Private wedding ceremony (encore Bride)/public reception the following day

I personally don't have a problem with a truly private ceremony and a reception after. This doesn't fall into the same category of "tiered wedding" to me if you're only including parents, siblings, and kids in your ceremony. Others may have a different opinion, though.

For the invitation, I actually just received an invite to something similar. They said something like "Mr. and Mrs. _____" (indicating they are already married) "invite you to celebrate their marriage at _____".

I do not think it is rude. Just think need to figure out the best way to word it.

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Perfect. (I have to go look up tiered wedding. :-D)

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I think you are right. I have been looking up some different variations of invite wordings, and maybe this isn't as out of the norm as I previously thought. My biggest fear is that I will commit a serious "wedding foul" - thank you for the advice!

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A tiered wedding is when you invite some people to parts of the wedding, but not the whole thing. The worst I've ever seen is someone being invited to the ceremony, and then to the reception AFTER dinner.

People tend to see this as rude (for obvious reasons) and a gift-grab. But, like I said before, if you're having a truly private ceremony I don't see this as being a big problem. If I were invited to this I wouldn't be offended.

View Quoted Comment Goodness. A tiered wedding like that would be a bit offensive to me - no matter how well it was worded. 😊

D and B will be married in a private ceremony on ______.

Please join us in a celebration of their marriage

Saturday .....etc

Your situation is not uncommon. Your friends and family will be thrilled to celebrate with you!

View Quoted Comment Thank you, friend!! That wording sounds clear and simple - and I like the idea of thrilled friends and fam. 😊❤

Our situation is somewhat similar and our reception invitations say " you're invited to celebrate the marriage of_____" and then on the back it says "Mr & Mrs. _______, (actual wedding date).

I had planned to put "we will be married in a private ceremony on..." but FH thought it was "rubbing it in" that they won't be there. I don't agree (only parents and siblings will be at the ceremony) but I wasn't going to fight him on it so I changed it.

View Quoted Comment Ohh! I like that!
My FH can't be bothered by any of these anxieties...he literally thinks everything will be fine no matter what, where and who. While I appreciate the sentiment, it's not realistic and I want to be as correct about things as possible.

Not rude at all! Just explain you want a very small and intimate ceremony, but want to celebrate with everyone at the reception!

View Quoted Comment Perfect! Thank you!