Small Ceremony Big Reception

It sounds like a great idea. We chose to have a small ceremony (~100 guests), adult/invitation only and we've had a positive response overall. Just be open about your requests, from the beginning, and your guests will be understanding.

I wanted that (8 person ceremony 100 person reception) but I didn't know it until after the invites went out. I would just make it clear that they are invited to the reception and not to expect a ceremony.

I think you can only get away with that if it's a much smaller ceremony. As in, 35-50 people at the most in attendance. If you invite 100 out of 250 people and some of those are friends, I think it would look like you're playing favorites with your guest list, honestly.

I would either cut your TOTAL guest list to that 100 people, cut that 100 down to a smaller number, or invite everyone to everything.

Yeah...I don't think 100 is "just close friends and close family."

We are having a small ceremony (30 people). The ceremony space is limited to 30, which basically gives us parents, siblings and SO's, best man and date, MoH and hubby, and a few of our close family and friends. We invited 100 to the reception. It *MIGHT* be acceptable if your venue for the ceremony only allows 100 (which is the case with ours), otherwise it's rude...I don't know anyone who has 100 close friends and close family. Your cousin that you played with when you were a kid and have had no contact with, or you only read each other's FB feed is not considered a close family member....Cut one list or cut both lists.

I know it's hard to believe, but we really are that close with every single person on our list of 100. We are both really close with every single person in our family. And the venue for our ceremony only fits 110. Thats why I was thinking it would be ok to do the smaller cerony with the bigger reception. But was curious as to what others thought!

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I can definitely believe you're really that close with 100 people, but to the rest of your guest list it communicates that you feel less close with them, and it just doesn't look intimate enough that they're going to understand it. The fact that the venue only holds 100 people doesn't make it more understandable IMO, again it just tells them they weren't important enough for you to find a bigger venue. Also I can tell you that we had 100 or so people at our ceremony - that's already a big enough number that adding more really is not going to feel that much different to you.

I would limit your ceremony to 35-50 or less of your IMMEDIATE only family, pare down your total guest list to those 100 people and keep the entire wedding intimate, or invite everyone to everything and find a new ceremony venue.

Sorry. I'm not trying to be harsh, I just really would reconsider b/c I think you're going to have drama and hurt feelings on your hands if you do this.

And remember that just b/c you invite 250 people does not mean they're all necessarily going to come. Some brides DO have 100% RSVP rates, but it's pretty rare. Granted some of our invitations went to family members overseas, but still, we invited 220 and we had a final guest count of 135. So at the end of the day, it may not be as overwhelming as you think.

Good luck~

I wonder how many people show at a wedding and a reception. I have been to many weddings that people did either of them and of course most of the time it is just the reception. What did everyone have for numbers? Our church will hold 120 very spread out. 140 with one more person in each pew and then there is the loft. Our reception venue is a limit of 175 indoors. We have both indoor and outdoor seating covered. Current guest list is 145.

Not exactly sure about our ceremony b/c it was in a church so nobody could count chairs, but we had a 100% show rate to our reception out of those who RSVP'd yes. Not a single no-show. (Actually, one no-show and one extra guest, so it evened out.)

I do a lot of weddings that are very small with bigger parties, but most of the small ceremonies are JUST family; under 20. I agree with Kris; limit the wedding to just immediate family or you are setting yourself up for all kinds of discussions that you will not want to have.

We are having small evening wedding with sisters,brothers and parents, and followed by a reception to celebrate our wedding with aunts uncles,friends,music,appetizers and drinks