FAO: Brides who married/are marrying abroad and also had/are having a UK reception

Hey Nicola!

We are having a civil ceremony with reception in Germany, which is the actual legal wedding. Two weeks later we will have a chapel blessing in the UK with the bigger reception. The do in the UK will be exactly like a "normal" church wedding, just without signing the register and will be the bigger event. It is actually traditional and quite normal to have two wedding days in Germany as church weddings are not legally binding there - so if you want to have a wedding in a church you have to get married legally before.

Regarding invitations: we are going to send out three sets of invitations - one for people only coming to the German one, one for people only coming to the UK one and then one for people who are coming to both (closest family and friends). We originally also wanted to send out save the date cards, but we have been waiting for our cardstock for ages and now we are so busy that there is no way we can do anything wedding related until close to Christmas. Considering the weddings(s) will be in August it would start getting weird sending out the save the dates in January or so (?!). Most of the guests already know and are keeping the dates free anyway, so we are probably just going to send out the invites. Sorry for turning this into a long story, but in answer to your question: yes, we are going to send out actual invitations by mail!

I think we are very fortunate to be able to celebrate twice, so good choice . Are you going to wear your dress again for the UK reception or are you having a different dress?

We had a "proper" wedding in Australia and then a blessing at home. We deliberately made the blessing formal as so many of our family couldn't come to Australia, so this was like the full wedding for them.

We sent out invitations just as we would for a proper wedding, but it all depends on the formality of your event.

Ours is going to be fairly informal - hiring the upstairs of a nice gastropub with a buffet as opposed to a sit down meal but I think there'll possibly be a couple of speeches, just to thank everyone for coming etc. I'm going to be wearing my VoH frock which I'm changing into around 10pm or so at the wedding so I can move around.

Thanks as always for the input!

Hi, yes we sent invitations to the reception. Since people coming didn't also attend the wedding, we just had our names and the date on the front, and inside "C & J invite you to a reception in celebration of their marriage....".

Hi! I'm doing it the other way around: official wedding and reception in the UK, and a celebration in France (which will be before the official wedding). I'm thinking of sending 3 invitations, like someone else in this thread - one invitation for people who are invited to both, one for people invited just to the UK wedding, and one for people invited just to the French party. The wedding's in August and the party's in May (both 2013) so I'm thinking of sending email save the dates before Christmas, and printed invitations nearer the time.

We've already looked into travel and accommodation options for close family and friends who will be travelling to the UK or France so we can give them the info when we send save the dates.

It's more money and effort to have two celebrations but it's also double the fun!

I'm wearing different dresses - the French party will be more relaxed so I'll wear a red party dress (haven't bought it yet) and I'll wear a wedding dress to the actual wedding.

Hiya...

We're not doing abroad, but OH and I are Scottish and Welsh and getting married in the midlands - with a party both places afterwards! (And yes, I plan to wear my wedding dress 3 times!)

Our formal wedding invitations are for the midlands part, with the parties being less formal. There are some people, therefore, who might be invited by facebook for these parts - with a picture of the invitation that is made. But people like my grandparents (who can't make it to midlands due to ill-health) will get a posted invitation.

Really, the answer to your questions (and many I've found in wedding planning) can often be answered by the following:

1. If you really want it and can afford it, have it/do it.

2. Yes, it may offend some people - but tough!

L