Q & A: How should announcements and invitations to the celebration be worded?

Q. My fiance and I are having a family wedding and a reception for those attending. He is in the military and is being sent overseas for 6 months soon after the wedding. After he returns, we plan to have a huge celebration and invite everyone we would have invited to the wedding had we had the big wedding originally planned. We are sending invitations to the wedding to family members. We are also planning to send announcements to those we plan to invite to the celebration we will have in 6 months and then send invitations to everyone as we get closer to this date. Are we doing the correct thing? Also, how should announcements and invitations to the celebration be worded?

A. With more and more couples having destination weddings or a wedding/honeymoon/reception, the break between the wedding and the "reception" party is not so unusual anymore. You will want to send out a wedding announcement "Mr. & Mrs. A. B. Name have the honor of announcing the marriage of their daughter YOUR NAME to Mr. HIS NAME, Saturday the tenth of November one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, Dimebox, Texas. You can be a lot less formal and a lot more informative by sending an announcement that can have the names of both sets of parents and a "notice" of future celebration --- Mr. and Mrs. Brides Family and Mr. and Mrs. Groom's Family announce the marriage of YOUR NAME and HIS NAME on THE DATE...(Then two lines down)... "A celebration of this marriage will be announced prior to HIS NAME's return from a six-month tour of duty with the military." These should be mailed the day of the wedding (after the wedding) and should not be sent to individuals who received invitations to the wedding and small family reception. A separate invitation to your belated reception should be sent about six weeks in advance and should state the following: "Mr. and Mrs. WHOEVER IS PAYING FOR THE RECEPTION (or both families if they are sharing in the cost) requests the pleasure of your company at a reception in honor of Mr. and Mrs. HIS NAME, on, at, etc., etc." - be sure to enclose a RSVP card - this way you will know how many to plan for.