How to invite guests to the wedding and not the reception?

Dear Polite One,

Our venue for the reception will only hold 120 people. My guest list exceeds this greatly. Is there a proper way to invite some people to the wedding but not the reception, and if so, how do you do that without offending anyone?

Bride

Dear Bride,

I’m sorry, but all wedding guests are invited to the entire reception because the wedding is the gift-giving event. To invite some and not all is classifying some as not good enough to entertain. It is best to scale down your guest list or choose a new venue.

Sincerely,

The Polite One

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