I'm officially confused about a private ceremony.
Backstory :
Fi and I want to go to NYC City Hall for the ceremony and then have a dinner reception. City Hall can fit 30 people (not sure if that includes the bride and groom). FI and I made a list of our parents, grandparents, first cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, and best friends. We have come up with a total of 39 people, too many for city hall.
Dilemma:
I don't think it's right to invite all 39 people to City Hall and pray that not everyone RSVPs for the ceremony. So, we said let's invite our parents, grandparents, and siblings to the ceremony and everyone else will be invited to the dinner later that evening.
So, I've heard (read) that it's rude to invite people to the reception, but not the ceremony. I've also read that it's okay to have the ceremony with a few people with a larger reception . So which is it? .