I remember how impressed I was the first time I received an invitation from friends offering me a choice of attending the tisch and the chuppah or the chuppah and the meal. It not only made sense controlling the astonishing cost of a wedding celebration, but it also afforded the recipient a guilt-free way to manage one’s time.
Perhaps I would have felt differently were close relatives involved, but for me at least, some of these affairs seem to go on and on beyond my patience to stay (not to mention my bed time).