Destination Wedding-No guests but reception afterwards

Hmm. Its a grey area. I think a bachelorette party and shower are ok since someone else throws them but I am not sure about the reception. I think it would be ok though.

Well we are going to pay for the reception ourselves of course. What we are thinking of having is a whole lot less then 5 airline tickets with hotel so that everyone else can come. I'm just wondering how I go about the whole thing. My fiancee is handling all of the arrangements for the wedding and I'm going to organize the reception. It is going to be a wedding-style reception with the whole nine just no ceremony. I even thought about having my close friends and sister be "honorary maid and matrons (with out the expense) to help me get it all together. I 'm just wondering if this is tacky?

I don't think its tacky. I would explain it to your close family that can't come that its what you want. I wouldn't be offended if someone that I know did this.

It's always fine to have a reception without a ceremony; private (or very small) ceremonies are quite common. You have up to a year following a wedding ceremony to have a reception to mark the marriage (you can actually have more than one reception if you want, as long as you aren't inviting the same people to them, according to Miss Manners). A marriage may be a ceremony, but a wedding is primarily a party, so pretty much all the usual traditions apply here.

If you aren't already considering it a videographer would be a great idea. Some of them even offer packages that include a live feed online. That way your family could still be present without having to actually be there. You could also have the footage playing at the reception to share with all your friends and family.

I like JJ's idea of getting a video that you can share, either online or at the reception.