Invitation wording for a very delayed reception...

What about calling it a celebration of marriage?

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I like that idea! Again, he thinks it should be a reception but in all reality it isn't since we are already married. I just don't want people to feel robbed. A "reception" claims that people should bring gifts and can expect all of the things that come with a reception. I think him and I just need to compromise. I just don't want to look stupid doing the "first dance" with my dad and all the gifts and such. it seems to discredit the fact that we are already married, like I get it that you cant just re-do your wedding day. We didn't put anything on the invite about gifts, we just left it off in hopes that people just wouldn't bring anything but I'm wondering if we should say "no gifts please, just your presence is all that is needed"

These are usually referred to as "Celebration of Marriage." You should never mention anything about gifts, even "no gifts", on invitations. I've seen wording like "John and Jane Smith were married in a private ceremony on December 1, 2017. Join us in a celebration of our marriage on Date, time, location, etc."

We are having a reception the day after we are actually married privately, and our invitation said, "We would be so happy to have you join us for a reception celebrating our marriage on the evening of...". Later on the wording says, "We'll enjoy hors d'oeuvres, drinks, dessert, and dancing" so people kind of get the hint that not much of the traditional reception stuff is going to happen. We have also just tried to be proactively clear with people in conversation.

We didn't mention gifts on the invite, but we had RSVPs on our website only, and we were explicit there (in a separate website section) that we would prefer no gifts. Then we provided two charity options for donations. We do have a traditional registry as well (you know some people just can't not do what they think they have to do at weddings), but we're really trying to steer people to no gift or charity donation.

A reception is a kind of party, it does not just apply to weddings. It is one where someone is presented in a new role, for example. When a former professor comes back to his college to be a dean or the college president, a reception is held to present....., former professor of ancient history, who will now be the new dean of admissions. And at the party, it is traditional that there is either a receiving line, or the guest of honor spends at least half the time circulating to greet each guest. In days when transportation did not allow people to fly place to place fast, when people from distant places married, either where they lived, or near one family, at some point within a year they traveled to see family not able to attend the distant wedding. "You are invited to a reception to celebrate the recent marriage of JAN Watta and Kris Joke, who were married on December 2017 in Phoenix Arizona. Mr. And Mrs. Watta-Joke ....details. If you host, " will be having a formal dinner, with traditional cake cutting ceremony and dancing to follow. " Date, time, location. That is proper reception invitation format. Unlike a standard wedding, where people are expected to guess from the style of the invitation alone, other receptions usually specify formality indirectly, or specifically describe it. A formal reception with plated dinner, a casual reception with buffet, on open house garden party ( meaning people arrive any time and leave any time, out doors, food station available or coffee and cake.) So you are following a long tradition of receptions for recently married people, not a re-enactment or a vow renewal. And for this it is not customary to send or bring any gifts. It is also customary, if you did not send an announcement out after you married, to have a small business card size card to hand out, which gives your titles and names you are using as a married couple, your address, and these days either a phone number or email address. As a married couple, this is supposed to signal that you are now starting your social life as a married couple. And giving out the card to make it easy for people to contact you. You can just have the cards available on a table, near a guest book, not handed out personally unless someone asks.

Thank you all for your opinions and sharing your experiences! This really helps! I think I'm stressing my husband out. lol. he thinks its silly to worry about the wording. All of our friends and family seem excited about it and no one has acted put off by it, they have all known through conversation that we were having a reception at a much later date and all seem excited about it. its just the fact that its a year later that has me all worried about etiquette. My husband is not a fan of etiquette, and its hard because he wants to be involved in the planning too.

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Thank you for the info, we did put on the back of the invitation that this would be a casual event with dinner, drinks and dancing! I am going to be dressing very casual with just a casual dress and my husband will be casual with a nice flannel and some jeans so we want it to be very laid back and we want our guests to know that! So maybe just from that wording they wont expect it to be this huge thing.

Yes, with a wedding, dressy clothes are the norm, but at other receptions, too much variation is possible, so doing that is wise. Enjoy it! Parties are nice in general, but a reception format where a deliberate effort is made to talk with every guest, and be introduced to people's SO you may not know , is well suited for recently married people.

You can absolutely call it a reception - that's what it is, even if it is a bit delayed. And as for the father daughter dances you can totally do that too! There's no rule book on what to do other than to do what makes you happy.

I would call it a celebration of marriage. You can still do traditional dances and such if you would like and I don’t think it’s tacky. I would not mention anything about gifts at all though.

Call it an elopement reception!

I don’t know if your crowd would appreciate this, but I thought this was FUNNY and would RSVP right quick if I received this invitation! https://etsy.me/2f0ohyi