My fiance and I are planning on getting married on a property we are renting for 4 days. It has 2 houses for overnight guests and a beautiful barn on 10 acres. We are set on having a small, intimate ceremony there with immediate family only and then taking them to an early dinner at a local restaurant afterwards or having it catered on the property. My mom suggested I have, in her words, "A big party" that evening as our reception since I wanted to avoid the formalities (introductions, speeches, dj, formal cake cutting, etc.) We wanted to buy/rent speakers and have a digital playlist playing in the background and have tables, seating, and cocktail tables. There is also a bar built in the barn that we can use.
My question is would a cocktail like reception be tacky? There would be a few hours in between to clean up the ceremony dinner. We would be able to invite an unlimited amount of guests and provide appetizers, desserts, alcohol and beverages along with music, fire pit and backyard games (cornhole, yardzee, etc.). We've been together for 7 years and have two kids already and feel as if the formalities aren't necessary. We would prefer to have a laid back weekend and celebrate with friends and family along with providing overnight accommodations for out of town guests.
Invitations- As an invitation designer, I was thinking of sending the cocktail reception invite to everyone and an additional ceremony invitation inserted in the same envelope to the immediate family.