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Wording for 'Welcome' party/reception for out-of-town son and new bride

rcramirez81rcramirez81 member
First Anniversary
in Wedding Reception Forum
My son is in the military and married near his base (which is far from our home).  Due to scheduling of deployments the wedding ended up being scheduled within 2 months, so very few of our (very large) family was able to go.   (The wedding was last week so we are just at the time of sending announcements).   They will be coming to town for Christmas and we will be hosting a Christmas party for the family to welcome them.  Any ideas on invitation wording for our combo Christmas party / wedding announcement / welcome?  We were looking for something very casual; it will be a very informal party.
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Re: Wording for 'Welcome' party/reception for out-of-town son and new bride

  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Well, I'd do the following:

    1) Any wedding announcements should be sent separately. Don't combine them with party invitations or Christmas communications.

    2) Beyond that, since this is going to be an informal party, just invite your guests to a party just as you would for any other occasion. You can say "to celebrate the marriage of John and Lisa and the holiday season" or something like that.

    3) Since this party is not taking place immediately after the wedding ceremony, don't call it a "reception." A "reception" is held to thank guests for attending the ceremony, and most of the guests won't have done that.
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  • AddieCakeAddieCake member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I would just make it a Christmas party. You can celebrate and talk about the wedding at it, but I don't see a need to include it on the Christmas party invitations.
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • MandyMostMandyMost member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Do the guests know they're already married? If not, I'd get the word out there (either with marriage announcements, or informally word-of-mouth) that they're married. 

    Assuming it's not going to be a shock to everyone that they're married, I'd send an invite that says something like:

    You're invited!
    Please join us to celebrate the recent marriage of Joe Smith and Sally Jones and the holiday season.

    Place: Our house!
    Time: 4pm-11pm
    RSVP: blah blah
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  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
     
    Jen4948 said:
    Well, I'd do the following: 1) Any wedding announcements should be sent separately. Don't combine them with party invitations or Christmas communications. 2) Beyond that, since this is going to be an informal party, just invite your guests to a party just as you would for any other occasion. You can say "to celebrate the marriage of John and Lisa and the holiday season" or something like that. 3) Since this party is not taking place immediately after the wedding ceremony, don't call it a "reception." A "reception" is held to thank guests for attending the ceremony, and most of the guests won't have done that.
    The word reception is not exclusive to weddings.    They can invite people to a cocktail reception celebrating the recent marriage of son and DIL if they want.


    MandyMost said:
    Do the guests know they're already married? If not, I'd get the word out there (either with marriage announcements, or informally word-of-mouth) that they're married. 

    Assuming it's not going to be a shock to everyone that they're married, I'd send an invite that says something like:

    You're invited!
    Please join us to celebrate the recent marriage of Joe Smith and Sally Jones and the holiday season.

    Place: Our house!
    Time: 4pm-11pm
    RSVP: blah blah
    I like this wording.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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  • MandyMostMandyMost member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    lyndausvi said:
     
    Jen4948 said:
    Well, I'd do the following: 1) Any wedding announcements should be sent separately. Don't combine them with party invitations or Christmas communications. 2) Beyond that, since this is going to be an informal party, just invite your guests to a party just as you would for any other occasion. You can say "to celebrate the marriage of John and Lisa and the holiday season" or something like that. 3) Since this party is not taking place immediately after the wedding ceremony, don't call it a "reception." A "reception" is held to thank guests for attending the ceremony, and most of the guests won't have done that.
    The word reception is not exclusive to weddings.    They can invite people to a cocktail reception celebrating the recent marriage of son and DIL if they want.

    While a reception doesn't have to be tied to a wedding, it does have to be tied to some sort of an event (occurring adjacent to the reception). A reception is to "receive" (i.e. host) the guests of some other event. A wedding reception is to host the guests of the wedding ceremony. A welcome reception at a business event/conference/speaking event is to host the guests of that event. 
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