We want to get married next year but we are not sure what to do about the reception.?

Question

It will only be a small wedding (about 40 guest). We don’t want a DJ but are not sure what else we can do. Any ideas?

Answer 1

There are many ways to have an inexpensive reception.
First, determine your budget (this is the most important part of ALL planning and many couples think "well I will just keep my costs low" or they don't separate what the expenses of the ceremony are from what the expenses of the reception are and so they overspend in one area or the other). Next, think about your wedding style (this will dictate your reception style in part, you wouldn't want to have a formal wedding and an extremely informal reception for example). Then, determine your venue from that (i.e. formal wedding = ballroom or similar venue for reception, informal wedding = park, backyard, beach, etc.)
Once you have figured out your most basic details you can get the smaller details taken care of more easily.
For example (I'll give you the numbers from my own wedding):
Our wedding - 50 guests
Our total budget - $8000 (including honeymoon)
Reception budget - $2500
Our style - semi-formal
Our venue - Ceremony at small pond on local campus, Reception at local hall (city run, small)
With the above numbers in mind we know that we cannot afford a HUGE expense on the smaller details many weddings have... we will not be having favors (those are unnecessary and generally a waste of money anyway in ANY wedding), we also will be having a friend "DJ" our wedding (rental of the necessary equipment and $100), we will be making the meal ourselves (I can give you a full detail of how to do this should you be interested, just email me), I have many of the decorations already from weddings I have planned in the past (twinkle lighting, a "disco ball", etc) and the rest I will get through discount places either on-line or local (Sam's club, oriental trading, etc).
As you will probably not have my resources, you could have a BBQ reception, a pot luck reception, etc to cover food. For music DO NOT hire a band if you are trying to save money, bands cost more than DJ's as you have to pay each person. You can, however, attach an MP3 player to the sound system (or bring your own speaker system) and run the music that way... be sure that you have a trusted family member that knows how to run the equipment so that they can change the playlists by "dinner" "important dances" and "other music".
If you prefer not to do music (arent much for dancing, etc) plan a venue where you wouldnt have to have dancing (i.e. BBQ or some other informal venue).
If you want or need further assistance, feel free to email me and I will do my best to help.

Answer 2

We had a small wedding - 42 guests and held the evening reception after we got back from our honeymoon at the local pub. We were nice and tanned for the photographs! For our entertainment we had a belly dancer and band which was great and didn't cost that much.

Good luck with the planning!

Check out more ideas at www.cheap-wedding-solutions.com

Answer 3

We had a wedding with 50 ppl. Small nothing fancy. We did a pot luck thing and had everyone bring something. It turned out really good! For your mom and all try and get them to bring a main course..because the guests will prob bring side dishes. Make sure to add a note into your wedding invitations. And we just brought a cd player and burned music we liked onto cds

Answer 4

If it's only a small wedding, you could have a traditional 'wedding breakfast' ie a sit-down meal and forego the more modern evening reception.

If you definitely want an evening 'do' but don't want a DJ then I'd suggest a band. Or you could just make a tape of various songs to dance to and play it through the venue's PA system I suppose.

Answer 5

For me, make it a garden wedding. it is cheaper but yet solemn. Remember that you are getting married and it is one of the most important day in you life.

Held the reception on one side of the garden. prepare a simple table with little flowers and the food for 40 heads.dont forget the love music it completes the event.

Answer 6

A friend of mine gave her wedding reception in the clubhouse of the apartment complex where they would be living. It turned out great. They had a pile of cd's set up in the order they wanted them played, and a friend made sure that the music never stopped. A big plus was that they were able to sleep the booze off before leaving for their honeymoon!

Answer 7

If you get married when it is better weather then I would suggest a garden type party. You could have a small Marquee or gazebo with tables set out inside and hold a BBQ type meal with maybe pancakes with assorted fillings for sweet. It is different and will be ideal for a small group. If you dont want a DJ then why dont you get a jazz guitarist to play, it also acts as lovely background music during meal time.

Answer 8

How about a cocktail party with hors d'oeurves and champagne? You don't need to do a huge reception...maybe just arrange for a violinist to play. And make sure you state on the reception card that "Reception will be from 6 to 8." Keep it short and simple; will be simply amazing!!

Answer 9

You could hire a band or singer or you can just burn some cds of your choice of music - ask someone responsible to keep the music going all night. You can even do a pre dinner and dinner disc, post dinner, bridal waltz and other slow dances and party time mixes. It is cheaper and you can have what you like

Answer 10

A reception is a social way of welcome guest to yr house or where u want it to be, so don't stress yr self.

A small buffet of finger food , like mini hot dogs, onion rings, cheese sticks, cup cakes, any thing that will welcome the people u are inviting, don't cost much to cater a one, be sure there are fruits and drinks like coffee,tea or punch.

As for music, u can play some soft music and (mp3 can have more than 50 over songs)