Help needed: Catholic wedding and destination beach reception

How big is the church wedding going to be? I would call the beach part a "celebration of marriage".

Yikes. You should have a small reception after the church ceremony to thank those coming - plus not everyone would be able to travel for the "real" reception.

I'm not sure how to word this, though. Rebecca's idea of a "celebration of marriage" sounds good.

Question: If you're getting married in the church, then why is the Caribbean one a "blessing" if the Church already approves? Who's blessing y'all there?

We don't plan the Church wedding to be large at all. Mostly for elderly relatives and dear friends who cannot travel.

We don't want to hurt feelings ... we don't mind if people attend the Church wedding, we will just inform by word of mouth. The only reception is after the beach ceremony.

Will everyone be invited to both? If so maybe you can send one invite. Possibly the pocket invite format so you have multiple inserts so people understand.

We plan to have a small dinner for those we verbally invite to the Church. My fiancé REALLY wants to be married at the beach since we are both Catholic , we are going to be officially married first at home. We know it's out of the ordinary. The blessing would be given by a nondenominational clergy man or woman.

Wow- just have to thank all of you for responding... I really appreciate it!

Actually, we have been looking at the pocket invites.

The STDs for the Catholic ceremony and small dinner reception only need the relevant info -- date, time, and location. Your invitations could be relatively standard (add your parents if you want to -- that language is on the internet -- choose what you like). Here's a sample:

It is with great joy that

Doremi

and

Mr. Doremi

request the honor of your presence

at the ceremony joining them in holy matrimony

on

July 1, 2016

at

St. Whatever Catholic Church

Address of Church

Time

An intimate dinner reception will

immediately follow at

Whatever restaurant

Address

STDs for the blessing and larger reception:

Save the Date:

Ceremony and Beach Reception

Celebrating the Marriage of Doremi and Mr. Doremi

Date

Location

Formal Invitation to Follow

Invitation to Blessing and Caribbean Beach Reception:

It is with great delight that

Doremi

and

Mr. Doremi

cordially invite you to witness the ceremony

blessing the marriage vows they exchanged

on July 1, 2016.

This celebration of affirmation will be held

on

Date

Time

Location

A reception will immediately follow at

Location

Feel free to search the internet for words that you prefer. Just know that public celebrations of private weddings are not uncommon.

I am just now seeing your comment that the Catholic ceremony will be word of mouth for elderly / non-traveling guests. I personally would still send out invites for this. Unless you just want your parents there like people do when getting married at city hall. If your having more than 10ish people at the Catholic ceremony and you actually want people to show up send invites. Especially to the elderly. My Catholic grandmother would not go to a wedding ceremony she didn't get an invite too. She would say she felt she wasn't invited even if you told her verbally.

Wow. Thank you. We were stumped for the wording. These are great ideas. Thank you very much. I especially like the Beach invite wording.

Yes, HLW...now that I think about it, my grandmother would be insulted ( and some others, too) if she didn't receive an official invitation.

Thanks again!

Oops, I missed the part about word of mouth invitations to the Catholic ceremony. Glad you're open to advice, Doremi. HLW to HLV is correct. A formal, printed invitation is necessary when the event is a religious wedding ceremony followed by a dinner. Even if the guest list is ten people, they should all receive a formal, written invitation (plus, you'll want for yourself as a keepsake).

Also, definitely take the people out to dinner who come to your actual wedding, as a thank you for being there that day.