Small weddings... - The PASH Wedding Forums and Message Boards

JeanetteMarie · #1 02-04-2006, 03:14 AM

So my fiance and I decided to do a small wedding... Which was always what we wanted but we sort of started planning for a large one... Now I'm SO happy we're doing a small, intimate gathering... Well, now I'm thinking about invitations, which I was going to do myself but how do you do that exactly? I was thinking wedding announcements to people that aren't invited because I still want them to be involved in our lives and we were going to throw a big party at our house after the fact, like, a month or two later and we've thought about adding that into our invites so they don't feel totally left out. We just have basically kept the wedding at family members and our bridal party... So there are a lot of people that have been involved in our lives and will continue to be that I feel like I would like to honor but we REALLY want to keep it small. Anyway, I couldn't find an example anywhere of a good way to word the invitations, any ideas would be helpful.

Marge129 · #2 02-04-2006, 03:19 AM

Are you wanting to know how to word the ceremony and reception invitations or the reception-only invitations?

ljeagle · #3 02-04-2006, 03:27 AM

WELCOME TO PASH

gymrat · #4 02-04-2006, 03:41 AM

Welcome to Pash and Congrats!

I DIYed my invites. Get a little more info so we can help a bit better.

wembley · #5 02-04-2006, 03:56 AM

Welcome!

Are you saying that you want to have an invitation for the wedding and reception and then have an announcement and invitation to a party a month later?

Complicated Woman · #6 02-04-2006, 03:58 AM

Welcome to Pash!

I don't know if I totally get what you're asking, but if I were in your situation, I would send formal invites to people who are coming to your ceremony. Announce your wedding in the local paper and let people know that you're having a large party to celebrate later. I would wait a while to send out the invites to the party.

Heather · #7 02-04-2006, 04:03 AM

Wedding announcements are normally sent out after the ceremony, so as CW suggested, send formal invitations for the ceremony to those invited.

Instead of "announcements" after, I would send invitations to celebrate your marriage and inviting everyone to the reception. I'm sure you could find wording online somewhere that would be appropriate. You want to be sure the guests know they are attending a reception and not the actual ceremony.

Chillchacha · #8 02-04-2006, 09:40 AM

Welcome JeanetteMarie

Kim&Bob2004 · #9 02-04-2006, 06:30 PM

Welcome to Pash!

deputysgurl · #10 02-04-2006, 06:39 PM

If you still need some wording then just send me a private message. I am doing the same thing as you execpt mine will be just a little later in the evening than the wedding. For my invitations I went to walmart and in the craft section they have boxed sets of invitations, so all you have to do is print them at home. I spent $60 on 160 invitations. I still have some ink left in my printer too.

roseprincess · #11 02-04-2006, 06:51 PM

Welcome to Pash and congratulations on your engagement!

Verseit.com/ is a great place to start, in terms of finding ideas for how to word invitations, announcements, whatever.

Since you will be making your own invitations, if you decide to send out announcements after the wedding (according to etiquette books this is done sometime the week after the ceremony has taken place), you could use the same cardstock you used for the invitations. Unless you choose a very formal/expensive cardstock.

I think the way you posted your question might've been a little confusing. Can we break it down?

1. you need to find cardstock & instructions for how to DIY invitations for the wedding ceremony & reception
2. you want information on how to also make announcements so that people who are close to you but not invited to the wedding will feel remembered and thought of
3. you are planning a party at your home about a month after the wedding where those who received wedding invitations AND announcements will all gather to celebrate your marriage

Did I get that right?

syringa · #12 02-04-2006, 09:39 PM

If the reception will occur within about a month of the wedding, you can combine the announcement with the reception invitation. For instance, if your parents announce the marriage, the invitation/announcement would say something like:

It is with great joy that Mr. and Mrs. Bride's Parents
announce the marriage of their daughter (bride's name)
to
(groom's name)
Bride and groom were married on (date) You can add the location if it wasn't local.

Please join us for a reception in celebration
(details)

This saves time, money, paper, and confusion with guests receiving two items within a short time frame.

Marrying_the_Good_Husband · #13 02-05-2006, 06:04 PM

Hi! Welcome!! I wouldn't bother with the announcements. I'm assuming you could just be word-of-mouth tell people you're having an intimate ceremony and that you will have a reception later on. I'm doing a similar thing (ceremony for just us and my kids away, reception for friends and family a couple of months later).