Wedding ceremony

Just wanted to add, do send the reception cards that are made separate from the wedding to those only being invited.

Well you have a solid no case for the most part of how other couples are looking at the situation.

I do go the opposite and say yes its okay because you don't want to go overboard. If the venue is the same and you have guests attending the wedding, have it earlier in the day so that everyone else can relax and then the reception attending the cocktail hour beforehand. If its 2 separate venues, your okay and nothing to worry about since the uninvited guests won't be attending.

My eldest brother along with our parents decided to do the same and have some guests attend the wedding. The next day, there were some other guests not from the wedding to be there for reception back in 2000.

Okay....maybe an unpopular opinion, but...if you don't want to pay for their meal, then they probably aren't important enough to you to be invited to your wedding.

And I say this as a guest who has been to a wedding that went this route, and let me tell you... It. was. hella. awkward.

For those friends who didn't get the dinner invite, realizing during the break between ceremony and reception that other friends DID get a dinner invite was a total slap in the face to them.

For those of us invited to dinner, realizing others were not was incredibly uncomfortable and put a bad taste in our mouths about the day in general (there were other factors that contributed, but namely this was seen in very poor taste).

Using a little bit from what Valérie and Allison said, there is a way around it. If it is the food cost that is getting you down, it is totally okay to invite your guests to the ceremony and later reception (ie. not dinner).

This works best if you do have two separate venues as people aren't mingling or being left out in any way. Food costs a lot of money. A lot. And in the past a lot of people only had immediate family at dinner (ie. Parents, Grandparents and Siblings). If you have your ceremony at 4pm lets say at a church, and then your reception starts at 7 or 8pm at another location, guests would arrive again AFTER you have had dinner with your smaller group of guests. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this.

The only thing to keep in mind, if your venues are located in the middle of nowhere with no restaurants close by, your guests will be hungry. If you are getting married in town, or in the city you are golden as anyone can go anywhere they please for dinner. My venue is just outside of town but if guests wanted to drive back and forth its 15 minutes one way so its not far to go at all.

Thank you, I have never been to a wedding so I dont have much of an idea.

Short answer: nope. It's bad etiquette to do that.

I'm having a private ceremony and a full reception, but what you're suggesting feels a bit like a no-no to me...

It's usually not socially acceptable to invite guests to only one part of the wedding but I know some people who invite people to the ceremony and the dancing part of the reception, but not the dinner, to help with food costs, which can be one of the priciest parts of the wedding. Or, they have their reception after dinnertime and tell guests that dinner is not provided.

One way you might be able to get away with it is if you have your events (ceremony and reception) different days. I.e. your ceremony was on Friday and reception is on Saturday. Some people who do destination weddings/elope have a reception afterwards so more people can go, but I guess you could reverse it?

No it's generally considered quite rude to do so. It's okay to invite folks to the reception, but not the service, but not the other way around.

Personally I wouldn't do it. I just think its not typically taken well and seen as a bit of a snub. It happened to my parents a few years back and they were quite upset. They saw it as the bride and groom wanted a gift but they were not important enough to spend the money on at the reception to feed them and enjoy the night.

That's where it gets a little tricky because you will most likely be having people ask each other about the reception by either asking if somebody knows how to get there, or what time is it at again?

I would say your best bet is to be outright and mention in the invitations that are for people attending both that it's a small reception and maybe not to mention it at the ceremony, or mention that the reception will be close friends and fam only and you apologize to those who are not invited?

In my opinion, it isn't polite to invite someone to half of your wedding, unless the people not invited to the reception are kids and you're having an adult-only reception. You wouldn't kick someone watching a performance out of the theatre when it's the intermission.

Totally, but it needs to be done right in order to avoid any awkward moments! You can either:

1) Have your ceremony and reception at two different venues. This way, guests are all going their separate ways and won't necessarily know who's going to the reception and who isn't. Cocktail hour would be waiting your guests that are invited to the reception.

The 2nd scenario works best if you have guests that are only invited to the reception and not the ceremony, but here it goes for your FYI

2) You can have an extra early ceremony, leaving a long break between the ceremony and reception. You could let your guests know to "come back at x time for cocktail hour". Again, sorta forcing all of your guests to go their separate ways and avoiding any unpleasant moments.

Hope this helps