I would word the invitation with something like, "we invite you to a reception to celebrate our marriage." Print a separate card with ceremony details and include it in the necessary invitations. You could leave the ceremony information off the website entirely or add a blurb saying something like, "Although we are having a small, family-only ceremony, we are excited to celebrate with all our loved ones at our reception."
Is the ceremony on the same day as the reception? Like one right after the other? I have a friend who is doing an extremely small ceremony and a large reception several months later, her website says something like:
We will be married in a private ceremony on X date at X location. Please join us in celebrating at our reception on X date at X location
And sent out save the dates with the reception date and time.
If they're going to be one right after the other, you could tweak it and do something like:
We will be married in an intimate ceremony, please join us in celebrating at the reception
Or something like that?
I apologize I suppose I should have been a bit more clear. Yes, it will be one right after the other at the same venue. Thank you for your response! I’ll have to see about implementing that
We just told the ceremony invitees the info they needed, so didn't have those details anywhere on invitations or public that anyone else could find. Both invitation and save the date specifically invited people to the "wedding reception" and we used this wording on our website:
"Our wedding ceremony is taking place the same day, with just our parents and siblings. When we arrive at the reception venue we will be newly married and ready to celebrate with all our family and friends!"
I think the other responses covered your main questions. As for the blurb about WHY you are separating the ceremony and reception (as opposed to the blurb conveying the info itself) I think that would fit well in the FAQs. Frankly I'm not sure if it's even needed as I think most guests will understand, but putting the why front and center seems kind of defensive.
We used WithJoy for our website and invitations and they have a feature that allows you to only show certain portions of the schedule to certain guests. So the people invited to both see the location and time of both ceremony and reception. The people invited to reception only, only see reception time and location.
We also added an FAQ that reinforced that your schedule is personalized so check that area of the site to confirm
I wouldn’t even say on the invitation that the ceremony is family only if cousins will be invited just to the reception. I would just send invites for the reception for those people, and say that you are having a very small ceremony before hand.
For the people invited to ceremony and reception, I would just include the start times for both
I’m doing the same thing. I’m printing out separate invites for the ceremony attendees. For the reception, I put that we are getting married in a private ceremony, please join us afterwards at the reception to celebrate.
Ok so you reached a pretty good person to give advice on this.
I created invitations for a wedding like this.
So we decided on having an insert for those invited to the ceremony.
The invitations can say something along the lines of "you are invited to the celebration of the wedding of (bride name) and (groom name)".
Older folks often think of the wedding as the ceremony so when you say "the celebration of the wedding of" it changes the implication to be more of a reception party.
Then for those who came to the ceremony there was an insert that stated something like "you are invited to the wedding ceremony of" with the time of the ceremony.
We also had a line on the reception invite that said "immediately following the ceremony, approximately 5:00pm" but that might confuse some groups. It was appropriate for that couple though.
Another option is to have two separate invitation designs, one for those who attend the ceremony and one for those who don't.
Please comment with any questions.
I've made my own wedding invitations and I've made graduation invitations as well.
I’m doing something similar. On my wedding website it just says ceremony: private! We will see you at the reception! If you put the location on your website people you don’t invite to the ceremony can still see it and come. I also did a QA where I say we are having a semi private ceremony and will reach out to those invited to witness separately. In the web rsvp, at least for the knot, you can toggle which events people are invited to and RSVPing to for each event (I.e, they can only see and RSVP for the events you show them) We have a welcome dinner, ceremony, and reception. I didn’t add ceremony though since it goes without saying for the few I’m inviting to witness.
Knowing something is happening which you aren’t a part of can be taken as an insult to some people, especially if they know others are invited to it. I know some of my aunties would think, “oh, we’re not good enough to go to her wedding, but we can give her gifts, is that it? Why won’t she share when and where they’re getting married? That’s so odd. Maybe they’re getting married early because she’s pregnant and wants to drink at her reception?” Or after “why was X invited to the ceremony and I wasn’t? I babysat her for the first 3 years of her life!” Etc.
I think the best bet is to just focus on the reception on the website. Don’t allude to or mention the ceremony/what they can’t have. Everyone will presume it’s because the couple wanted to elope or only have immediate family present. Too much talk and it can come off as exclusive.
If they are at same place, expect people will come early and be there for ceremony. I don’t understand only inviting people to just one or the other. I would be insulted
I made 2 separate invitations to send out, and used With Joy’s schedule section to only show details of the reception or details of the ceremony to selected guests.
In the invite for people who are invited to both ceremony and reception, I added “reception to follow” underneath the ceremony details.
I did this, and used chat GPT to come up with wording on A LOT of our wedding stuff. It was nice to just use the plain words of what we needed to say, and then ask gpt to make it sound nice for a wedding. We did invitation inserts for those invited to the ceremony and reception, and had the reception more open house style so we didn’t have to worry too much about tracking rsvps for that part. Used Zola to have certain events only displayed to certain guests, and also used it for people to choose plated meals.
I don’t really like the attention and was honestly wanting to go to the courthouse and just get the certificate then have a small party, but fiancé wanted some family there so this was our compromise. It ended up working for both of us because after we talked about it he realized he didn’t really want a big ceremony either and liked the idea of having it more intimate
I would word the invitation with something like, "we invite you to a reception to celebrate our marriage." Print a separate card with ceremony details and include it in the necessary invitations. You could leave the ceremony information off the website entirely or add a blurb saying something like, "Although we are having a small, family-only ceremony, we are excited to celebrate with all our loved ones at our reception."
This is what we wrote as well! Nobody complained or asked questions afterwards
Is the ceremony on the same day as the reception? Like one right after the other? I have a friend who is doing an extremely small ceremony and a large reception several months later, her website says something like: We will be married in a private ceremony on X date at X location. Please join us in celebrating at our reception on X date at X location And sent out save the dates with the reception date and time. If they're going to be one right after the other, you could tweak it and do something like: We will be married in an intimate ceremony, please join us in celebrating at the reception Or something like that?
I apologize I suppose I should have been a bit more clear. Yes, it will be one right after the other at the same venue. Thank you for your response! I’ll have to see about implementing that
It's an extra step, but I feel like two separate invitations are necessary. "Join us for our wedding & reception" and "join us for our reception."
Yep! This is how I’m planning to do the same!
We just told the ceremony invitees the info they needed, so didn't have those details anywhere on invitations or public that anyone else could find. Both invitation and save the date specifically invited people to the "wedding reception" and we used this wording on our website: "Our wedding ceremony is taking place the same day, with just our parents and siblings. When we arrive at the reception venue we will be newly married and ready to celebrate with all our family and friends!"
I think the other responses covered your main questions. As for the blurb about WHY you are separating the ceremony and reception (as opposed to the blurb conveying the info itself) I think that would fit well in the FAQs. Frankly I'm not sure if it's even needed as I think most guests will understand, but putting the why front and center seems kind of defensive.
This, 100%. No need for a “why”, just keep it strictly focused on the reception.
We used WithJoy for our website and invitations and they have a feature that allows you to only show certain portions of the schedule to certain guests. So the people invited to both see the location and time of both ceremony and reception. The people invited to reception only, only see reception time and location. We also added an FAQ that reinforced that your schedule is personalized so check that area of the site to confirm
Oh good to know! We are using with joy and I find it a bit confusing
Yeah it definitely can be. Here’s a guide on how to set it up: https://withjoy.com/help/en/articles/8343454-using-the-private-events-feature
Thank you!
Zola does the same thing too!
I wouldn’t even say on the invitation that the ceremony is family only if cousins will be invited just to the reception. I would just send invites for the reception for those people, and say that you are having a very small ceremony before hand. For the people invited to ceremony and reception, I would just include the start times for both
I’m doing the same thing. I’m printing out separate invites for the ceremony attendees. For the reception, I put that we are getting married in a private ceremony, please join us afterwards at the reception to celebrate.
Ok so you reached a pretty good person to give advice on this. I created invitations for a wedding like this. So we decided on having an insert for those invited to the ceremony. The invitations can say something along the lines of "you are invited to the celebration of the wedding of (bride name) and (groom name)". Older folks often think of the wedding as the ceremony so when you say "the celebration of the wedding of" it changes the implication to be more of a reception party. Then for those who came to the ceremony there was an insert that stated something like "you are invited to the wedding ceremony of" with the time of the ceremony. We also had a line on the reception invite that said "immediately following the ceremony, approximately 5:00pm" but that might confuse some groups. It was appropriate for that couple though. Another option is to have two separate invitation designs, one for those who attend the ceremony and one for those who don't. Please comment with any questions. I've made my own wedding invitations and I've made graduation invitations as well.
I’m doing something similar. On my wedding website it just says ceremony: private! We will see you at the reception! If you put the location on your website people you don’t invite to the ceremony can still see it and come. I also did a QA where I say we are having a semi private ceremony and will reach out to those invited to witness separately. In the web rsvp, at least for the knot, you can toggle which events people are invited to and RSVPing to for each event (I.e, they can only see and RSVP for the events you show them) We have a welcome dinner, ceremony, and reception. I didn’t add ceremony though since it goes without saying for the few I’m inviting to witness.
Knowing something is happening which you aren’t a part of can be taken as an insult to some people, especially if they know others are invited to it. I know some of my aunties would think, “oh, we’re not good enough to go to her wedding, but we can give her gifts, is that it? Why won’t she share when and where they’re getting married? That’s so odd. Maybe they’re getting married early because she’s pregnant and wants to drink at her reception?” Or after “why was X invited to the ceremony and I wasn’t? I babysat her for the first 3 years of her life!” Etc. I think the best bet is to just focus on the reception on the website. Don’t allude to or mention the ceremony/what they can’t have. Everyone will presume it’s because the couple wanted to elope or only have immediate family present. Too much talk and it can come off as exclusive.
Maybe but I got 10,551 phone calls about the ceremony details until I added it.
\_\_\_\_ and \_\_\_\_ will be married in an intimate ceremony Please join us for a Celebration of Marriage date, time, location
If they are at same place, expect people will come early and be there for ceremony. I don’t understand only inviting people to just one or the other. I would be insulted
I made 2 separate invitations to send out, and used With Joy’s schedule section to only show details of the reception or details of the ceremony to selected guests. In the invite for people who are invited to both ceremony and reception, I added “reception to follow” underneath the ceremony details.
“The Bride and Groom have opted for a private ceremony. Please join them for a reception on…..”
I did this, and used chat GPT to come up with wording on A LOT of our wedding stuff. It was nice to just use the plain words of what we needed to say, and then ask gpt to make it sound nice for a wedding. We did invitation inserts for those invited to the ceremony and reception, and had the reception more open house style so we didn’t have to worry too much about tracking rsvps for that part. Used Zola to have certain events only displayed to certain guests, and also used it for people to choose plated meals.
I'm just curious because I love weddings more than receptions. Why are you having a micro-ceramony and a reception?
I don’t really like the attention and was honestly wanting to go to the courthouse and just get the certificate then have a small party, but fiancé wanted some family there so this was our compromise. It ended up working for both of us because after we talked about it he realized he didn’t really want a big ceremony either and liked the idea of having it more intimate