I have recently become engaged to my fiance. We would like to get married on a date this summer (which is special to us) which is approximately 4 mos. away. We are planning on having a destination wedding, in a neighboring state, with only parents, grandparents & siblings attending. Because our engagement is so short, we have (understandably) been finding it hard & stressful to book a reception site, find a DJ etc… to have a marriage celebration, for just after we return from our honeymoon. I personally think that it is tacky & odd to celebrate 3-6 mos later (which is when places would start to have availability in our area). What are some thoughts on having a one year marriage celebration for all of our friends and family to gather together and celebrate our joys of our first year? We are an established couple in our late 20s and do not need gifts, showers etc… and will probably not be registering for such. We also do not want to wait until next summer as we have been together for sometime, and are saving ourselves until our wedding night.
This is not a traditional wedding and therefor does not follow traditional wedding etiquette. This is a destination wedding…where there are no clearly established etiquette rules. I want this day to truly be ours and make the both of us happy…I don’t want to follow "etiquette" to please others, rather than ourselves. I am not looking for whether or not this follows etiquette…just what peoples overall thoughts are.
Thank You
Thank you for all of the positive comments and advice so far.
Yeah…I really don’t want it to look like a "second wedding" and understand that it is not considered a reception after the wedding day. I don’t care about the showers, bachelorette parties etc… although I am not sure how my friends will feel…and they may decide to still do it anyway 
I do not plan to wear my wedding dress to the one year party, if we do go through with this plan. I do just want to be able to make friends & extended family feel included in the process and be able to gather together to celebrate =D
