Photo: Leo Patrone Photography
What should you do when the church you've fallen in love with for your wedding ceremony is too small to accommodate your guest list? Our wedding etiquette experts are here to answer your questions in our daily post.
The church we'd like to get married in is too small—what should we do?
If you have your heart set on a particular church—maybe it's where you grew up attending—but it's too small to accommodate your entire guest list, don't worry, all is not lost. The first step, obviously, is to pare down your guest list as best as you can. If it's still impossible to squeeze everyone into the church, then the best solution is to keep the wedding ceremony for immediate family and closest friends, and then to invite the rest of your guests only to the reception, which is perfectly proper and acceptable. Many couples choose to have an intimate ceremony followed by a larger celebration with all their other friends and relatives. If you decide to go this route, you will need to send out separate invitations to those invited only to the reception. Pay close attention to the wording so your guests understand that the ceremony will have already taken place, and that they will be joining you afterwards for the reception. Try something like this:
Lauren and Jonathan Matthews request the honor of your presence
at a celebration of their marriage
Saturday, the thirteenth of March
at seven o' clock in the evening
Marvimon, Los Angeles