SENSE & SENSITIVITY
Nontraditional wedding causes confusion
DEAR HARRIETTE: I am having a bit of a modern wedding. My fiance and I are 46 and 56, respectively, and this is the second marriage for each of us. We went to our church and set a date for October. We invited 20 people to this small gathering, mostly family, since we each have several children. We plan on having a reception in the spring.
How should I go about sending out invitations for this reception? We will be married and living together by the time we have our larger celebration, but we still want friends and family to be able to come together and meet each other. -- New Vows, Sarasota, Florida
DEAR NEW VOWS: Create an invitation that states that you are having an intimate wedding ceremony. Be specific on the envelope as to who is being invited -- name each person. Follow up with a call to your guests, letting them know that you are excited to get married and want them to know that they are part of a very small group who have been invited to witness their union. Ask them to keep your wedding in confidence so as to honor the sanctity of the experience. You can also let them know that you will be having a reception in the spring, and you will send those invitations at that time.
As far as your reception invitations, say just that -- it’s a reception to celebrate your October wedding. Having small wedding ceremonies and larger celebrations is a common practice these days.