Invitation wording for private ceremony

kimanddave2010

So my fh and i are having a very private ceremony with very few guests invited, I know how to word their invites (just like a normal wedding invite), but then how could I word the reception only peoples invites? And also, then how do I do the response cards for the ceremony and reception people? Do something like "blank will/not attend ceremony, blank will/will not attend reception?" Thanks for the help girls!!!

banana468

If the majority of the guests are invited to the reception then the invitation is an one to the reception with inserts for those invited to the ceremony.

shameless_ad

This is how we're doing our wedding, and here's how I've worked it out.

The main invitation is to the reception, with the wording "request the honour of your presence at a reception celebrating their marriage"  Everyone invited will receive this invitation.

People invited to the ceremony will have a separate card in their invitation - like a reception card, only for the ceremony, with the wording "request the honour of your presence at the Nuptial Mass uniting them in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony" (we're having a Catholic Mass).

The RSVP cards will be for the reception only, since that's what we really need the numbers for.  I'm going to assume that if someone is invited to the ceremony, they will be there (especially since it's just parents and siblings that are invited).

banana468

And just an FYI, if you're not inviting people to the ceremony but it's in a house of worship like a Catholic Church, you can't turn guests away if they show up. 

KittE7

Hi! This is exactly the discussion I was hoping to find...
I was worried that having the CM card as just an insert would make it less formal & wondered about placement in the envelope... but I have it worked out now!
-CM card says what a traditional wedding invite card would say, placed in env first
-RC card also has formal wording repeated (b/c RC guests only see this), placed in env 2nd
-CM guests get both!

Are any of you saying something about "a private ceremony" on the invite or on the wedding website?  So far, we have left ALL CM info off our wedding website.

As for CM rsvp's, we might want to know how many will come b/c we may buy parking tokens/vouchers for those driving to the venue. 
We initially thought we'd watch the #s - it's on a Friday afternoon, so many ppl might just come to the RC and not the CM.  If there are some CM declines, we would extend the CM invite to a few other reception guests (aka my coworkers, who don't care about protocol & would just be happy to be there).
Then we realized that could be dangerous - CM guests could initially think they can't swing it, so they tell us no.... but then how many of those would show up anyway - "hey, I got off work after all!"  And then we wouldn't have enough room.  Hmm.

jesscoletta

Im doing this. for the ceremony i said, request the honor of your presence at our wedding,..da da da and for the ceremony invites ( we will send seperate) Im saying request the pleasure of your company at the celebration of our marriage.

lbufton

We are having a small intiment wedding in a treehouse in a park and had to have two separate invitations.   We are having photos of the ceremony at the reception displayed. I’m having all invitations having a rsvp for the dinner, not the ceremony.  How did your family handle the request for a private ceremony?  Our’s was not well received, I even got input from our minister and he aggred with us.  He said you can’t go worrying about what everyone else thinks or says it is our day.  We even have some of his family refusing to go to the bridal shower because they are not coming to the ceremony.  Drama  I hope this helps.  Good Luck  Invitation for the Reception Only:
We slipped a ring on each other's finger
And made a promise for life...
Join us as we celebrate
now that we're husband and wife!

You are invited to attend a
reception to honor the
newly married
Lena and William *****
along with *********  
to share their joy at the
creation of their new life  
on Saturday, the sixteenth of October Two thousand and ten
at six o’ clock in the evening
*********
Visitors Center
**** County Park Drive 

A private wedding will precede the reception 

Invitation for the Ceremony
As autumn leaves
turn their brilliant hue
two lovers will join and say I do
 ************* and  ************
along with ********* 
Invite you to share their joy in the creation
of their new life and new family 
  on Saturday, the sixteenth of October Two thousand and ten
at three o’ clock in the afternoon
**********Treehouse
****** Castor Road*********** 
To help us celebrate,
please join us for the Reception
at six o’ clock in the evening
************
Visitors Center     

 

lbufton

I'm sorry I don't know why this posted the way it did.

ashleynadam2005

We are marrying in a private ceremony and due to space we can not invite everyone to the ceremony. So our Invitations are for the reception and I used the response cards for ceremony invites. I put a link to our wedding website on the invitation and the website explains the situation in further detail.

I hope this helps.

lharri12

We sent separate invitations for our private ceremony.  It's also a destination wedding, so the ceremony invites were sent out about 7 months before the wedding.  Our reception invite wording will be something like this:
LRH and MEW
will be married on
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
Please join us
for a reception when we return
Saturday, October 23, 2010
etc.