While the idea of crowdfunding your wedding won't work for everyone, if you're considering it, here's how one couple worded their invitations...

My partner and I like a bit of tradition and a lot of quirk. We got engaged because we wanted to have a big party to celebrate our love for each other, before all our friends get too old and start having too many babies. We also love each other dearly, of course, but we didn't need to get married to prove that!

We have decided to crowdfund our wedding. It won't pay for everything, but it does help. The crowdfunding from our guests is designed to be in lieu of a gift. We don't need anything material and unnecessary gift-buying makes us feel a bit sick. We also have a lot of friends, and want to be able invite all our close friends despite our financial limitations.

We didn't go overboard with our guestlist; we still want it to be a day with our closest and dearest, but we certainly didn't feel stressed or confined in our guest list-making process. We had no problems when parents rang up to ask if people could be added because: of course they could!

The tricky part was wording everything right on the invitations, to do our best to avoid sounding too stingy or cheap. We also wanted our wedding invitations to reflect the kind of day we were planning - fun but with a sense of reverence for the occasion and a deep respect for love as a mode of being.

I wrote all the usually invitation wording using Offbeat Bride's very useful wording suggestions as a guide. I also wrote a little poem to explain the crowdfunding.

If anyone wants it, they can steal it:

Our quirky gift idea might seem a bit skew,
But you know with us that's nothing new.

You see, we really don't need any more stuff.
As far as things go we have more than enough.
So, when it comes to gifts we're trying something new.
You see, what we really want is a wedding with you.

We aren't super rich, we have our own kind of wealthy.
We're rich in love and we think that's healthy.
But, when it comes to our wedding, we hit a bit of a snag.
You see, an intimate wedding just isn't our bag.

And while it's a reality that leaves us bereft,
Love just isn't a currency most vendors accept.
So we looked at our options and settled on one,
because it didn't feel right to leave out anyone.

You see while we don't need a TV or bookshelf,
we really need some help with the wedding itself.
We promise your money won't go on her dress,
it won't go on the rings, or our shoes - this we stress.

You see, all of the money we get sent our way,
Goes on the food, entertainment, and booze on the day.
It's called crowdfunding, and we really feel,
it's the best gift of all because part of the deal,
Is that we get to share our gift with everyone
Who matters to us most in this world, with the exception of none.

So while we know it's a little bit strange.
We hope you'll agree that it's far from deranged.

Everyone loved the invites, and it's made people really excited about the wedding, which is exactly what we wanted.

Anyone else crowdfunding? How did you word it to your guests? Leave your invitation wording in the comments. (And, as always, be considerate of our comment policy in your replies.)