Madam, it's yours faithfully.

Oh! Thanks Bink and Partand lemon. You're right. Can you tell we're not invited anywhere nice very often?

Dear Mr and Mrs Walker or Dear Malcolm and Margaret (if you know them well)

Yours sincerely

An easy way to remember the rule is that you don't write two "s"s in the same letter

ie Dear Sir/Madam = yours faithfully

Dear Mr Blinkspot = yours sincerely.

Yours truly is sometimes substituted but I'm never quite sure when to use it myself

Like the way you're thinking Waswondering.

I actually don't know them at all as it's from the brides parents so I really need to go for the more formal response.

Thanks everyone!