Hello! I am at a loss here and could really use some input. FH and I have decided to have a small, intimate wedding (immediate family and close friends only), cutting about 90 people from our guest list. This is both to save money and to simply keep the day easygoing and enjoyable.
I feel very conflicted about the idea of just NOT announcing anything about our wedding and then seeing my extended family on Christmas and having them find out then that Surprise! We are married! Or having them see facebook photos. We will likely send out announcements after, but I worry that it would still be hurtful to them given that they didn't even know the day was coming.
My family is super easygoing and I honestly think most of them will understand (and the ones who we didn't expect to have already been informed privately). I thought about making a Facebook post saying something along the lines of "we are so blessed to have so many great people in our lives, etc. However, we want our wedding to be small and intimate, so we have chosen to have a ceremony and reception that will be private and exclusive to immediate family and our closest friends," and so on. I can't decide if this is tacky, though. However, it feels silly reaching out to everyone individually to say "Hey I'm getting married and you're not invited!!!" I just don't want people to EXPECT and invite and then be hurt when they don't get one and think it's about them, etc. As NONE of our aunts, uncles, cousins are being invited.
I could really use some advice on how to navigate this. We will NOT see most of these people again before our wedding day.