Tips for a Cheap Wedding Reception
One of the biggest wedding preparation dilemmas is working within a set a budget, with the frequent question asked, “How can you have the perfect wedding on a shoestring budget?” Of all the aspects of your wedding, the reception will take the biggest bite out of the budget. Therefore, focusing on cheap wedding reception ideas will have a greater impact on the budget. There are several tips that you can use to have an affordable wedding reception.
Cut the guest list: While this is often the least favorite cost-cutting measure, it has the biggest impact. That said, choosing your guests could be very difficult. Of course you want to invite all of your relatives and friends to your wedding, but that extended guest list comes with a large price tag attached. Sort your guests; select those that should be around on the day of your wedding, especially those that has a special role on your wedding ceremony. Prepare an exact number of invitations, to know the number of guests expected. There was a time when the money received as gifts from guests would cover the cost of the wedding, so people enjoyed a large guest list. That just isn’t the case with most weddings these days. You can expect to pay about $100 per person (about $70 per person for the meal and about $30 per person for drinks) for a sit-down dinner and an open bar. While some people understand wedding costs and give accordingly, others tuck a $20 bill in a card and call it a day.
Prioritize: Formulate a list that you want for your wedding. Ask your fiancé to do the same. Sort all the things you’ve listed and prioritize what the two of you think would be great for your wedding. The wedding theme, the wedding ceremony venue and the wedding reception, the number of guests, and the food you will serve for your guests are all items that you should prioritize.
A wedding in the hotel. When deciding on your wedding venue, consider hosting your wedding in a hotel. You can have you wedding ceremony and wedding reception at the same location. With this, you ask for special discount, especially when you will book plenty of rooms for your guests. Try to inquire the hotel management if they offer special packages for a wedding, this will also help you with your budget.
Celebrate locally: A wedding celebrated in your town can also be a good idea, since they can offer a much cheaper wedding services.
Wedding ceremony and reception in one location: This can save you from renting an expensive wedding car. If you have the ceremony and the reception in one place, then transportation problem is solve. There are several churches that can provide an area where you can have your wedding reception, and the good new is, they can offer the rental fee in a low price.
Decorate your reception – venues often charge you for the decorations so decorate your wedding reception. Prepare your decorations ahead of time, such as candles, confetti, balloons, flowers, and ribbons so that the decorating activity won’t consume all of your time. Ask favors from your friends to help you out with the activity, the more friends you invite the faster the decorating activity to finish.
Self catering – cooking the food for you guests in the wedding can be a big help in your budget. In fact, if you need to have a cheap wedding reception, self catering is always a good place to start. Try to prepare foods that can be set aside for hours before your wedding and just pre heat it before serving. Assign someone to do this for you; of course you don’t want to be in the kitchen while your husband is entertaining your guests.
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