Invitation Wording

cryssv

I'm not gonna lie... this is gonna be a loaded post...

I'm just starting to work on the wording of our wedding reception invitations immediately following our return from Maui and am looking for suggestions on getting a few points across in a tactful way

- We are having a private ceremony in Maui with just our immediate family, the invitations are for our at home reception for a sit down dinner/dancing/cake cutting and all other traditional stuff we won't be doing in Maui. I'm sure everyone realized it's just the reception but should I make a point of making it clear in the wording?
- Somewhere in this invitation/ on the response card we need to list the two dinner choices the guest has to chose from. And how do you accomodate more than one guest responding to that question in one invitation?
- There are a few single cousins and friends we aren't giving a guest option - we want to be sure they know it is for just them (and this is where we don't want a generic "what entree will you chose for dinner" with space for more than one guest to confuse them so looking for my best angle in getting the answers on the entree choice)
- To cut the guest list down in size we have opted to have no children except for our nieces and nephews (otherwise we could be spending $100's on peoples kids we hardly know). Do we say an adult only reception when there will be children there - not sure how to go about this one? We don't think it would be fair to leave our nieces and nephes whom we are very close with off of the list just becuase there are so many children in extended family
- and finally although we don't expect people to bring gifts seems how we aren't doing things traditionally we are registering for those that chose to.... I'm not a fan of invitations with registry info on them (or is it acceptable) - how else can i spread that around???

phew... I think I covered it all LOL

cryssv

I know some of the things above might sound a little harsh but the whole reason we had to runaway to get married and make so many limitations is because I have an extremely large family that could easily triple the costs that we just can't afford to spend. I probably have about 30 to 40 aunts and uncles and easily over a 100 cousins (not to mention all the spouses and the many that have multiple children of their own now). We wanted some tradition and just saw this as the only way to get it

AKWinterBride

OMG, your family is HUGE!!  I don't have any advice, but I know a few girls have had AHR's, I'm sure someone can help you out.  Good luck!

OH - don't worry about feeling bad about the kids.  We are having like 12 kids at our wedding for almost $100/plate.  I HATE it.  If I could, I would have said absolutely no kids beyond my niece & nephews.  Weddings just aren't a kid event, you know?

kaesha

OMG, that's insane! Okay, here are a few of my opinions.

1. Very basic Semi formal AHR wording. It's a bit stuffy, but works:

(your groom/husband's name) and Yulia (your married last name--if you'll
share the same one)
cordially invite you to join them
for a reception celebrating their recent marriage....

2. Food choices - put options on the response cards like:

Please intial your dinner selection from the options below:

_____ fish
_____ chicken
_____ vegetarian

Something like that would cover both multiple and single guests on a response card.

3. Don't tell people it's adults only when it's not. Just write the names of whomever is invited to the wedding on the card. If anyone reserves for their kids, call them up and say that, due to venue space (or whatever) you could only accommodate immediate family.

4. Registries. Yes, registry cards in the invites are totally tacky. You let people know via word of mouth. Get your parents/wedding parties to share the knowledge. Don't worry. People will find out.

aliblu

This is what our AHR wording is going to be

My name and FI name
are pleased to announce
they will be married on June 8th, 2011
during a private ceremony on the island of Maui.
Please join us for a celebration reception
when we return as husband and wife
Date, Time, Place


On my reception invitation, I am going to have either a little card or something that tells my wedding website, so they can get directions, rsvp, ect, and I will have my registry info on my website, so I dont have to put it in the invitation.

leejj3

I don't know how computer savvy you are but we made an excel spreadsheet with the names, how many seats they had, some grammatical columns and mail-merged them into personalized rsvp cards. We got in "trouble" because FI specifically didn't invite his dad's girlfriend that he left his mom for. oh drama drama. other than that, it worked out pretty well.

Mr. blah and Mrs. blah
2 seats have been reserved in your name
Number Attending
Will not Attend

cryssv

Brilliant!!! Thanks ladies... some great ideas