Asking guests to travel for a no party wedding?

I think an invitation should be welcoming, not apologetic, nor indicating that it's ok not to come!
I agree that being clear about the event is fine, though, eg Wedding ceremony at 11am Town Hall, lunch 12pm at the Worthington Hotel. (or whatever)
That's clear enough.

True, but OP seems worried about her guests and a simple note, maybe worded better than mine, to lay out what the plan is might help. Acrually, ai havr had quite a few invites that set out the wedding day agenda which would also do the same job.

It sounds lovely for a small close wedding.

My ideal wedding too! I'm always bored by the middle of the evening events and want to leave. Actually, I'm normally bored at the beginning, if the whole thing has already gone on since lunchtime!

I’d go to that wedding. I avoid weddings with music, dancing and the inevitable pointless drunken conversations that you can barely hear because of the hideous too-loud music. Especially if it’s a swing band.

Sounds fine - as long as everyone knows what the plan is. An hour away is a drive home if one person doesn't drink. Sometimes DJ can be too loud so background music enabling people to chat can be a better option. When I go out to anything it's always good to know what the food is (not specifics but is it a buffet or three course meal).

I’ve gone to all sorts of weddings and it’s not the party that draws me there it’s seeing people I love get married.

Sounds like my wedding...
Are you one of my guests? 🤣 we are getting married at a registry office then have a venue booked for the evening which is a meal and socialisation. We have a small baby so don't want any loud music. I wouldn't be offended if any of my guests didn't want to attend due to a lack of DJ as I'm doing what's best for my family.

That would be my ideal wedding if I'm honest! I dislike the 'DJ/dancing' part and usually leave at this point.

I'd be thrilled to receive this invitation 🤣

We had a small wedding with about 40 family members as guests. We had a 12:00 wedding and then a buffet meal (hot and cold) I catered myself with mingling and socialising, but no party, no dancing, no extras. We had family come from as much as 6 hours away. We invited them all but didn't expect them all to attend. Most of them did which was lovely. It WAS just family, from both sides, so it was an opportunity for them to meet each other and to catch up with members of their own family they hadn't met for a while.

I think it you make it quite clear what the day entails, and don't mind if some people can't make it, it should be fine. At least you will know that the people attending are those that really want to see you get married - not just there for the party.

We didn’t have a Dj or dancing at our wedding just a nice meal and socialising in a lovely cosy venue. Was great for all. Invite said wedding followed by reception, because that’s what it was.

That's exactly how I'd read it. 'they don't actually want me to come so they're giving me an excuse'.

They're going to celebrate the wedding of friends.
Then go on to a nightclub or something later if they want to.

I think as long as the bride and groom are clear on what the plan is then people can decide whether to go or not.

TBH, it sounds nice and low key. I would love to attend this sort of thing.

I am guessing if all the guests are ravers they might be underwhelmed but then they can make a choice to attend or not.

Sounds like a perfect wedding to me!

Pity that you can't have the meal much closer to the register office. Half an hour away is quite an expensive taxi fare for those without their own transport or who'd like to have a drink to celebrate.

I've been invited to a wedding in September. People will be coming from all over the place and it's been designed so that we can walk from the station to the church and from the church to the (very nice) pub for the reception.

Sounds fine to me.
We went to something similar but it was a city centre so travelled by train but if one of us had had to drive it wouldn't have been an issue

Sounds like a perfect wedding

Presumably that's wny OP suggests they stay overnight.

I'd be very happy to go to that wedding. I don't like dancing that much, so for most weddings I'm sitting around for ages watching other people dance and wondering when I can leave.

I think it's absolutely fine. Many of the weddings I went to years ago were like this, including my own. Evening receptions are a relatively new development. In the old days, the bride and groom used to get changed into their "going away" clothes and leave the reception before everyone else.

It was less common for guests to stay overnight in those days, presumably as people didn't have the money to do so. I used to travel much more than an hour each more to get to weddings without staying the night.

Absolutely guests shouldn’t judge. It’s up to the couple what they do. And if people do judge that separates them from friends to people you happen to know.
One query though, it doesn’t seem to me like an overnight stay is necessary as the place is not that far away. But if the idea is having breakfast together etc in the morning I can see why it might be nice.

Yep! Not everyone enjoys the evening part -I am generally bored and tired by then.

Sounds great, as long as you are feeding them I don't see the issue. We had a wedding reception then said we would be in the pub later if anybody wanted to join us ... unintended but it did end up as a party, just a very small one.

Not specific to your wedding but I often find that the MN demographic has very different views to my real world.

If you want to say a large workplace full of younger and/or less middle class people they are very possibly going to find a wedding no evening do unusual and maybe not so keen to go

It totally depends on who the guests are, it's not a one size fits all answer

Thinking that an hour is a long travel time is a surprise to me though, that's no time at all