We are having a Catholic Mass, followed by a reception at a venue 2.5 miles away from the church. We are having a cocktail hour/hors d'oeuvres for our guests at the venue, as we will be taking some pictures before we leave Church. Our invitation suite included inserts with all the information.
Here's the rub:
FI saw the invitation and asked why the time of the reception wasn't included. I indicated that it was, listed as following the conclusion of our Church ceremony. He said that his guests won't know what time to show up at the reception...because he's told them they don't need to go to the ceremony, since it's "long".
Now, I should state that FI is not Catholic, but knew before we got engaged my belief that marriage is a Sacrament, and I want to be married in the Church; he was fine with this, even insisted that we would change our wedding date if my parish didn't have our first choice available. I would have been perfectly fine doing the wedding ceremony only (about 30 mins), but it so happens that FI's uncle is a Catholic Priest, flying in from Rhode Island to perform our ceremony, and HE has indicated that it will be a full Wedding Mass, with Communion offered to all practicing Catholics in attendance (about half the guest list). FI is happy to do the pre-canae classes, but the length (an hour) is a sticking point.
I told him that I saw no need to give guests an option to only show up for the reception, I would kindly appreciate if he would stop "letting" his guests know they could "skip" our ceremony. I also informed him that, should anyone truly "skip" our wedding ceremony (barring a legitimate excuse, such as work), and attend "only" the reception, then that is the last invitation they will ever receive.