One site for ceremony and reception?

I think one location is always easier on the guests.However, there should not be anyone "not invited to the reception." The reception is meant to thank your guests for witnessing your ceremony. So it would be very rude (in the US at least) to have someone at the ceremony but not let them stay for the meal after.

View Quoted Comment I agree with Jasmine that it is polite and expected that guests are invited to both events. The only time I have heard of more people being invited to the ceremony than the reception is for large church weddings where an informal invite to the ceremony is given to the whole congregation. Even then, in my area there is usually still punch and cake for the ceremony guests and the formal reception (invite only) is held later that day.



I had my ceremony and reception at the same venue and highly recommend it. There were multiple benefits, in my opinion. For example, it allowed guests to have appetizers before the ceremony since the food was already on site. We also did not have to arrange transportation for our guests between 2 venues or factor in travel time. We only had to decorate and clean up one space rather than two and it meant one less vendor to negotiate and communicate with.

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I mainly mentioned the idea of reduced reception invitees as the only idea that would seem to be a possible reason that would be shared.

I like that idea of appetizers or other pre-ceremony snacks and coffee. It sounds like a way for guests to enjoy some diversion before the ceremony.

View Quoted Comment That is exactly what happened for us. We had tea, coffee, hot cocoa, and punch available. The ceremony was unexpectedly delayed by almost 20 minutes so we also served the appetizers beforehand. Our guests loved it!

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It is great hearing from someone who has just been through this. I've not gotten deep into the planning but it seems like you have to plan for things like the unexpected delays.

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It seemed initially that the reception was "just" to celebrate our wedding. Your point about this being a "thank you" is a wonderful perspective.

One location is always easier and more convenient

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Yes. That appeals to us.

Yes, one location is better. We’re having our ceremony and reception at the same venue. One of the reasons I went with the venue because I didn’t want to leave and go somewhere else. They’re going to do a ‘room swap’ for us that’ll take less than 10 mins. It’ll give our guest the option to drink and eat the appetizers.

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Imani,

that is great they will swap rooms. I was thinking that using only one room might leave people roaming aimlessly while the room is being rearranged. I'm considering an outside ceremony and then indoor reception.

View Quoted Comment Oh perfect! We looked at a venue like this. One of the reasons we didn’t go with an outside and inside is because we’re getting married July 31st in Houston. And it’s SUPER HOT during that time. I did like this idea though because right after the ceremony the guest can go inside for the reception.

So I really wanted to do our ceremony & reception at the same place. But it’s a bit more costly to do the reception at the same place, so we are going to a restaurant afterwards.