Inviting the pastor to say the blessing at the reception?

cherbein

I am having a church wedding followed by a reception at another location.

Is it still the custom to invite the pastor to the reception to say the blessing?  If so, am I supposed to send him a formal wedding invitation or just ask him during one of the pre-wedding meetings we're supposed to have with him?  Am I also supposed to invite him to the rehearsal dinner?

Thanks for your input!

PharmacyBride

If he is doing a blessing, you should provide him with a full guest meal (not vendor).  Send him an official invite, and once you find out he is able to attend, ask if he would be willing to say a blessing (although I am sure he knows he will be asked).

I invited my priest with 2 guests (in case he wants to bring his brother and/or father), but my dad is also friends with our priest.  Whether or not you want to extend him the curtesy of a plus one is up to you.

cherbein

If I invite my pastor (which I probably will) I'll give him a plus 1 because he's married (Lutheran Pastor) and I figure he would want to bring his wife. 

At my cousin's wedding the pastor came and said grace before dinner, but I've also been to ones where the pastor or priest wasn't at the reception at all and a family member said grace or it just wasn't said at all.

The only address I have for him is the church.  Is it okay to send the invitation there?

katiewhompus

We asked one of my parent's good friends (who have known me since I was 12) to give the dinner blessing. He was invited to the reception to begin with so he and his wife got a full dinner.
I think an invitation would be nice, and it would give him the option of considering if he wants/can stay to do so.

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_inviting-pastor-say-blessing-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:18f9f732-deec-47cd-a384-f26ee45adcafPost:4134e6fb-9172-4422-a4e8-ae266eb6f395">Re: Inviting the pastor to say the blessing at the reception?</a>:
[QUOTE]If I invite my pastor (which I probably will) I'll give him a plus 1 because he's married (Lutheran Pastor) and I figure he would want to bring his wife.  At my cousin's wedding the pastor came and said grace before dinner, but I've also been to ones where the pastor or priest wasn't at the reception at all and a family member said grace or it just wasn't said at all. The only address I have for him is the church.  Is it okay to send the invitation there?
Posted by cherbein[/QUOTE]

That is where we sent our priests invitation bc he lives in the rectory off of the church.

Kristin789

Yes, FMIL invites your officiant and his wife to the RD.
Yes, you invite your officiant and his wife to the reception.

Yes, you can ask him to do a blessing before the meal.  We did this, and it was very nice...

Calypso1977

your officiant shoudl be invited to the RD and the wedding reception.

our priest coudl only make the RD and he did give a blessing.  if he had come to the reception, he would have done a blessing there as well.

cherbein

I figured the consensus would be that he should be invited.  I'll make up another invite and send it to the church since that is the address I have. 

The fun part is going to be telling FMIL that there may be two more people at the RD.  She's already made comments about my having seven bridesmaids being a lot (which I know it is, but it's not unheard of high)