Wedding ceremony but no reception?

Umm...IMO you need to have a reception and push back your honeymoon.

Or just elope.

Maybe you could do cake and punch after and just make sure to not hold it at a meal time? That's simple and wouldn't cost much

Or consider a JP with just a few close family and then take them out to dinner

Yes, it absolutely is rude to have a ceremony and no reception.

Yeah, it is. The reception is supposed to be the thank you to your guests for attending and supporting your wedding. If you don't do it, you're essentially refusing to thank them.

If you really don't want to bother then maybe just elope somewhere romantic with you and your FH. Failing that, do a short mid-afternoon cake and punch affair.

The point of the reception is to thank your guests for coming to your ceremony. So yes, it would be rude.

You could have a cake and punch reception at a non meal time as PP said. Or elope and have the honeymoon you want.

Would you want to travel who knows how long to sit through a 15 minute ceremony and then just leave? No

Maybe if you only invite your immediate family (aka the people who actually legit care about the ceremony itself)....

Yeah, that's super rude. In case you're thinking "but our guests should be there to support us, not care about a party!", no. I am not invested enough in other people's relationships that just seeing a 30-minute ceremony makes all the travel and expense that goes into a wedding worth it.

Yes this is very rude. You are asking guests to show up to the ceremony and the reception is supposed to be the thank you. You can serve dessert only at a non-meal time if you want to see money. Make sure it is written on the invitation that it is a dessert reception though. Also don't invite anyone from out of town and don't hold the ceremony on a week day. It should be a very small ceremony.

Well, we are having a very small wedding... Mainly family and everyone lives in our state. Close friends live 15- 20 minutes away from us. Our parents asked about us having a small wedding to save more for our honeymoon. Besides, it's just a suggestion. Our wedding is in September. We have a little time to settle this idea. Thanks ladies!

If you invite anyone to the ceremony there should be some type of thank you served afterwards. Whether that is a cake and punch reception (non-meal time), light appetizers and drinks (non-meal time), or even taking everyone out for pizza and bowling. You would be surprised how you can save a ton of money by just thinking outside the "norm" wedding.

Maybe you should just elope and then go on your honeymoon.

I think your idea of having a small wedding would go well with taking everyone out to a restaurant afterwards. Doing that with your small group shouldn't break the bank.

We are doing destination so our wedding and honeymoon in one. Get together to follow

Try a restaurant reception...most places do it and you cut the traveling and set up cost significantly...you may be surprised that it could be very affordable

Thank you Tanika!!! I thought about that, but wasn't sure if it would be weird or noisy since we will be in a restaurant. Plus!!! I hate to have a lot of attention on me! Hence the small wedding. Lol. So walking into a restaurant in my wedding dress...oh boy! Lol.

I would either elope (courthouse wedding with immediate family) and then you can do dinner at a restaurant. It'll be infinitely cheaper. Or, as suggested above, do just cake and punch. It's intimate, sweet, inexpensive, but still makes it worth it to your guests. But like PP'S have said, the reception is a thank you for coming to the wedding. You really can't JUST have a ceremony and then leave. You have to do something for them.

Other ways to save money on your wedding: -do your own hair and makeup -have a very small (1-2p) or no bridal party -find an inexpensive dress that won't need altered (or very minimal alteration) -don't do STDs I'm sure there's more but that's all I could think of.

Good luck to you!!

My restaurant has a large private room with a special entrance separate from the main dining room. It even has a private full bar, a seperate commercial kitchen, and bathrooms.

It's pretty sweet actually.

We are doing a private room in a restaurant and we will be there right after the restaurant opens so anyone who is not part of our event will be arriving after we do.