I'm having an Old Hollywood/Travel themed reception in a renovated old movie theatre. The reception has been fun and so much easier to plan than the actual ceremony. At this point I'm stumped. This is a second wedding for both of us.
Orignally, we had wanted to have the reception as a send off, and we were going to get married on our Honeymoon. I'm a fairly fun loving person, but when it comes to the emotional, gooey stuff I'm very private, as is my fiance. And now, bowing to pressure and guilt, we've decided to have a small, intimate ceremony for immediate family and close friends.
First Question, is it rude to invite people to a reception and not the ceremony?
Secondly, any ideas on how to involve his 8 year old daughter? We are not very traditional, and I'm not all for having a flower girl.
Part of the reason I'm against having the ceremony is dealing with family expectations. My stepfather will not be walking me down the aisle, but I don't want to hurt his feelings. I'd rather not have a lot of aisle walking, but how else do people approach the ceremony? Would it be all right just to have my mom and stepfather walk in together? My mom didn't talk to me for about two weeks after my first wedding because she was so angry with me. (It was a surprise wedding, did not go over well)
My fiance is concerned because his family is religious and we are not, so he doesn't want to uspet his mother either.
Sooooo, any ideas on how to do a non-religious, non-traditional, small ceremony that's more than just a justice of the peace saying "Do you? And do you?"