DP and I have just got engaged and are talking through wedding ideas. We're leaning towards having a registry office wedding with closest family (about 15 of us) followed by a nice afternoon tea or similar. Formal thing but not crazily so (No walking down aisle, a pretty and comfy dress rather than "wedding" dress, a bouquet, DPs niece as bridesmaid as she would love to do it)
Then, a week or 2 later having a party - child friendly no set seating, nice food buffet/hog roast type thing, short speeches, cake, dancing - for maybe 50 friends and family.
Does that sound crazy? We're worried about inviting friends to a non-wedding, iyswim - asking people to travel up and down the country when they wont actually see us getting married.
There are reasons. I have ME, very little energy, use a mobility scooter, and stress and anxiety eats energy even more. This would allow me to enjoy it more, no pressure of wobbling down an aisle, uncomfortable dress, being stared at by loads of people saying vows. I'd have time to properly rest before having fun celebrating with everyone. Neither of us want a big "look at us" wedding but would still like to celebrate with friends. Although in theory 2 occasions adds more planning, we want to cut out a lot of the fancy wedding bits and keep it all as simple as possible.