Need advice - getting married on our wedding day, but postponing reception

I'm sorry you are going through this. I can only imagine how I would be if I were going through this.

1. I would let the guests know as soon as possible that your plans have changed. I would just call/text them for now and let them know that you have decided to still get married in July, but because of the pandemic it will be immediate family only and that once it is safe to do so you will be having a vow renewal and reception.

2. I would plan to only have immediate family there. I would probably not have a wedding party for the ceremony. Depending on where you are located you may not even be allowed to have 48 people. I would plan on doing a vow renewal and reception later on where you have all of your bridal party and extended family.

I'm doing a similar thing, our date was 7/26. We are going to do a ceremony in my hometown in June and have everything at the venue as a vow renewal and reception in 2021. For our ceremony it is going to just be my mom and 3 siblings, and my fiance's best man (all his family is far away and he doesn't want them to fly). We just sent out announcements about the changes last week with a postable flyer, which you can send via email directly from the site (like evite), or through text with a link. We chose to do that vs. updating our wedding website so that we would feel slightly less awkward inviting people to the virtual ceremony that aren't invited to the reception next year due to our guest limit.
We told them our new date and how they would join virtually, and have our registry info and addresses for gifts. On the registry section we wrote that we'd appreciate gifts for our love, but will keep our registry open and update it until our reception next year, so people don't feel pressured to buy gifts now vs later.

Don't be pressured to invite a lot of people to your ceremony this year! Like I mentioned we will have 5 family members, our officiant, and maybe a photographer. Our ceremony is short and simple, and next year we will do all the things we originally planned for- getting ready photos, the wedding party, the special dances, and the cake. We aren't doing it now, so maybe share that so people don't feel like they're missing out? And remind everyone that you postponed the celebration for everyone's safety, and use that as an excuse to really only have an inner circle at your ceremony.

Hi Stephanie,

Congratulations on making a decision to get married on your original date and postpone the reception! I hope you're feeling relieved and excited about your new plan.

I'm with the PP. Friends and family should not be pressuring you to do something that a) you don't want to do, and b) doesn't feel safe given the current situation with COVID-19. If any of your loved ones are high-risk, you have an even better reason to push back against a large group for your ceremony. Re: question #1, here are some existing discussions with other couples with various ideas/suggestions:

- Postponed Wedding Invites?

- Change of date cards

- Coronavirus Postpone Announcement

Additionally, these WeddingWire articles may be helpful to you:

- Save the (New) Date: Etiquette Tips for Communicating a Wedding Postponement

- How to Make Life Easier for Your Guests If COVID-19 Moved Your Wedding

- You’ve Decided to Postpone Your Wedding. Now What?

There are more resources here: Our COVID-19 Weddings Advice Guide. Hope this helps!