Reception after a courthouse wedding ?

We don't really have a lot of courthouse weddings in NJ, but we do tiny teeny weddings all the time with receptions to follow. But to get useful answers you need to provide more info....reasons, time between the two, you know that stuff.

We had a small city hall wedding (6 people) and we are planning on a big celebration in 2019. Still very unsure if it should just be a celebration or if we will do a ceremony as well?

My FH's brother had a courthouse wedding with just his family and then his wife's family (there were 11 of us total). We went to a nice restaurant afterwards. You could also do a bigger reception type party some other time (I just wouldn't call it a reception then).

I haven't done it, but there's nothing wrong with it!

Naijeli, that's quite a common plan actually. As long there is a truly small number of people at the ceremony so that the rest of the guests don't feel left out.

I don't see that as a problem. You do you, girl!!

Thanks you all , just trying to get some insight on what I should do.

Hi Naijell!

FH and I and 6 of our family member's are getting married at a beautiful historic courthouse in August and we're hosting a typical wedding reception/celebration for about 125 people in September.

We get the best of both worlds, an intimate ceremony and a fun reception!

If you are doing it to save on costs... it won't help. Most of your budget goes to the reception anyways... im only saying this because of another one of your posts. If you want to host your guests properly you either need a bigger budget or a smaller guest list. Changing the ceremony to a courthouse doesn't always save you a lot of money. Most of your money will go to a dj, florist, CATERER, and photographer..

I second @Makayla. I will also add that depending how close in proximity you do the courthouse wedding and the Reception, guests may not be so inclined to give you gifts as you are already married (so no bridal shower or bachelorette/pre wedding festives). Bc the reception is then a party/celebration of marriage. The wedding is always the day you legally get married whether courthouse or not.

My brother did a courthouse wedding in NJ and then did a reception afterwards at a restaurant. I gave a gift like you would normally do at a reception. It's been a year and I've yet to receive a thank you. This has caused somewhat of a strain relationship between me and my SIL because I think it's rude not to say Thank You whether you were expecting a gift a not, something was given, you say Thank you with a card. She can send stupid notes for everything else, a simple thank you should have been given. As you can see,I'm still pissed! It was a gift of $600 to pay for me and my kids plates...so I think a simple card isnt much to ask, I know that had I shown up empty handed she would have been offended.

I don't think there is anything wrong with it, you'll just miss the whole walking down the aisle thing. Me personally that's one of the parts i'm most excited about!