Wedding Invitations & Paper

Courthouse wedding invitations - timing issues

Hi everyone, first post here, although I have been lurking ever since we decided to get married and have already read a lot of helpful things in other posts!

We are having a courthouse wedding and small reception in about 9 weeks.  We live far from both of our families, so most people who come will be traveling.  The problem is the judge does not schedule anything more than 30 days in advance. So we can't even set a time for sure or make exact wedding plans for another oh 40 days.  But at the same time, we need to be considerate of guests who want to make travel plans.

The wedding is going to be on June 1 no matter what...if for some reason in 40 days this judge is not available, we will pull something together and the wedding and reception will happen that day.

The issue is not being able to put an exact time or any exact details about the ceremony on the invitation yet.

Because of these circumstances, would it be ok to call our guests who might travel, and let them know about the wedding, and then send an invitation only 4 weeks ahead with all the details?

If I was in my guests' shoes, I would be worried about making plans that cost money just based on a phone call, without an invitation in hand.  I've thought about save the dates, but it seems crazy to send those only 8 weeks before the wedding.  I don't know what the heck to do here, I can't seem to settle on what seems "right" or best.  Maybe nothing is going to seem exactly right because I've picked this nontraditional wedding.  Any ideas?

Re: Courthouse wedding invitations - timing issues

  • ceh789ceh789 member
    1000 Comments First Anniversary
    edited March 2012
    Honestly, I'd find a more reasonable officiant.  30 days is not a sufficient amount of time to plan a wedding.
  • Thank you for your reply.  It's not that kind of wedding though. This is a courthouse wedding with a dinner reception...planning a wedding isn't the issue.

    The problem I'm having is I need to somehow communicate to people that our wedding is going to be on that day, without needing to provide the standard details about time.  I need to let our guests know to make travel plans to stay in our area that weekend if they want to come, but I will not have ceremony time details at the customary point for sending invitations (like 8 weeks). This is more about getting proper notice to our guests than about planning the wedding.

    I am thinking phone calls will be fine just to let people know it's happening, and we can send invitations with 4 weeks notice...and it really doesn't have to be that big of a deal I guess.  I'm just trying to find a solution that is as considerate to our guests as we can be, given the decisions we have already made about how we wish to be married.
  • MyNameIsNotMyNameIsNot member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    edited March 2012
    I think a phone call is a good way to handle it.  If you feel the need to send something, you could send an invitation to the reception, and enclose a card that says something about the ceremony plans and time TBD.  Then you could call with the ceremony time.  Do you at least know whether it will be morning or afternoon?  That may make a difference for people traveling.   
  • Thank you!  Yes, we do know it will be in the afternoon. We talked about it a bit more last night, and decided on phone calls followed by casual invitations giving the date of the wedding (and will include afternoon per your suggestion), the reception information, and a little card that includes information about where to stay and ideas for a possible family outing on Saturday. Like you suggested, we could call as soon as we know the exact time.
  • j-harveyj-harvey member
    Fifth Anniversary 100 Comments
    edited October 2013
  • Thank you so much for replying.  I have relaxed a lot in the past few days since we started getting more of a grip on things, and we've pretty much talked to everyone from out of town. Email follow up sounds good to me!
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