We are having an intimate wedding, total of 26 guests (this is the MAX based on the ceremony location). Our reception location is also small but allowed us to invite a total of 33 guests (this is the max based on restaurant capacity). So a total of 7 more guests. So we have a few people that we sent "reception only" invites to. The wording that we used, probably could have been better. It is my mistake, I didn't do more research on appropriate wording beforehand and now it is too late. I have to work with what I have. The invite for these "reception only" folks stated:
"Please join us for a celebration dinner"
I guess looking back, this wording doesn't clearly articulate that we will already be married by the time we meet at dinner. So now that is done, I am trying to determine the best way to handle things.
1 - Should I contact these people directly to make sure that they know / understand that this will be a post wedding celebration we are inviting them to since we sadly couldn't invite them to the ceremony?
2 - Should I put wording on the wedding website that indicates it will be a limited / small / intimate ceremony with a larger dinner celebration after? This way any "reception only" guests that check out the website will see this and understand?
Any advice (kind advice) would be greatly appreciated. I realize that I should have done more detailed research beforehand so I want to make sure that I handle this well and kindly to all our guests.