Maybe cancelling wedding

Send a card saying "the wedding of x and y will not take place as planned". If they're still together add something like "x and y would like to extend their thanks to everyone for their understanding".

If only the save the dates went out (assuming it was several months in advance) they can get away with not sending out an invite. People will take the hint

I agree with the previous poster Jacks.

I agree with jacks. But also they can just call people and say the wedding has been canceled but the couple will notify if new pplans are made

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No, no, no, People are saving the date. They may be making travel arrangements or buying gifts. They need to be informed. Depending on who is hosting, the wording will change

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Dixon
announce that the marriage of
their daughter
Barbara Marie
to
Howard Franklin
will not take place

John Brown

and Alicia Dixon

announce that their marriage

will not take place as planned.

They need not give any reason.

I would either mail an announcement to everyone who received a STD letting everyone know that the wedding has been cancelled or simply call everyone who received a STD to let them know.

I absolutely would NOT recommend saying nothing and just not following through with sending firnal invitations. They have asked people to carve out time in their busy schedules and possibly book travel to attend their wedding. They need to let everyone know not to book travel or hotels, ask for time off, find babysitters, etc. If they were to say nothing now and just not send an invitation when the time comes, they will put their guests in terrible positions.

I am so sorry your brother and FSIL and families are having to deal with this kind of situation.

If the wedding is cancelled and they aren't getting married, send a note a previous posters have suggested.

If the wedding is cancelled because of money but they are still getting married, my advice would be to go the courthouse, do a small thing, then send an announcement to people who got save the dates and explain that due to unforeseen circumstances the couple got married at a small private ceremony. Telling them after the fact is probably easier than writing them all a letter saying hi, we are getting married still but unfortunately you are no longer invited.

Also, you said there is a possibility that this happens. Until it's conformed, they shouldn't communicate anything. They should be actively trying to figure out if they can pay for and keep part of the wedding as planned or if they need to scrap the whole thing, and have a backup plan in place in case this happens.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! This was definitely the most helpful response. Hoping they can come up with a back up plan.

You def have to tell people. Asap. So they can get out of travels plans etc. I would I guess hint that things are ok (aka no one is sick/dying) and they are still together, if they are, but prob not 100% necessary. Can they not majorly downsize their wedding and still have it.?

How about still getting married? I mean isn’t that the point? They can have a much less fancy and expensive reception.

View Quoted Comment They are still getting married. My post said there was a possibility that the wedding as it has started to be planned may have to be cancelled, not the marriage. Obviously the goal is to salvage what has been started if possible. But, we are just trying to figure out how to handle it if that is not possible.

Everyone that received a Save the Date or even verbal invitation should be sent a notice. It can be a simple card saying, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the wedding of Blah and Blah on Date has been cancelled.”

Is just the wedding celebration being cancelled, postponed, or is the actual marriage being called off?

Edit: just saw your response...PPs have given good advice. Notify the guests ASAP.

If it’s not too many people call them all and let them know the date will change in the future or as previously said send cards letting everyone know.

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They could send out elopement notifications! If they're still getting married, get married early and make it sound witty "Please forgive us, We just couldn't wait until ___ so we tied the know early"

I also have seen funny elopement cards, that say something like "we eloped... now you don't have to sit through a boring ceremony, attend a shower, buy us a gift, catch a bouquet... all the boring wedding stuff people dread. yada yada yada. You're welcome."

My FH and I had a similar issue last year. We had to postpone the wedding because of fiancial problems after the invites were sent. There was a little over a month left until the wedding at that point, but we didn't want to send an announcement on the mail in case it got lost or didn't arrive in time or whatever. So we called, texted, emailed, whatever we had to do to contact everyone immediately to let them know the situation. We simply stated "Due to financial issues, we have postponed the wedding to [insert date]. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused."