Skip to main content

Post content has been hidden

To unblock this content, please click here

Mia
Just Said Yes September 2024

" Two Part Wedding"

Mia, on January 26, 2023 at 2:56 PM Posted in Etiquette and Advice 0 5

Hi all,

I'd love some advice on my wedding reception idea. My fiancé and I both come from large Italian and Mexican families. We are recently engaged and are starting the wedding planning process. My family has owned a large restaurant in our town for over 35 years! Since growing up in the restaurant I've made so many close friends with our customers and have celebrated many achievements & life changes with them. All that being said we are looking at anywhere from 200-500 guests with everyone we know (like holy crap)


In order to not exclude anyone we were thinking of doing our wedding in two parts

Part One: our family and closest friends will be present at our ceremony, cocktail hour and sit down dinner

Part Two: after dinner we wanted to expand our venue and host an "after party." By this we basically mean everyone who we couldn't fit at our ceremony would be invited. There will be a huge food station as well as a bar but not a "sit down" formal dinner. There will dancing, photo station and just a great party atmosphere


I've seen a lot of people say either invite them to all of it or don't but due to the size of our guest list inviting everyone is extremely difficult. It isn't so much about cost rather having enough tables, chairs, cutlery for that many people. Our venue can hold a huge number of people but again for


We would NEVER invite people without properly feeding them nor do we want anyone to feel less important. All of our guests mean the world to us and I want to find a way to incorporate everyone. My fiancé and I did attending a wedding that did this and it was really fun!


I'd love everyones thoughts on this and any advice they may have.


Thank you Smiley heart

5 Comments

Latest activity by Jacks, on January 30, 2023 at 3:54 AM
  • Hanna
    VIP June 2019
    Hanna ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Sorry, but I wouldn't recommend this approach. It's essentially a tiered wedding. If I were one of the guests only invited to part 2, I would definitely feel less important than the tier 1 guests. I would cut down on your number of guests so that you don't have to divide the people you care about into categories that might possibly offend them

    • Reply
  • Taylor
    VIP October 2022
    Taylor ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    I personally would only care if I was incredibly close to the couple but otherwise I wouldn’t mind coming to a fun after party! Now that I’ve planned and gone through my own wedding I know how expensive it is so I wouldn’t be offended personally. Since you say your family and closest friends would be invited to the ceremony I don’t see an issue
    • Reply
  • M
    VIP August 2021
    Michelle ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    I like this idea as your wedding celebration is in your family restaurant and you are close to regulars, but you know still at a distance where you're not in each other's homes. I would suggest having your ceremony and larger reception on separate days so your caregivers can dedicate more time to restaurant logisitics and hosting. I'd send or hand deliver invitations for your wedding "cocktail party" to make your guests feel special. Invites don't have to be intricate, a single card is fun. If you want a more casual feel, e-invitations are okay, but be prepared for more casual attire by guests.

    • Reply
  • Julija
    Expert October 2023
    Julija ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    My parents did this for their wedding and they said that it was the best thing EVER. They've been married for 30 years and it still gets brought up.

    • Reply
  • Jacks
    Rockstar November 2054
    Jacks ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    So, yeah. This is coming across as a tiered wedding. People in the less important tier will know. I don't know your crowd, but in these cases there have been lots of posts by hurt guests. That's something to tread carefully with.

    • Reply

You voted for . Add a comment 👇

×

Related articles

WeddingWire celebrates love ...and so does everyone on our site! Learn more

Groups

WeddingWire article topics