Help! Inviting to ceremony and wedding breakfast?

I would agree with your MOH am afraid. As a guest I would find it a bid odd to go th a ceremony and reception party but not the middle bit of the meal.
Maybe you could look at having a late afternoon ceremony and then not have an actual meal and just cater for the evening as this will be way cheaper and you can have everyone you want at the ceremony

View quoted message Thanks so much I never thought of that, will definitely consider this!

I've been invited to a couple of weddings where the majority have been invited to the ceremony and evening reception but not the formal meal in between.

It can work if all your guests are local, since they can go home in between. But if people are travelling up for the day, it can leave them killing time for several hours. I wouldn't consider accepting a ceremony & evening do only invite unless I lived very near the venue.

As Charolotte suggests, I would have a late ceremony and go straight into the evening reception, to which everyone is invited. If you want to spend more time with your close family, you can always meet up with them for an early lunch before getting ready for the wedding.

View quoted message Yeah some are travelling from England which is a few hours away. I really like that idea! And helps saves money

I definitely wouldn't invite people to the ceremony if they cannot attend the wedding breakfast. We just chose to have a very small ceremony to cut the cost of wedding breakfast. Only having very close family and friends for the ceremony and then having more people for the reception. We decided this was a better way of cutting costs than to make it complicated. x

We are also on a small budget. To keep everyone happy, only two witnesses at the registry office and then a great big party for everyone. So much cheaper than, a wedding venue, then a wedding breakfast, then an evening do.
Honestly, don't listen to what others say that is right or wrong, it is your day!! Take on ideas and be brave but be yourselves x

View quoted message

I've just suggested a similar idea, we are doing this

It could be easier to do it if the ceremony and wedding breakfast are being heald at different locations - rather having a ceremony then telling people they now have to leave.

What about doing it this way.

Invite them to the evening only BUT to tell them they are very welcome to come and watch you get married and they can stay and have a few drinks and be in the photos too.

I’ll be honest. I am usually the type to say that it’s YOUR wedding and you should do what you want. But I think inviting people to the ceremony and evening but then telling them not to attend the middle part is very strange. I’d go for a smaller ceremony with only the people you want for the wedding breakfast.

View quoted message This is a good idea!

Just as a thought for another option, if you decide to keep your ceremony small & to the same number of your wedding breakfast, you could maybe live stream the ceremony, if you’re allowed to at the venue & you wanted to, of course


It’s not something for me, but someone suggested it to me recently as we’re having what they considered to be a “small” wedding, so may be worth a thought.