My family is going to be flying in from another state for our wedding in November. The only people at the wedding from my side of the family is going to be my mom, dad, brother, and family friend. My fiance has a HUGE family and we want to be able to invite everyone. Our problem is we are both young and need to save as much money as we can to start our life together. The church where we are having the ceremony is my fiancee's church that he has been attending since birth, and we talked to our pastor who said we can use the church for free.
The problem is even though the church is free, we still have to pay for my dress, tux, flowers, decorations, invitations, and we are helping my family pay for their hotel rooms while they are here. We had an idea and I wanted others input about this.
Our idea is to have the ceremony and invite everyone but right after the wedding go out to dinner with just parents, grand parents, and siblings. And about a week later have a big BBQ with all the rest of the people who attended the ceremony. Would this be wrong to do ? I'v read one or two other post similar to my question, and you say not to do this. But what if you dont have the money to pay for a reception for everyone, but want to invite everyone that I have become really close to and see on a daily basis.
Etiquette Now
WEDDING ETIQUETTE EXPERT
Mar 11, 2007, 6:20 PM
Post #2 of 2
(611 views)
Re: [missymocha22] Reception a week later.
[In reply to]
Dear Missymocha,
If you were having a traditional reception and not inviting all of your wedding guests, this would be impolite to your guests and would be suggesting to only host the reception you can afford to host. However, you are only inviting immediate family to your dinner. This is common and appropriate--entirely different from the other posts.
Hosting a belated reception with all of your wedding guests is just fine.
This is fine, don't worry.
Oh, and you are not obligated to pay for your family's lodging.
Reception a week later.
