One fun idea for your budget wedding reception is to plan to have a family-style picnic, either in your back yard or at a local park like a town or state park where you can rent a picnic shelter. This allows you to take advantage of anything special available at the site like a swimming pool or barbecue pits that may be available. You can also allow the people attending to provide their own foods for the day, and be responsible only for providing the wedding cake as dessert, and beverages like lemonade for the group.

By selecting this type of event, you provide fun activities as well as allowing the guests to change out of any formalized dress they might have worn for the actual ceremony. This will allow your guests to more fully relax and can help to take some of the burden off you in the form of reduced costs for the reception. Often the cost of the rental of a picnic pavilion will be far below that of a reception hall with catering.

Other activities available at this kind of site can include volleyball games, football games, baseball games and the space necessary to conduct races or activities for the kids in who might be in attendance to keep them less bored and more engaged to keep them out of mischief. Depending on the rules of the site chosen, cleanup can be as simple as policing the area you are utilizing (easier with the participation of other guests) and seeing that the garbage is contained appropriately for pick up.

Another fun idea for your budget wedding reception is to schedule it in conjunction with some sort of event put on by a group that caters to a shared interest like a medieval faire or sci-fi or comic convention. If the bride and groom are members of the group sponsoring the event, they can usually work with the sponsoring group to make appropriate accommodations for the reception. By sharing in some of the costs of the event, the bridal couple can find exceptional savings over what it would cost to rent a hall.

Members of the bridal party and any interested guests could put on appropriate costumes to attend the event, and chances are they couple could enlist other members of the group to help find costumes or other appropriate clothing for anyone who didn’t have any but were interested in having some to better participate.

One final fun idea for your budget wedding reception is to have the option of hiring live music for the reception that more accurately reflects your personal tastes in music and that of the majority of your guests. If you prefer country or Celtic music, for example, how much more preferable would that be over a DJ who offers only canned music via CDs? If chosen carefully, the cost of live music could be equal to or even less than the cost of a DJ, and often a live group can go farther in engaging the guests who attend your reception.

Participation from the audience in singing with the band would be encouraged, whereas this might not be possible with a DJ. Dancing as a participatory exercise for more ages might be possible for guests at a reception where there is an abundance of songs familiar to a greater population of your guests.

To your beautiful wedding reception!

To plan for your reception meal for a wedding on a budget, try to keep your guest list to a reasonable number. You’ll need to keep this optimal number (assuming that EVERYONE you invite will be in attendance) in mind as you look for a venue for the food for your wedding reception meal. Make sure you have a definite attended count at least 2 weeks before the reception so you can negotiate price if you have less attending than you thought.

First, shop around to see what kinds of services are offered based on the type of place you choose to hold your reception. Halls which offer individual service by a wait staff will always prove to be higher in cost than a family-style buffet line offered by other venues. The additional money goes to pay the salaries of anyone else who is necessary to provide service.

There is the possibility that the cost of less expensive food includes the pay for a few people who will stand with the food offered on the buffet line and serve it as your guests go by with plates in hand to get their meals. In some rare instances, the only server who will actually stand with the food will be someone who will dispense measured portions of whatever meat may be offered to insure that everyone there gets a serving.

Get an estimation of what the cost would be per person, depending on what fare is offered. Be aware that the more exotic the fare, the higher the cost will be, especially if there is a choice of two or three meats offered. At a family-style affair, you are likely to get one meat choice, some sort of starch, either in the form of a pasta dish or mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls or other bread, green salad with a simple dressing, and a choice of water, coffee or tea to drink. In some instances, the pasta dish (usually shells or ziti with some sort of marinara sauce) will contain meat as a component.

Dessert will more than likely be the wedding cake, although in some instances ice cream or sorbet can be included. If an alcoholic beverage like champagne for toasts allowed and offered, there is the possibility that it will have to be provided by the bridal party.

Some venues not only allow alcoholic beverages, but will offer bartending services. In this case, you need to try and determine whether it is worth the expense to offer open bar services (usually including some sort of soft drinks for non-drinkers) or whether you should make it the type of service where guests have to pay for any drink they want. Be aware that open bars can run upwards of $500 and could go as high as $2500 depending on the number of guests you expect to have served.

As a final tip for your wedding reception meal for a wedding on a budget, consider having finger foods, especially if your wedding is scheduled for the morning or early afternoon. The choice of small sandwiches and items like cookies or pastries is a much lighter fare that will sit better, especially if guests have already had breakfast or lunch.

This sort of item will cost far less than a traditional reception sit-down meal. You may also find that if you have family or friends can help provide the lighter foods, you will need minimal staff at the hall. In this instance you can also serve the wedding cake at the end, and can bring in a punch or other assorted beverages (be they alcoholic or non-alcoholic) that can go in and on paper dishes and cups that you provide.

To your beautiful wedding reception!

#1) Most of the receptions are composed of two parts. The first one usually consists of the wedding traditions commonly practiced. Such traditions include the first slow dancing as husband and wife; throwing of the bouquet and the garter belt; slicing of the cake and kissing of the doves are done during this part. It is also in this part that the wedding toasts are delivered.

The second part is a tad more informal. This is where the food and champagne come in. Dancing and other intermission numbers are apparent. This is the perfect time to truly celebrate the occasion.

#2) Making the most out of the wedding reception is easy. Taking pictures is a must. What better way to remember this special day than capture images? Take snapshots of the place and the people. Put into pictures the activities that the guests did during the reception.

#3) Mingling is one of the best things to do in a reception. Instead of sulking in a corner, getting to know the friends and relatives of the couple will make the occasion worth the attendance. They may have an amusing story about the bride and the groom that they can share.

#4) Of course, despite the merry-making spirit in a reception, one must act appropriately at all times. Putting manners and etiquette in mind will keep the occasion’s tone lifted. This means refraining from using harsh tones, doing dirty dancing, ransacking the dessert table or yelling at guests.

#5) Most importantly, coming to a reception as a guest requires one to respect other guests. If one accidentally bumps into another who happened to be his/her worst enemy, for the sake of the occasion and common decency, it is suggested that they be civil on each other. Initiating a cat fight is definitely not a way to respect other guests.

A wedding is indeed an occasion that must be celebrated. This is the reason wedding receptions were made. Make the celebration more memorable and more festive by making the most out of it. Act appropriately, respect other guests and take pictures. Most importantly, have fun.

To your beautiful wedding!

First of all you have to choose the setting. Assuming that your budget has already been determined, you can choose between several inexpensive ways to go. Weather permitting, a park, a beach, or the attractive yard of your home or a friend’s would be lovely. Possibly you could hold it at someone’s home, if there is ample room for seating. The club house in your subdivision is another option.

But the list goes on. A hall in a church, veteran’s group or fraternal organization provides great options. Many restaurants have large banquet rooms available. An option on the higher end would be a hotel or country club function room.

Next you have to deal with food. Restaurants, hotels, etc. can get really pricey, so you may want to consider other alternatives. When using a rented hall, you can often bring in your own caterer, use theirs, or get a group of volunteers to prepare the food, either at the hall or by bringing it in already cooked. For the at home wedding receptions, why not have a casual barbecue type outdoor party? You can also step outside the box and do a picnic at the park or the beach.

Remember all the extras that go into creating memorable wedding receptions. Invitations can be made on your computer, or sent online through e-vite. Wedding favors can be easily made by you and your friends…look up ways to do it online. The centerpieces can be simple and original, and are also found online. For toasting glasses…a matched set of stemware with a ribbon tied around the stem is all you need.

Don’t forget the wedding cake. This might be something you want to have made professionally, unless you are lucky enough to know someone with that kind of talent. However, you can also rent the tiers and decorate them with flowers and cupcakes, with a very small single layer at the top to hold the bride and groom and give you something to cut. A pretty knife with a bow on it works well for cutting the cake.

Music can be provided by a DJ or a volunteer friend (make sure you give them a list of songs you want played), or you can use an iPod or even burn some CD’s and just have someone switch them now and then.

Photographs can be very costly when you hire a professional photographer. Leaving disposal cameras on each table will net you all kinds of candid shots for a minimal cost. But chances are that someone you are inviting is an amateur photographer and will be happy to take the formal photos for you. If you’re lucky, someone will record the wedding service with a video camera!

Always check the internet if you are stuck for ideas or resources. There are hundreds of sites out there
that can help you with your do it yourself wedding receptions!

To your beautiful wedding!