Reception self-pay non-traditional

The only other factor that would mitigate this wildly shitty way of non-hosting is if both the bride and groom are incarcerated.

You said "The destination is only a few hours drive, so I doubt most of the guests will even bother to book a hotel"....my wedding is 50 minutes from where we live and 75% of my family is getting a hotel so they can enjoy themselves. Granted you don't seem like you will be serving food or liquor so they won't have to worry about driving after having a drink.

I would not drive to a wedding "a few hours away" and not expect to have some sort of meal after and drinks and then stay the night. No thanks!

Would you be happy if you traveled to a wedding, bought a gift, and then had to buy dinner? Are you doing this so that no one comes? If that's the case, invite fewer people that you can afford to pay for, or elope.

Please enlighten us with these "other factors", we truly want to know... and just FYI we are trying to stop you from committing a major faux pas here, you should be grateful for WW posters' honesty.

Please join us for our wedding vows on Exotica Tropical Isle! You will need to pay for your own air line ticket, hotel room, car, dinner, cake and drinks. By the way we are registered at the following places. Uh.. really?

OP where you at???

Wow I can't even believe this. I hope you change your mind, OP. I'm having a "non traditional" reception at a restaurant. It's just going to be a simple dinner with our nearest and dearest but I could never imagine asking my family to pay for their meal under any circumstances especially for my wedding. Please take other PP advice and pay for everyone's meal.

IMO, this is right up there with cash bars and self-catering on the tacky scale.

...so what did we not consider ?

OP, please come explain. I would love to be able to understand where you're coming from. I will still disagree with you, no matter what. With the little information you've given all of us, however, we can't suggest alternatives because we don't know enough about your situation. All we can do is tell you that what you're currently planning is extremely rude.

My daughter is doing the same, can you share any advice and feedback from guest that you got?