Help!

telisha9

to help save money can you do an intimate ceremony and dinner to follow then have a cake and champagne reception where you invite everyone else on your guest list?

[Deleted User]

No. That is a tiered reception and it is considered rude.  You could do the ceremony and then a cake and punch reception, just make sure it isn't at a meal time.  If your reception falls around meal times, you should provide a meal for your guests.

littlemoments324

You can have a champagne & cake reception.  Just make sure to put on the invites something along the lines of:

WIth their families,

Jane Doe

&

John Smith

request the pleasure of your company at the union of blah blah blah

Four thirty in the afternoon,
blah blah blah

On your reception card: Please join us for a cake & champagne reception at such & such time.

ginadog

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_help-5?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:00d13d35-c249-4b6c-949d-dbd7bfb37019Post:20ec7bb2-761c-4328-bbb2-1c74982dbfbb">Help!</a>:
[QUOTE]to help save money can you do an intimate ceremony and dinner to follow then have a cake and champagne reception where you invite everyone else on your guest list?
Posted by telisha9[/QUOTE]

I think - to go with etiquette - you can have a celebration party the next day or weekend after your intimate wedding and intimate dinner.  Having it on the same day is hat they call a tiered reception and makes you have an A list and B list which is frowned upon. 

The invitations can say, "You're invited to a celebration party," but then etiquette people say not to "redo" the wedding as in don't wear your dress, say vows, etc. 

bookworm78

We ran into the same problem...FI wanted to invite so many people and when we did the numbers, we just couldn't afford dinner for the entire guest list. I gave him 2 options: 1) cut down the list to 50 guest TOTAL and have dinner or 2) have a coffee and cake recpetion with as many guests as he wanted.

We chose #2. We are using the following wording on the invtie: "Immediately after the ceremony, please join us for coffee, cake and conversation"

Work out what is meaningful for you and your FI: having more guests or having food and go from there. But no, I would not do both dinner and champagne reception on the same day. 

Elinetrouwt

Maybe you can have a reception as bookworm and others describe, and invite WP and close family for a rehearsal dinner the night before?

bookworm78

Another idea we were throwing around was to have a lunch for immediate family and bridal party early in the day long before the ceremony since those people would be with us getting ready, getting pictures, etc all day long. We were going to get it catered and have a nice, tiny small lunch, but it just wasn't in the budget either.