our situation is anything but traditional, so i don't necessarily need 'traditional' advice.
my fiance and i have been engaged for 1.5 years. in that time, we originally had a wedding date set and decided against it because my parents were going through a very nasty divorce. after that, my dad lost his job because of something he did. he kept promising us over and over when he found a job that he would pay for all of my wedding.
4 months ago, we had our first child. a few months before my fiance was laid off and he was unemployed for 6 months. he recently found a low paying job that won't give him ft, but he works hard to keep our family supported.
my dad now has an excellent job and no bills. he has said four times he will, he won't, he will, now he won't. i think he is honestly just screwing with us at this point. he paid for my sisters wedding which is way over what i'm asking for anyway. (i'm only asking for around 2k-2.5... not 5 or 10k) before i get flooded with 'i paid for my own wedding' please realise every penny we get that doesn't go towards surviving is going to this wedding. and i guarentee if your dad promised to pay for the wedding and then he didn't, you would be upset too.. esp when you weren't asking for a lot to begin with.
i have cut cost down to the point where i am having about 90 people (his family is just way too big and way too close, they all live close) the venue of my dreams is more than i could afford and so i'm helping her with outdoor work to pay the cost of renting. i'm not having a fancy dress, just a simple on. i'm making a donation rather than favors. i'm having a cake reception.
here is the issue. we can save about 800+ if we don't have a ceremony. our idea is to get married 'at the courthouse' the day before and on our original wedding date using the money we would of used for the photographer, dress, and cake ect for a nice party for our family who we are very close with. they all know our money and personal situation and i think they would be okay with this. they know we aren't having a party just to fish for gifts, we love entertaining and we are very close.
the place we're having it is my DREAM wedding site. its an old victorian house, im in love. =]
my question is... how would i word an invitation to where it is seen as a 'reception' only or a post wedding party or otherwise or something similar? the only people who will go to the courthouse with us is the required witness so the rules about if you invite them to a party you have to invite them to the wedding does not apply at all.
we plan on reading our vows to one another and having a toast at the party though.
i'm awful with wording anyway, and i really need help!
