Earn cash as you plan. Get a $20 gift card for every 200 points with The Knot Rewards
Wedding Reception Forum
PepperRose
member
Bad Etiquette? Inviting Additional Guests Later
My fiance wants to invite everyone we know and their mom (and dad, siblings, cousins, ex-coworkers...) to our reception. I would love to have a big wedding, but we don't have the budget to feed over 350 people and I really can't justify serving only cocktails and finger foods just to afford inviting people we aren't even close to.
As a compromise, I suggested having a dinner reception immediately following the ceremony for family & close friends, and inviting the others a little later in the night for open bar, dessert, dancing, etc. He likes the idea, but now I'm having second thoughts. Is it tacky to invite people to join the party late? I'm especially thinking of family-of-close-friends.
As a compromise, I suggested having a dinner reception immediately following the ceremony for family & close friends, and inviting the others a little later in the night for open bar, dessert, dancing, etc. He likes the idea, but now I'm having second thoughts. Is it tacky to invite people to join the party late? I'm especially thinking of family-of-close-friends.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Bad Etiquette? Inviting Additional Guests Later
well, it would be in my circle. however, if this is normal in your town, circle of friends then fine.
I've honestly never met the family of most of my friends, with only one or two exceptions. I think most of them would find it weird to get any sort of invitation to our wedding.
Just invite the people that you guys are close to. If you don't know them well enough that, say, they're in your cell phone contact list, or that you can name their spouses, kids, siblings, etc off the top of your head, they're probably not close enough to merit an invitation to the wedding.
This is a belated married bio, with no reviews yet because I'm lazy.
Sometimes I feel like people think that brides are delicate little flower princesses who get all dressed up and pretty for one special moment of their dreams, when really they're just normal people who just happen to be getting married. Things shouldn't have to be sugar-coated for grown-ass women. -mstar284
Honestly, even if this isn't your intent, people (Escpecially the ones who are "add-ons") will most likely see this as just a gift-grab on your end.
If you fire a WP member, you're against America.
"Meg cracks me up on the regular. Now she gets to do it in two different forums. Yay!!" ~mkrupar
Your reception is a thank you to your guests for coming to the ceremony. Figure out your budget, and only invite the people that you can afford to feed.
Note - you do not have to do a formal dinner if you hold your wedding at a non-meal time. You can do it in the late morning and serve a brunch; in the mid afternoon and do light finger foods, or later in the evening and do a dessert reception. Either way, you need to feed your guests.
http://tidetravel.weebly.com/index.html
You can cut the guest list. 350 is huge, and people understand that you simply can't invite everyone you know. If your budget will accomodate 200, start making cuts.
The alternative is to offer what you can afford to those 350 guests. If it means shifting the time to not serve a meal, cool. If it means cutting back on the meal, decor, booze, whatever. Do it. There are tons of ways to cut your budget so that you can host a nice wedding for everyone.
Better to convince your FI now that not all those extended friends or acquaintences need to be invited.
tacky to the max. Don't do this.
Not everyone you've ever known and their extended family needs to be invited if you can't afford it or just don't want it. It's likely that many of those people won't really care that much anyway. Having a reception like that also comes off as gift grabby.
Figure out how many people you can afford to wine and dine properly, and then decide who makes the cut based on how close they are to you, and possibly your parents if they're footing some of the bill.
Featured Showing: Planning Bio-The Original
Coming Soon: Married Bio
Married Bio
Planning Bio-Updated 3/11 with groomsmen attire