Open Ceremony & Closed Reception: Wording on Website

@Stephanie A: as mentioned, we have very large families and our parents would like to invite their friends and cousins etc. I've already cut the list. Again, it's not an ideal situation but we're trying to do the best we can. It may not be common to many, but in the West Indian community, large families are the norm.

It seems that each event should have a separate invite, but I agree; even though it's traditional to have huge weddings, it's really kind of unmanageable for everyone in many ways.

And yes, take the info on your website down. It makes it seem like a public event.

Whether someone is invited to the reception or not, if I go to a wedding ceremony that I was specifically invited to (not a church bulletin that is open because all church events are open), I would expect a reception. Upon not receiving information about a reception, I would either be asking the B & G about it, asking their parents, talking to people, which will likely lead to people finding out about the reception anyway.

The fact that people can even SEE that there's a reception is an issue.

I'm not sure of how you can word this that would cause your guest list to dramatically drop from people not going to the ceremony either. That's where we're coming from. Whatever wording you choose, you are likely to still have fallout, and I sincerely hope you guys are ready to handle that.

So, wait, is it normal or not in your families to be invited to the ceremony only? I thought you said yes it was, then you said it wasn't... which is it? Because if your families don't care, that's different.

Thanks for your input everyone. I asked the question to get advice on the wording, not to get attacked about the choice we made. Everyone's situation is different and everyone makes their choices about their wedding as per their desires and budget, like we have.

To clarify: it's the norm to have a mini reception event after the day long ceremony. But the formal reception is just for our family and close friends.

Is everyone from the ceremony invited to that "mini" reception?

We are trying to tell you that they're not "taking liberties", they are genuinely confused. We told you how you can fix it: by taking down the reception info. I merely added that this is not the norm for Hindu weddings in the United States (west Indian is something else entirely) so that readers aren't confused. No one is attacking you; you just don't want to take our advice that there is no "nice" way to write, "Hey, this party is by special invitation only, so if you didn't receive XYZ colored card, then don't try to RSVP below."

Yes.. Everyone is invited to the mini reception after the ceremony.

If everyone is invited to the "mini" reception, then you're having a reception, and that's fine. But for the formal dinner, yes, you should take it down from WW so as to not confuse your guests or otherwise cause discord. Take those RSVPs by email or phone instead.

We can only respond to what information we're given, and perhaps I missed the "mini" reception, but I was genuinely confused about what you were doing.

I would just say don't have a website and send people invitations to the specific events.

I have hindi friends, I get where you are coming from (as much as a white girl from Virginia can).

Thanks @Just Reenski, that seems like the best option.

I was thinking that, @ModernChocBride or making 2 sites because it's a lot of people to keep track of.