Invite wording and ceremony

sashajm

I've been lurking for a while and have seen lots of great advice so I'm hoping you ladies will be able to provide some advice on a possibly rather strange question. 

I'm getting married in July 21st this year and while we have reserved the place where the reception will be, we haven't decided where the ceremony will be.  There are two possibilities - both are parks that doesn't accept reservations so there's no worries about trying to reserve anything.  However, I won't decide where the ceremony will be located until about 3-4 weeks before the wedding as I won't be back in the country until then. 

I do need to get the invitations out beforehand - quite a bit beforehand for the crowd that's flying in from Europe (they've already started bugging me about when they will get them so that they can start making plans).  What should I put on the invites regarding the ceremony?  Right now it lists a time and says reception to follow at the specified location.

Thanks in advance for advice!

karebear219

Ugh... ceremony location to be decided? Do you have a plan in place for how to communicate it to them? If it were me I would find another location that I could reserve in advance or work on booking it overseas. It just seems to easy for someone to get lost in the shuffle.

Tygirljojo

I have to agree with Kare on this - is there a location that you can secure for your ceremony?  I can just see it becoming a logistical nightmare and you'll have plenty of things going on and stressing enough without having to add on the worry of guests getting lost.  If there is no other option and you KNOW all of your guests have internet access as of 3 weeks prior to the wedding, you could post it up on your wedding website.  Even so, however, I would want to have somethign set prior to sending out invites. 

As for the guests bugging you for info, I would consider sending out STDs right about now since you at least have the reception location, date of wedding, and general location figured out.  That would assist them with being able to plan and book their overseas flights, obtain visas, etc.

sarack

Is there a reason that you can't just decide on one of the places now?? Have you never been there??

crakd

sounds like a relatively casual wedding, so i'd keep the wording casual.  more like a "save the date, seattle wa.  watch your inbox for details" etc.

actually, could you just do a formal save the date, then send invites when it's finalized?

Tygirljojo

I just thought of one other option - can you have it where the guests show up at the reception location (maybe some light snacks and non-alcoholic refreshments available) and then 20-30 minutes before the ceremony have a charter bus load them up and take them to the ceremony location and after the ceremony the charter can take them back to the reception location?  That would keep your option open AND maybe be like a nice surprise for them?  Of course that's dependent upon your budget, number of guests, etc.

KST_

Tygirl's suggestion is a good idea. Approx how many guests are you thinking? And is this a Seattle park? Because they'll do reservations at pretty much all but a very specific few where they don't allow any ceremonies. I'm having my ceremony in a city park so I'm aware of some of the complications - particularly again related to how many guests. How are they going to sit? Picnic-style on blankets and hopefully chairs for the older folks who can't do that. Because last minute logistics for getting chairs to a park would be nightmarish, even though your event is a Wednesday.

All that is just our concern, but to answer your specific question, your immediate answer is to do a Save-the-date. Then your guests know location, date, and time and can schedule lodging and flights regardless of the rest of the details being worked out.