Inexpensive Wedding Receptions????

Question

My soon to be fiance and I are talking about ways to cut the costs of our wedding reception. Any ideas? Our friends are umm, big alcohol drinkers, and we don't want them to get all wasted at our reception, because it's our special day, but we don't want to completely cut the alcohol out either. What are good inexpensive alternatives or ideas that may help us out? Thanks!

Answer 1

Determine your budget and stick to it. it will be VERY tempting to spend a little extra here and there, but it adds up very quickly! Figure out what items are most important to you and spend your money there. Better to have a good dinner than expensive, out of season flowers or a gigantic ice sculpture.

To keep your alcohol budget (and consumption) under control, consider a limited bar - maybe just serve wine, beer and soft drinks. Most sites close the bar during dinner, especially if it's a sit down dinner. It makes it easier for the staff to deliver the meals without bumping into guests running back and forth to the bar. Also, have them stop serving alcohol about an hour before the end of your reception.

This is a GREAT list of tips from www.weddingchannel.com

1. Schedule your wedding “off-season.” Nearly 70% of all weddings take place May through October of each year. Even in matters of the heart, the laws of supply and demand apply. If there are lots of brides competing with you for locations, limousines, and florists, the price goes up. You will probably find yourself able to get better deals on virtually every wedding service if you schedule your wedding in one of the “off season” months. Also avoid late November through New Year’s, when hotels, caterers and bands are likely to be busy with holiday parties. Your best bet? Set the date for sometime in January, February (other than around Valentine’s Day, when the flower prices peak), or March.

2. Set the time for early in the day. If you’re the average couple, your biggest wedding cost will be for food and beverages at the reception. A beautiful morning brunch will set you back less than dinner fare. And unless you have really outrageous friends, there will be far less alcohol poured before lunchtime. Better to have a wonderful morning reception than be forced to pinch pennies for an evening event.

3. Find a low-cost location. If you’re flexible about the “where,” you can save a lot on your location. Don’t knock your childhood church or synagogue: if you or your parents are members, the location fee will probably be waived. A city-owned location, such as a public garden or historic building, may be available for a surprisingly low fee. And you might consider marrying at home (yours, or a rich friend’s!) if your guest list isn’t too large. But be careful: a home wedding won’t cut costs if you have to bring in additional restroom facilities, seating, lighting, etc.

4. Select a non-bridal bridal gown. Bridal gowns aren’t the only white dresses in the world. It may be that the perfect wedding dress for you is not found in a bridal salon, but among the women’s evening wear section of a department store. (Maybe even on the sale rack!) Especially during the last several seasons, while elegant, understated gowns have been in style, the line between bridalwear and formalwear has blurred. You might even find that the perfect gown for you is a more-affordable bridesmaids style, done in white or ivory.

5. Decorate strategically. Spend your money on the things people will see the most throughout the event -- not things they’ll only glimpse momentarily. Your guests may not notice the flowers that decorate the end of each pew as they take their seat -- but they will notice the bouquets and boutonnieres on the wedding party during the ceremony and reception. They’ll spend a few moments before your ceremony starts perusing your program, so make sure it makes a good impression. Less important are extra flowers to adorn your wedding cake table; the cake itself will capture their attention. You could spend money to decorate the back of each guest’s chair -- but will they see it other than when they enter the reception room? Consider putting those dollars instead into your table centerpieces, which they’ll gaze at repeatedly during the event. Candles -- at your ceremony or your reception -- add drama and style with little cost, especially compared to floral arrangements. Another budget-friendly decorating touch: tiny, white twinkle lights, swathed in tulle. The most strategic way to decorate? Pick a location that needs little or no embellishment -- a garden in bloom, a scenic beach, a fully-restored historic building, or a spectacular cathedral.

6. Select flowers that are in season and locally available. If you do, you’ll probably find you can save considerably on cost -- especially if you make it clear with your florist that cutting cost is a high priority. Availability and price vary from city to city, and region to region, but you’ll probably find that Gerbera daisies, traditional daisies, carnations, chrysanthemums, statice, Queen Anne’s Lace, freesia, baby’s breath and gladiolus are your best priced flowers. Irises are an economical choice for Spring, which is also the best season for violets, daffodils and tulips. Various kinds of lilies are most plentiful (and best priced) in the summer months; sunflowers and orange blossoms are most abundant in the Fall. Avoid roses and orchids -- they’re widely available but pricey. And stay away from white blossoms. They bruise easily, so florists must go through larger quantities to find good ones, and to match the shade, thus the cost is higher.

7. Theme the event to hide what’s not included. Picking a theme for your reception celebration can be a great way to cut costs. You don’t have to be of Mexican descent to turn your reception into a fiesta -- and a spectacular banquet of traditional Mexican food will probably cost less than prime rib and asparagus. Continue your theme (and budget-management) by limiting the bar to imported Mexican beers and margueritas. Your guests won’t miss the martinis while dining on machaca. Another possibility: serve a family-style southern Italian banquet and limit the bar choices to red and white wines with dinner, limoncelo and espresso with dessert. Or follow your barefoot, beach wedding with bonfire-grilled chicken and corn, vegetable kabobs, buckets of beer on ice and a fruity sangria.

8. Harness the talents of family and friends. Don’t be afraid to let those close to you know that you’re looking for ways to keep your wedding budget under control. They may offer their own skills to help you save money, or they may know how to help you find a great deal. Your uncle with the classic car may be willing to play chauffeur for the day, and your cousin the computer graphics wiz might be able to create spectacular wedding programs on her computer; all you’ll have to do is pay for the paper.

9. Cut your guest list. It may be painful, but the simple truth is that there is no quicker, easier way to control your budget than by limiting the size of the event. Again, your single biggest cost will be reception food and alcohol, so you can reduce that expenditure by paring down the number of mouths. Remember: single guests who aren’t in a serious relationship can be invited solo; you may invite parents only; and you need not invite anyone who you haven’t spent time with in the last five years -- even if they invited you to their wedding.

10. Use the free tool and resources available to you online in WeddingChannel.com. Wedding planning experts say that the single most important thing you can do to control costs is to get organized. Timely planning saves late fees and expensive compromises. The planning tools available to you here in WeddingChannel.com will help you create your planning timetable, and send you email reminders of every appointment and deadline. You can even manage your guest list, RSVPs, and thank you notes. Access to your bridal registry here online means you don’t even have to drive to the mall to find out if someone’s gotten you that espresso machine yet. Through your Couple’s Profile, Wedding Logistics and Out-Of-Town Guest Information pages, you can get the word out to family, friends and guests -- without costly mailings or long distance phone calls. And best of all: the tools, information, and advice in the site are totally free for you to use. So you can spend your time, energy, and hard-earned dollars on the things that matter most to you on your wedding day. Now that’s a bargain any bride will love.

Answer 2

I would say have a limited time bar. Have an open bar from say 6-9 or whatever the hours are; not all night.

Also, a lot of places are cheaper if you don't have the reception on a Sat.

Buffet style dinners are also cheaper then sit down dinners

Also for the bar you can do beer and wine only so no hard liquor is involved. That is what I am doing for my reception. It is normally cheaper and people most likely won't get hammered as quickly.

Answer 3

Limit the alcohol to toasts only, or limit the types of alcohol you offer (wine, beer, champagne, and maybe one specialty drink), or limit the cocktail hour (to truly ONE hour or less).... all of the above will cut costs greatly and keep your guests from getting too drunk. Also to keep guests from getting drunk serve the meal before opening the bar. To help cut your risks of people leaving drunk cut the alcohol more than an hour before the end of your reception.
The major risk with alcohol at events is that youre responsible should the guests go out and get stopped or have an accident following your event. So make sure to tell your bartenders to keep and eye on the guests and cut them off early if need be (bars have to do this as well, so they bartender should not have a problem with it)

Cash bar is considered rude... you wouldnt invite your friends to your house and require them to pay for their drinks would you? The alternative to this is drink coupons (your bartender will likely know what I am talking about... its a couple of tickets given at the door so that they guests are limited to a certain number of drinks, after that they pay for their own, however you then run the risk again of them getting too drunk)


The average reception runs about 4 hrs .So figure dinner is likely to be served 1 hr into the event (at most), and do drinks either during this time or immediately after. That way you have the alcohol with food (cutting intoxication down) and you have an hour after drinks still to sober up before leaving reception.

Answer 4

There are lots of ways to cut the cost of your wedding reception. My top tips are:
- Cut your numbers - you'll have difficult choices, but it will help your budget. Perhaps only your family stay for the ceremony and meal with your friends all coming for the party afterwards.
- Go for a different kind of theme such as a garden party where you could serve up light food and canapes, or perhaps a traditional pub lunch and only serve up fish and chips (Kate Winslett went down this route).
- Alternatively, go for something different - a BBQ, a simple cold buffet, a dessert only reception or a wedding 'breakfast' serving only breakfast foods are all great ways to cut your food budget.
- Many weddings these days have two food servings - the main meal and a buffet later on. You can easily skip the later buffet as most people are still full. Any guests that arrive for the evening only are likely to have eaten before they come so serving them food isn't so important.

With regard to the drinks, I've been to many receptions where only champagne (or cava) is served for the toast and the rest is a paid bar. These days with the cost of weddings I think guests think it is perfectly acceptable.

A couple of other alternatives for the drinks are:
- Go on a booze cruise to France if you live in the UK - it saved me a fortune as you can get some great bargains.
- Set a limit to your bar. Once you hit that limit, then the guests pay for themselves.
- Only serve drinks during the meal or for the toast.
- Only serve beer and wine.

Another great way to cut your reception costs is to do your own music. It's easy with MP3 players these days and if you don't have one, perhaps one of your friends is willing to do this for you.

Whatever you choose, there are lots of ways to save money and stay on budget. Don't feel pressured to spend lots of money - you'll only end up in debt and that will add to your stress.

For loads more tips and advice on having the perfect cheap wedding and staying on budget, check out www.cheap-wedding-success.co.uk. It's filled with lots of ideas and tips to keep your budget on track.

Answer 5

food and drinks are the most expensive parts of the wedding.
So doing a buffett instead of 5-course sit down meal will halp save money on food and wait staff. (I'm just doing a bunch of hor d'hoeurves)
As for drinks- I'm taking it completely out and doing apple cider for toasts, but sounds like that's not what you want.
You could do only champaign for toasts.
If you want more alcohol than that, do an open bar of wine and beer for an hour or 2. Or give guests a punch card and after so many drinks they have to choose soda or coffee (this would help keep people from getting drunk).
Or have people BYOB kinda like the BBQ thing (like the comment said)
You could also do wine and beer and a specialty drink - say a martinni in your wedding color?
Whatever you choose try to bring the alcohol yourself - you get extra fees if the caterer brings it.
God Bless, and have fun planning!

Answer 6

You can limit the alcohol by having a limited bar. Only offer wine, beer, a signature drink (like a fun martini in your wedding colors), and non-alcoholic drinks. Or have wine served with dinner and one hour of alcoholic drinks, serving punch and coffee/tea with your wedding cake.

As mentioned by previous posters, having a cash bar is very poor etiquette. You are hosting these people as guests - and as such they should not have to pay for food or refreshments. That said, the refreshments do not have to contain alcohol...

Answer 7

well usually, i should say around where i live, UP NORTH. i have seen them have an open bar before the reception, only about a half an hour, and then maybe a keg after the dinner that someone like the grooms men have pitched in for. But that can't be planned. If you don't want anyone getting too wasted, then just offer free beer before dinner. That shouldn't be too bad. Otherwise let them pay for their own, it is really out of your hands as to how much they drink. UNFORTUNATELY> I fear the day that my boyfriend and i marry(if it ever happens) he and his family will be wasted and my family, well they dont' drink. He would probably spend our first night of marriage throwing up or on the couch because he can't sleep in a bed when he is drunk. People seem to use celebrations for an excuse to get wasted. It is really un attractive.

GOood LUCK, you are going to need it.

Answer 8

the best way to make a reception cheaper is to pick a place that has a low plate cost and then do a buffet (buffets are cheaper). if you are worried about the alcohol thing definately do a cash bar and maybe wine at your table. for toasts and such. do your own decorating (there are easy ways to make that cheap for example i got little glass candle holders and a ring of flowers do wrap around them at the dollar store and they were are centerpieces and they i sprinkled confetti around the table...i twirled streamers in the wedding colors around the front of our table, the present table, and the cake table...and had a decorator do fancy balloons over the tables as well).

Answer 9

You could do a cash bar so that they have to pay for each drink and not just freely take the next glass. Or you could not have a bar at all and just bring out champagne for the toast. But do what makes you comfortable, because it is a day for you, your fiance, your family, and friends to enjoy together. If worse comes to worse, you could always threaten them! Congrats and good luck!

Answer 10

Have a drink limit of 2 or 3 drinks
or save alcohol for toast(Champaine only)

Answer 11

Get a catered dinner or lunch like BBQ or Fajitas. Or you could do finger foods & snacks. Then have cokes, juice (for the kids), water, & beer & then if they want liquor or a different kind of beer than you are serving then they can bring their own...I have more tips for cutting costs but thats all you asked about! I hope this helps! Congratulations & Good Luck :)