small wedding,any ideas?

Question

my fiance has been married before and im from a small family,so we r having a small wedding.my in laws hav offered to pay for the meal as well so thats another reason why i dont want a bigish wedding,the're fantastic and i dnt want it to look like im takin advantage.we will b getting married in the evening at the registry office and then on to the hotel for a meal.has ne1 got any ideas how to dress the table nicely and where i could get lovely,not too expensive balloons???i am also trying for a baby,which i think cud turn out poistive this month,so any ideas wot i cud do after.im not sure on a reception as there arent enuf ppl for the expense of a reception and i wont b able to drink but i thought the day wud be abit longer than a meal.i really havent a clue wot to do,i just want it to b special.any advice wud b brillant.

Answer 1

My Daughter got married last year. They found a small country hotel that was licensed for marriages, arranged for a registrar to attend. After the ceremony photos were taken in the hotel garden and we all went back inside to a meal, then onto the bar afterwards. We had about 20 people, it was nice, cosy and personal. Those who wanted to stay over hired a room.

Good luck

Answer 2

It really all depends exactly how many people there are going to be.

I would assume that the hotel where you are having the meal would have tablecloths and napkins for a start (although I would check with them and if not ask them if they can supply or supply your own), small flower arrangements on the table/s are inexpensive, you could sprinkle some little 'wedding day' decorations on the table/s - they are available at most card shops.

Balloons - look in your local yellow pages and get some quotes.

You could tie some ribbons to the back of the chairs for the meal. Talk to the hotel they may be able to make it all look really nice and special for your day for very little cost.

Good luck

Answer 3

I had a very small wedding and we chose to hire a private dining room in a 5 star classic London hotel - everything was taken care of and was perfect. It was not a fraction of the price that most spend on their weddings either! We paid for our wedding ourselves and set a budget. I think you really need to know how much your inlaws are willing to pay for the meal before you can decide on where to go. The benefit of a private dining room is that you have allocated staff to take care of you for the whole evening and you have the room for the whole evening. Most decent restaurants/hotels have private dining rooms for hire and most are very comfortable rooms.

We purposely had a 4pm wedding so that by the time we arrived at the hotel it would be around 6pm and perfect for dinner. It also meant we had the day to get ready and that our family didn't have to spend time hanging around between the ceremony and dinner. Whatever you end up doing have a wonderful day that you can enjoy!

I forgot to say we did all our own wedding flowers (not for the table though) we went to New Covent Garden Market and bought the best roses in the exact colour we wanted - I bought a fantastic book off amazon on how to do wedding flowers and buttonholes and we sat down and did them the day before the wedding - they were stunning and well worth doing as we saved £100s and got top quality.

Answer 4

If you want something special, I would go for a special place. A nice hotel near the registry office, they normally offer seminar rooms or similar. Then decide a main color, e.g. dark red. Have a white table cloth and dark red accessories like candles, napkins, flowers not necessarily roses and check the same color is also in your dress - only as a scarf or in your bouquet. A friend of mien had a cute idea: she had tea light holders in the special color and wrote the names of the invited guests on them - make a sitting order and a special give away too. Be sure to decide an the menu, is there anybody only veggie... And then get your bridesmaid or your friends to decorate the room you have reserved for the first married night with your husband in the hotel - you don't need to drive home and you have a special gift for your newly wed...
Good luck and enjoy!

Answer 5

Hi. Congrats for your celebrations.
If you ask the hotel, they will dress the table for you without charging an arm and a leg. If it's too costly then ask a local card shop how much they would charge for balloons filled with helium, and whether they do delivery.
The celebration is more personal. Whatever you as a couple want to do is the way to celebrate.
My daughter and her hubby had a Small reg. off. wedding, and a large party with a barbecue, at the pub, with a disco and a marquee in the garden. We all celebrated together, and they were the last to leave!!!
My son had a reg. off. wedding, with a sit down meal, followed by a disco type party in the evening.
Both weddings were lovely, and the celebrations suited the couple.
I have been to weddings where the reg. off. ceremony was followed by tea and cakes in the local bakery, and a taxi home.
All were lovely, and each was what the couples wanted.

Answer 6

How about trying to find a pub or restaurant for the meal where you can have a private room and get some music playing in the background (ask if you can take a CD player if that's the only option to get music). You can have your cake etc there too - if you're in the UK you can buy very reasonably priced wedding outfits from lots of high street stores in the UK (if you're in the UK), including M&S, ASDA and BHS. As for dressing the table - when I got married flowers were SO EXPENSIVE. I went to Ikea and bought a large bag of tea lights and glass tea light holders that were 25p each (you will probably need to check with the venue they are OK with candles if you want to do this - we were limited due to fire regulations). Instead of favours I bought packs of love hearts - one pack per guest - a little different! You can also buy table confetti - from lots of shops or even from ebay! Good luck and enjoy - I hope everything works out just the way you want it to.

Answer 7

Congratulations !
You don't say what month you are marrying, but
I wonder if you might hire a horse and carriage and take a spin around a park after the meal? Perhaps with your best buds if you don't wish to be alone quite yet... keep the party going?
And, there are many a wonderful sparkling grape juice items out you would swear were champagne.. no alcohol needed. Makes for a better wedding night, anyway :)

Answer 8

If you are getting married in the evening, you will have plenty of time to do the balloons yourself. You can hire helium tanks and get the balloons off the internet - a bit of ribbon and some weights will make them look fab. Why not ask a member of your family to do them for you (as its YOUR day)
As for the evening, why not just make the most of the tables you already have and sit and enjoy yourself talking to your family...
Whatever you decide to do, it WILL be a special day because its your wedding day and you don't have to go to a lot of expense to have a lovely time.
Good luck xx

Answer 9

hi there I'm planning one myself and we have decided to find a local nice little pub or similar with free room hire and do an elegant buffet because it only going to be small you can do this for a small price if family and friends will help you cook and prepare the food yourself ant with your balloons n table decs try getting a friend that's artistic to help you out buy the stuff to do Ur own ant try it in a few different designs until you find one that fits you and your partner at the end of the day its your day so it should be unique to you if you Can not afford to buy materials to practise with try drawing your designs and colour them how u want them good luck with your small day and pregnancy hope it all goes well for you.x.

Answer 10

FIRST, you need to forget about trying to have a baby BEFORE you get married! Ask yourself, "What if my marriage doesn't work out?" Would you want to worry with supporting a child by yourself? By support, I don't necessarily mean MONEY...a child needs emotional support from both parents, to feel "normal" and to grow up comfortably without feeling bad, or sad that he/she only has one parent. Geez, slow down, honey. Concentrate on your wedding and dinner...honeymoon and then establishing your relationship to a comfortable status before you bring a child into the world. Babies are forever and they are demanding. (Worth every minute, but demanding, just the same) and you need to be settled and confirmed in your marriage before you add a baby.
As far as your dinner goes, make sure you talk with management at the hotel to let them know this will be your wedding dinner, asking if they have any special things they can provide. You may just need to make reservations and that would be it! If you want something in particular, you may have to provide it to the hotel to set the table/tables with. Good luck!