Hi Ladies,
I’m sure most of you see this answer as pretty cut and dry, but my situation is a little different.
We are getting married on a beach in Oahu, Hawaii next month (super excited) and only our parents are joining us for this intimate ceremony. Then we will continue our honeymoon there for 2 weeks and our parents get to enjoy 1 week on the island by themselves. However, the Catholic Church does not recognize this as a valid marriage, so we are having a wedding back home in Pennsylvania on … April Fool’s Day.
The “surprise” is that none of our guests know this is happening. They believe the wedding is on April 1st (traditional ceremony/reception). In reality, they will be going to a church ceremony, but it will be a blessing (which isn’t too different than a full Catholic mass)…then onto the reception venue to party.
We hired a videographer in Hawaii who will be making a 3-4 minute highlight DVD of our wedding (getting ready and the ceremony). We plan to unveil the ‘surprise’ DVD on a large projection screen after the bridal party and bride/groom are announced in the reception.
So…should I wait until the actual wedding day (January) to give them gifts….or wait until April 1st, when we give out our bridal party gifts?
Sorry so long and thanks!