Itinerary on Save the Date for Destination Wedding??

ShanerAndTastie

We are having a sunrise wedding at a gorgeous place in the mountains, near a lake. Our closest friends and family will arrive Friday afternoon at the lodge. (we have booked out the entire place, so our guests will not have to worry about getting a place to stay) The rehersal dinner will be that evening. Saturday morning will be our ceremony and the Reception will be around 11am-4pm. We are inviting our extended family and friends to the reception. Between the ceremony and reception, we are serving breakfast. After the reception, we are planning on fishing, hanging around a fire and just generally relaxing with everyone (our close family and friends). Sunday morning, we will serve breakfast and everyone will be on their way.

Any advice on wording for the Save the Date? 

We are doing it postcard style. The front will have the date of the ceremony and place. Should the back say anything more specific?

I feel like it should say something like "Save the Weekend" for the people who will be there the entire time. 

Any advice would be amazingly helpful.

Thanks!

AllAboutTheBenjamin

"Join us for fishing, a campfire and fellowship following the reception"

Something along those lines?

MyUserName1

AATB is wise.

Also, maybe include "Accomodations will be provided from Friday evening through Sunday at X time"?

AdeleDazeem

I'm a little confused at who is invited to what.  Is not everyone invited to the ceremony?  That just seems awkward if you want everyone there.

I would, however, be clear about the sunrise ceremony.  People will assume it much later in the day if not told.

aragx6

I agree with Joy that this seems weird to me. I don't think I would travel to a reception, particularly a daytime one, if I weren't invited to the ceremony. I think you should invite everyone to the ceremony or keep the entire guest list smaller.

bmoruzzi

This seems bizarre.  I would not want to go to a sunrise ceremony for anyone.  I would recommend sending save the dates that say something about the rehersal the night before and then the sunrise ceremony, so that people know they have to come the night before.  

mkrupar

I think we need some clarification. You can't invite people to a DW then not invite them to the actual ceremony. I'm not as bothered by the sunrise ceremony, but if you do that, everyone needs to be invited to the ceremony and have the breakfast afterward be your receptoin.

ginadog

I am having a wedding weekend.  Friday night is a welcome dinner (pizza in the park) and Sunday is (if I can make it happen) white water rafting or a hike.


I just put my date on the STD postcard, but also included my wedding website.  One of the tabs was "Wedding Events" people could see what other things were going on that weekend as well.

Haven't yet decided how to RSVP it yet.  Maybe RSVP will be for the actual wedding, but online I'll take RSVP for pizza and rafting.

It sounds lovely, but you do need to follow some of the etiquette rules regarding who is invited to what.

Kate61487

I, too, am confused about who's invited to what.  I think most people assume there will be a RD the night before that doesn't include everyone, so I don't know if that's worth mentioning unless you're inviting everyone.  But the sunrise ceremony then breakfast THEN reception is really odd to me.  Is there a break between breakfast and the reception?  Why is breakfast not the reception?  are you not including everyone in the ceremony?  While I might not be crazy about the idea of a sunrise ceremony it should be your guests' choice whether they get up for it or not. 

If you're inviting everyone to everything (which you should) then you could put something on your STD about "save the weekend" and "Saturday ceremony at sunrise" and then give the website for more info.  I, personally, feel the sunrise bit should be out there in the open, b/c not everyone will go to the website automatically, and they'll assume it's an afternoon/evening thing. 

ShanerAndTastie

To clarify:

Everyone who is invited for the weekend is invited to the ceremony and reception. The people invited to the reception don't live more than an hour or so away.

As far as the sunrise ceremony, we have talked to our close family and they are willing to do us the honor of attending, no matter the hour of the day.

ShanerAndTastie

Our save the dates will go as such:

The people who are invited to the reception will have the date of the reception on theirs.

The people staying at the lodge will have the date of the weekend, with the option of attending the ceremony. 

Thank you to the brides who gave advice in a polite way. 

smartlypretty

Okay- I feel like you didn't listen to anyone at all. Why did you ask for advice? Tiered receptions (which is what you are doing) is rude. Can you tell us more about the sunrise ceremony? I find it unusual and bizarre. Why did you decide to do it? What time is it at? How on earth will you get ready in time?

ShanerAndTastie

Perhaps I didn't explain myself adequately. For the most part, I wanted to know how to word my save the dates. I wasn't asking if my sunrise ceremony is acceptable. And since everyone was telling me how bad of an idea my ceremony is, I didn't take anyones advice. 

I decided on a sunrise wedding because it seems odd to have a ceremony at sunset. A sunrise is the dawning of a new day. It represents the beginning and that is what we are doing-beginning. We are starting a new life. It is unusual, but not unheard of. 

Sunrise will be around 5 or 6am. (And yes, I plan on napping on Friday, if not Saturday too, since there will be considerable down time after the reception.) I will be getting ready in the very early morning, with my Matron of Honor and my Mom and whomever else decides to join.

Fiance and I realize that most people don't even know that 5am exists. And so, to be considerate, we are not having everyone at the ceremony. We don't want people to feel bad about not attending "just because they were invited". We have also spoken to the majority of people we would like at the reception, but were considering not inviting to the ceremony. They all agreed that they would rather just be invited to the reception. 

We would like to have a celebration with everyone for lunch because it's more of an acceptable time. People have plenty of time to get there, and won't have to worry about getting home at an indecent hour. 

I would be happy to answer any other questions. And thank you for being nice.

monkeysip

Very strange. I would rather be invited to the ceremony even of I ended up not being able to come than not at all. To me the ceremony is the most important part. Why not just let the guests decide whether they come or not? It's not like inviting them to the ceremony costs more.