When and HOW to announce destination wedding.

[Merandab4]

When is it appropriate to announce our Destination wedding?

As many of you already know, We are marrying in September with just our immediate family and a few close friends. Of course these people already know about our wedding plans. When should we announce it to the rest of our friends and family. I wanted to do it formally, so I was thinking about sending out announcements letting everyone else know that we have set a date, where we will be marrying, and that we plan to celebrate afterwards when we return home. These announcements would be sent out sometime in the immediate future.
or
Plan B: Since I was notified that MOH would like to have the shower in May, I was thinking that I could just wait and tell everyone at the shower what our wedding plans are, or maybe MOH could let the guests know in the shower invitation.

Do you think my guests would be offended if they came to the shower and then later found out that they would not be invited to the wedding? If they are notified in the shower invitation about it being a destination wedding, they can decide if they want to come or not. I don't want people to not show up at the shower just because they are not invited to the wedding. These will be people that I wouldn't get to see on a everyday basis and am looking forward to seeing!

Let me know what you all think. It is very important that I notified these people about our wedding plans prior to the wedding. I don't want them waiting for an invitation and later be dissapointed when only a few people are getting them and they are not one of them.

Once again, thank you to all who read my threads and reply. I must sound like a broken record sometimes. I keep repeating my wedding plans over and over. You all are the ones that are making this wedding planning thing loads of fun! I run more ideas past you ladies on this board than I do my own friends at home. Thanks for helping out!

 

[JoD]

I would suggest letting them know now about your wedding plans and I believe everyone will be supportive of your decisions. my friends and family are very supportive even if they are not coming to my wedding and all of them are attending my shower.

 

[hmgolden]

I second the vote for telling everyone now. I would tell them before your shower, and before shower invitations go out. The sooner people know the more excited they will be about your plans. I would also say, that no matter when you decide to tell your friends and family what your plan is, make sure you and your FH spread the word youselves. I dont think it should be your MOH's duty to inform guests of your wedding plans.

 

[Jenn]

For my sister's shower, we toned down the guest list to very close friends and family who were all supportive of the WDW wedding, even if they weren't invited.

 

[FranP]

When my DD married in 1997 at the Wedding Pavillion, she received copies of a beautifully printed 8 1/2 X 11 letter on Fairy Tale Wedding Stationery which was essentially a "save the date" notifce for the people she was inviting to the wedding. I think, but am not absolutely sure, that our planner at Fairy Tale Weddings actually mailed these out and we just had to provide her with a list of names to send to. Good luck!!!!

 

[FranP]

I forgot to mention (sorry) that she also had a church ceremony and reception here in New Jersey first and then the bridal party and some other guests went to WDW for another ceremony and reception so the problem with the shower that you guys might be having wasn't so much of a problem for us.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

We got engaged in the August '03 and early September I sent out Save the Date newsletters to all who we would be inviting to get an idea of how many we were gonna have to budget for a May wedding.

I then supplied my list to FTW and once I had signed my contract they sent out official Save the Dates to all on our list. We only had a 25% dropout over all.

I do think it is worth announcing where your wedding will be - before the shower invites go out especially if they are not going to be invited to the wedding.

LOL as you know I'm not the best on etiquette but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that usually you should only invite those invited to the wedding to the shower - burn me now if I'm wrong. But as you are having a reception when you get home then that etiquette could go out the wedding - heck I think all etiquette can go out of the window when having a WDW destination wedding - you get to write your own rules

But seriously I do think that people will appreciate being told up front about the wedding and where it will be and that only close members of the family and friends will be attending. Of course what can happen then is that everyone suddenly believes that THEY ARE a close family member or friend

I love reading about all your plans Meranda so please keep them questions coming - I'm sure the answers help others too