Breaking wedding announcment protocol

rachel1837

My FI & I are "eloping" to Vegas. Only immediate family & a few very close friends are coming. I have a HUGE family & they are all very understanding that we just can't afford a 200 person wedding.  The chapel we are getting married in has a live webcam for each wedding. I'd like to send out a "wedding announcement" basically just announcing our wedding, but also letting people know they can view the ceremony online.

What do you think of this? Obviously the anouncment would then have to go out shortly before we are married, which is breaking protocol.

Simply Fated

In Response to Breaking wedding announcment protocol:
[QUOTE]My FI & I are "eloping" to Vegas. Only immediate family & a few very close friends are coming. I have a HUGE family & they are all very understanding that we just can't afford a 200 person wedding.  The chapel we are getting married in has a live webcam for each wedding. I'd like to send out a "wedding announcement" basically just announcing our wedding, but also letting people know they can view the ceremony online. What do you think of this? Obviously the anouncment would then have to go out shortly before we are married, which is breaking protocol.
Posted by rachel1837[/QUOTE]
I'm not really understanding the point of the announcement, since everyone already knows you're getting married.

Hello+Panda

The chapel where I'm getting married has the same thing! What I've been doing is telling everyone about the video and letting that spread by word of mouth. Our chapel said there would be a 1-2 hour delay between the ceremony and the video being posted, not sure if the same is true for your chapel, so keep that in mind. I think what would be cute is to print some homemade postcards up saying something like "We're eloping in/to fabulous Las Vegas - Watch us tie the knot on 08/09/13! xxx.yourchapelswebsitehere.com & steps for viewing the video. That way your family can share your day with you from far away. I wish that I had added that info onto my invitations, but its too late now. Will the viedo be online for later viewing and if so how long will it be up for?

Summer2011Bride

Well you technically are not eloping, so I wouldn't call it an elopement. Eloping is when no one but you, FI, and the officiant know you are doing it. What you are having is just a small, intimate wedding.

I would just spread via word of mouth about the web cam if people bring up your wedding.

Friend not invited: "So your wedding is getting so close! How exciting. Where are you getting married?"

You: "Yeah we're super excited. We're actually getting married at ____ Chapel and they even have a web cam where you can broadcast the ceremony which is sort of cool. You could watch it from across the country if you wanted!"

Then if they are truly interested in watching the ceremony, they'll ask for more information.

msuprincess04

My friend did this over the weekend. We all got a Facebook invite to watch the ceremony on Friday morning. They actually tied the knot on Saturday night, but no one was there except for them. Then again, we didn't know about it until the invite either.

I have no clue what the etiquette on this would be, but if you go the FB invite route, make sure it's obvious that you are inviting people to watch, not join. Because she had to clarify after sending out the original invite because people were looking at last minute flights!

AddieCake

I like Summer's suggestion. 

misssunshine17

I think this announcement would be more hurtful than you actually eloping. Have a BBQ and show them the dvd then. 

Jen4948

To be honest, if you really want to allow them to view the ceremony, I think you should invite them instead of "eloping."  "Eloping" suggests a completely private just-bride-groom-and-officiant wedding.

rachel1837

In Response to Re: Breaking wedding announcment protocol:
[QUOTE]The chapel where I'm getting married has the same thing! What I've been doing is telling everyone about the video and letting that spread by word of mouth. Our chapel said there would be a 1-2 hour delay between the ceremony and the video being posted, not sure if the same is true for your chapel, so keep that in mind. I think what would be cute is to print some homemade postcards up saying something like "We're eloping in/to fabulous Las Vegas - Watch us tie the knot on 08/09/13! xxx.yourchapelswebsitehere.com & steps for viewing the video. That way your family can share your day with you from far away. I wish that I had added that info onto my invitations, but its too late now. Will the viedo be online for later viewing and if so how long will it be up for?
Posted by Hello+Panda[/QUOTE]

The chapel we are using is a live webcam. I think we can pay to have it left up for 30 days. The few aunts  & uncles we've mentioned it to have indicated that they would love to be able to watch it live, which is what initiated the thought.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!