wording of invitation

vlevitt

hi everyone, 

looking for your assistance on how to indicate the times of our tisch/kabbalat panim and the chuppah time. 

most of our guests understand what a "chuppah" is.  many (jews and non-jews alike) will not know what the tisch/kabbalat panim is.  how did you/are you/ would you suggest making this clear to people who wouldn't otherwise know?

i'll post what i have now, but i j know it's not clear enough for friends and family with less exposure to this stuff: 

Kabbalat Panim and Tisch: time  

Chuppah: time 

what do you think? 

-ooops, how do i change the font size?  i'm not yelling, honest!

rodrimo98

I was thinking of the same issue. I don't plan to have any special wording and just say on the invitation itself that the "pre-ceremony reception" starts at x o'clock. I figure that gives them the sense that they should be there for the pre-ceremony part, while not creating confusion. 

What the pre-ceremony entails can be explained on the wedding website (see this one for a good FAQs: http://www.alexisandjosh.com/faq.html). 

I also plan to have greeters when people arrive who can help direct people to the tisch or the kabbalat panim. Those people will also be on hand to help make things make sense. And for the truly uninitiated (of which I have many!), I'm making a little fan with a writeup on what to expect. 

Hope that gives you some more to think about! And happy planning!

Monica

ballandchain10

here's what I did

-I did not put reference to Tish/KP on the invitation.  I just put "chuppah at half-past six"

I did a separate insert card called "Pre-Wedding Traditions" that listed the times/English translation of the Tish/KP, Bedeken and Ketubah signing.  I also put a header up top, something like "If you wish, please join us in the these pre-wedding ceremonies leading up to the chuppah at 6:30".  That way people can decide if they want to come early, or just arrive for the main ceremony.

vlevitt

oooh, thanks for all the suggestions!

 ballandchain, what a great idea!  i think i may need to steal that one.  it seems like a good option to have a separate insert with more space to explain. 

i hadn't thought of greeters, but yes, another good idea.  

thanks!

v.

jendawn80

I've been mainly lurking latey, but this has been something I've been thinking about too. I think the separate card explaining the preceremony rituals and letting them know they are welcome to attend is great. I think I'm going to steal that idea too!

silversparks

We put it in the invitation exactly as you wrote it above. I don't think you need special inserts for the invites, but I definitely agree about putting an explanation on your website, and/or having something written up you can easily e-mail to people who may inquire.

alinaandjared

I like ball&chain's suggestion too. We had a more private kabbalat panim/tish/signing although most guests arrived earlier than the ceremony start time and were there for the Ketubah. It was very nice.

I think that "pre-ceremony reception" sounds a bit misleading, at least to me. Reception = music, food, dancing so some, jews and nonjews alike, may choose to attend prior to the ceremony time.

Danaz1

we put kabbalat panim at 4:00 and ceremony at 5:00.  Those who didn't know what that was asked .