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Meagan
Just Said Yes December 2020

Need some advice on downsizing....

Meagan, on March 28, 2020 at 8:40 PM Posted in Etiquette and Advice 0 6

My fiance and I got engaged last September. Since then, we've received SO many well wishes and congratulations from our family and friends which was amazing and we're so glad they're excited and supportive. We originally planned for a June 2021 wedding and planned to invite about 100 guests, give or take. A lot of them have reached out asking "when's the wedding!" and we've told them we're working on it, sometime next summer, etc....some people we got addresses from during our conversations to plan for save the dates. We planned to send out the save the dates this summer since it would be a destination for 90% of them.

However, we've recently decided to have a very small garden ceremony with our immediate family and 4 best friends. Planning a big wedding has been so stressful and we came to feel as though we were planning it for everyone else and forgetting about ourselves and what we truly wanted out of this experience.

Although I'm really excited about our decision, I have so much anxiety over it because I feel like we hinted to a lot of people that we were having a big wedding. Not on purpose obviously, because it really was the plan, but I feel like some people's feelings might be hurt if they found out we got married and didn't say anything to them.

I'm hoping there are other brides that have experienced this feeling and can give me some advice on how to go about things. Do we just have the ceremony and not say anything? Should we call at least the ones we speak to often and tell them we've changed our minds? (We've been in COVID quarantine for over 2 weeks now so I just think I've had too much time on my hands to drive myself crazy over this lol)

6 Comments

Latest activity by Theresa, on March 29, 2020 at 11:49 AM
  • Gabrielle
    Expert January 2020
    Gabrielle ·
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    I think there’s nothing wrong with changing your mind about what you two desire for YOUR wedding Smiley smile and sure, some people might take it personally, or get offended, but they can deal with it and it will be fine. If you’d like, you could send everyone a picture/card in the mail after your wedding to announce your marriage. At the end of the day, it’s your wedding, and I applaud you for doing what feels right for you two. Go with your gut Smiley smile
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  • J
    Master 0000
    Judith ·
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    Save the dates have not gone out. People being excited 1 1/2 years ahead of a wedding does not mean they are definitely invited. Everyone has the option of changing plans up til the first Save the date or invitation goes out. You owe no one any apologies. Every time anyone asks now, tell them the far away destination wedding is off. Prepare marriage announcements to mail the day after your wedding. That will tell them, no big wedding coming up. It is fine.
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  • Dynesha
    Devoted June 2020
    Dynesha ·
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    It’s totally your choice to have a smaller celebration without making a PSA about it 😆 When people that aren’t invited ask about the wedding, that would be the optimal time to say that it will include your immediate family and the people closest to you. No one else should really “expect” an invitation if those invited are already in the know.
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  • Kimberly
    Super March 2021
    Kimberly ·
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    Like others have said it is perfectly acceptable to change your mind. You haven’t invited anyone yet so you aren’t uninviting anyone. And it’s ok to still talk about it with people you won’t be inviting. Just tell them that it’s a very small, intimate wedding with your immediate families.
    I post things on my Facebook from time to time with exciting progress on our wedding planning and almost no one is invited. We are having a very small, 35 person wedding. It’s all family with the exception of 3 friends. People ask us the date and I tell them and sometimes I include it will be a small family affair sometimes I don’t. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I am not obligated to invite anyone.
    I showed my save the dates to my boss and co-workers the other day and even though they all know the wedding is family only my boss still asked if she could keep the save the date and joked “I wanna go!” But she knows she won’t be invited. I don’t feel bad.
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  • Mrs.a
    Master October 2021
    Mrs.a ·
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    We’re having a very intimate wedding of approximately 25-30 guests. A lot of people know about it thanks to social media. We sent out save-the-dates just to those on our guest list and invitations are ready to mail out in June.


    This will be my second wedding, and my first wedding had approximately 100 guests. I knew this time and for my partner’s sake that an intimate wedding is really all we wanted; to have those closest to us to be included and to celebrate with them, and to spend more quality time with them as opposed to a few seconds with 100 guests. We also want to pay for it ourselves and not have to burden our parents, so realistically this is what we can afford without going in debt.
    I think it’s absolutely wonderful you feel this way and if someone had hurt feelings and can’t simply be happy for you, that’s their issue. My best friend did the same and there were family members who got upset unfortunately. Just be gracious about it. Smiley smile
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  • T
    Expert May 2010
    Theresa ·
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    I agree with Judith (who always gives excellent advice!). Also, being 1 1/2 years out, it's not certain that the people you've already spoken with can or will be able to attend. Don't plan your wedding around What If's, and just have the small wedding you want.

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