The (Super) Low-Budget Wedding Reception
Even low-budget weddings can take a huge bite out of savings ... and often leave you stumbling under a serious pile of debt.
Take heart, though: planning a wedding yourself in a hands-on way can save you some money. At its best, it also lends that personal touch that provides lasting family memories. When you've got enough time to tackle it, creating your own wedding favors and planning your own reception can lead to a special satisfaction no pile of catalog orders can ever compete with.
If you have the time and energy, expect to take great pride in your super-low-budget wedding. And this won't just arise from your one-of-a-kind creations. It also flows from the huge savings you realize, which you can then spend on something with lasting impact on your future, like a car or a down payment.
You might have a lower budget, but your wedding costs will break down much like your spendier counterparts. You can still save money in each and every category. The secret comes down to one basic choice: avoid the formal wedding.
Of course, if you're footing the bill yourself and just can't see starting your married life with a heavy financial burden, you could skip the reception entirely, opting for a courthouse ceremony and intimate dinner instead. Then you could plan a more formal ceremony down the road. Wedding vows renewals are popular today, and it's a romantic way to spend your anniversary! So if funds are tight, and you're paying for everything else — don't wait to get married. Just wait on the formal ceremony.
But if it breaks your heart to forego the big wedding, yet your wallet's an empty nest, you'll need to pull out every trick in the budget book. Fortunately, there's one that can save you thousands.
Focus on the Venue
The reception alone will bust your budget if you're not extremely careful. Of course, the most obvious way to save money here is to sharply limit your guest list.Also, the venue that's hosting this grand occasion could make or break you. Your best bet? Find one that's free or nearly — taking into account the costs of renting chairs, tables, tents, portable toilets and so on.
A "free" location could include your home, or that of a friend or family member. A low-cost option might include a church reception hall, the local fire department, or club halls. Most will have a kitchen area for preparing and serving food.
Sometimes you'll even happen across a local restaurant that specializes in low-budget receptions. These usually offer a package deal, which might include dinner and limited beverages along with the restaurant space or banquet rooms. Check hotels in your area for banquet rooms as well. Some may rent the banquet room by itself and offer reception packages as an optional add-on.
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The venue's key to saving cash, so leave no stone unturned in your search! You could happen on a gem of a deal that will save you tons. So network. Ask friends and family. Scour the internet. Try unusual locales like vineyards, museums, gardens or plantariums. We have several plantations in our area that offer competitive wedding packages. These are elegant locations, with price options that don't rule out the low-budget wedding.
Once you've done your homework, record your findings. Chart not only the price but services and packages available at each venue. Then, it's easy to see how to get the most for your money.
For instance, one venue might offer really cheap rates, and let you book your caterer separately. Looks good — but sometimes, a location that costs more will offer a catering package that's a better deal overall.
Beating the Biggest Budget-Buster of All
There's one type of reception that's "truly traditional" (not counting royalty!), and that's the potluck. If you've read this far, you probably agree that the commercialism in today's weddings is slightly out of control. The biggest cost in the average budget, usually even bigger than the venue, is the food. Slashing costs here is a must if you want to get through this process financially intact.Serving up crackers and cheese whiz, however, is not a solution. Your guests will feel deprived. They'll leave the party early, in search of sustenance. Those warm memories of lingering over something hearty with your friends and family will be conspicuously missing from your wedding. The solution for the cash-strapped? The potluck.
The basics of the potluck reception is that you ask your guests to bring food — not a toaster or espresso maker or other trinket from a registry list somewhere. Many guests will be pleased, even relieved, to have this choice. Sound off-the-wall? Up until recently, potluck weddings were absolutely the norm. They're truly the traditional way to celebrate the coming together of a couple. And not coincidentally, they're the absolute best way to throw a low-budget wedding that still lets your guests leave satisfied. (Take this same budget to a caterer, and you'll quickly find that caterers offer very limited menus to very limited budgets!)
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If you're shy about digging out and dusting off the potluck option, you can simply refer to your reception as an "Old Time, Traditional Wedding Celebration." The potluck dinner suits this theme naturally, and no one will even question it.
You may even want to pick an "Old Time" theme for your decorations and favors. Tuck simple gerbers or wildflowers flowers in medicinal and apothecary jars, for example, and hand out beautiful old-fashioned candy sticks tied in ribbon. This will fill out the "Old Time" theme even more. Or start with a 50's or 20's theme, both old-fashioned themes with a lot of life.
How to get the point across to guests? Simply slip in a note with the invitation that gives invitees this option. For example:
Our reception will be an "Old Time Traditional Celebration" with a potluck dinner.____ Please check here if you would like to bring a dish for the reception in place of a wedding gift.
We kindly request a call for dish suggestions.
Have your guests check in ahead of time so you'll have some say over the menu. No one's obliged to participate, but it's likely that many of your guests will opt for this.
And fact, you and guests alike will probably be surprised (and delighted) at the variety and quality of the dishes that debut on your banquet tables. Guests always want to bring out their top-drawer recipes to a grand occasion like yours!
April 26th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
My Fiance and I will be getting married October 21, 2008. We are on a very tight budget, not planning on spending over $2000.00 on the wedding. I am VERY artsy, do-it-myself type of personand so far thats helped save costs. Here are some things I am doing and have done:
1. For favors I’ve done mini take-out boxes with rose petals, 2 mini floating candles and a matchbook engraved with our names/date.
2. For guest book I bought a photo mat/pen set for $8.00. Took black ribbon and decorated the mat edges, finished with some rhinestones. For the pen I bought a black ostrich feather ($0.99) taped that tightly to the pen, took the rest of the ribbon and wrapped it tightly around the feather/pen. Then I got a cute pin I have and secured it at the top.
3. Did my own invites. I happen to be very good at calligraphy and have my own pens so I went out and bought card stock in my colors, rhinestones, pearls, and ribbon ($35.00) and made my own invites.
Also if you’re planning on using a lot of candles I suggest going to a dollar store. They have candles, taper candle holders, and even mint julep glass vases that go for $10.00 a pop in hobby stores!
April 18th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Hi Ladies,
Snippet & Ink has just published a post on how to have a posh, stylish and INEXPENSIVE cake & punch reception that is pretty much dripping with style … and only has doable Do-It-Yourself elements (as opposed to florals that require the bride to invest 4.5 hours of free time right before the reception).
Personally, I married at the JP but the neighbors are always pressuring us to “have a party” to celebrate it. This post might JUST change my mind!
April 10th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Hi Cassandra, welcome! This is just my take. I look forward to seeing what other people think!
Okay, 1) This shouldn’t be a problem unless it’s one for you, or you expect to be grilled on the fine points of your spiritual beliefs. Can you fly under the radar on this one? Will you be upset if prayers and scripture are part of the day? Can you nod your head and go along or will the situation make you uncomfortable? If so, you may want to arrange something more secular, with an officiant who isn’t related to you!
2) I personally believe that asking the guests to bring a side dish is a sweet tradition for couples not flush with cash — one that should have never gone away. However, in practice it can be harder. These days people can be resistant to bringing food (lots of people don’t cook very often.) If you want to do this, you might want to feel out a circle of friends & relatives first and see how they take it.
3) You can decorate a children’s wagon and have a bridesmaid or groomsman pull him down the aisle. Very cute.
4) This, to me, is the crux of THE PROBLEM. This is very big.
Everything seems backward here. Because the budget DETERMINES the size of the guest list. You simply can’t spend what you don’t and won’t have. 300 guests is an enormous number for a small-budget wedding. Always, the first and most powerful thing to do if your budget runneth over is cut guests.
I don’t care how many near & dear uncles and cousins your fiance has, you cannot invite them all on a small budget. Sure, creative, resourceful brides can make a dollar stretch, and you can even ask guests to bring some of their own food, but that still leaves you with the bill for beverages for 300 (god forbid that include alcohol!), and an enormous venue. Or if you’re having it at home, a huge rental bill for the chairs, tables, tent, not to mention all the bathrooms you’ll need to rent for that number of guests.
So, my advice is, don’t get pushed into planning a wedding that neither of you can possibly afford. It’s nice he has so many relatives, but unless one of them is a genie or he has a secret stash of gold, you won’t be able to host them all. If you try, your wedding planning will be an impossible task instead of a remotely pleasant one. Your stress levels will go through the roof, the closer you get to the date. This is not the kind of strain that any newlyweds need .. and not the kind of memories you want for your wedding. Plus, realistically, the entire burden of “pulling off” this unlikely task is going to fall on your shoulders. Don’t let that happen!
Instead, figure out how many people you can REALISTICALLY feed, water, entertain (and accommodate in the powder rooms), given the REAL figure that is your budget. Once you figure it out, THAT is your guest count, not how many relatives you have scattered over 48 states. Many couples find a smaller, more intimate wedding is immensely satisfying, and more reflective of who they are as a couple.
Best of luck!
April 10th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Here are a few questions I could use some help getting answers for.
1. I’m an Atheist and we’re getting married inside a church with my soon to be father-in-laws friend who is a pastor. It’s his sisters church that we are using. Could this prevoke a problem?
2. I believe its alright to ask the guest to provide a small side dish such as salads or meat trays. We’re providing the main dish which is a pig roast. My fiance thinks it’s wrong of me to ask them to do that because he said it’s suppose to be a day of celebration and it doesnt look good if the guest are bringing dishes to pass at OUR wedding. Is that wrong of me to ask them for that?
3. My ring bearer is only going to be about 5 months old but his sister, my flower girl, is already 2 years old. How can I get him down the isle without having to have someone else carry him?
4. I have almost 300 people on my guest list, most of them are his family. That’s a big list for someone with my budget. I cant afford alot and neither can my fiance. How can I cut down that list without hurting someone’s feelings? This is why I want to have them bring a dish to pass because I cant afford to buy food for 300 people.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I am on a very tight budget, but I have until August to pull this reception decorations off. I found a beautiful lit-up-tree to use from a thrift store for $2.00 some of the lights were missing and I replaced those for $4.oo. I put bows, bells and other things and their picture from a white frame with silver at a dollar tree for $1.00. I found a wedding wreath for $2.00. I found tea light holders for .25 cents each. I found another thrift store that made beautiful huge bows for $1.00 each. I found raindrop flowers at another store only $1.65 for a bunch. I found small flower vases that I will break off one flower from each bunch, which will make several and put in these vases, that I only give .10 each at a thrift store. So, ladies if you have plenty of time to look, go for thrift stores. I also found a new flower girl basket, and ring holder for $2.00 each. The most expensive items on my list are the sage and white paper lanterns.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Does anyone have any new/neat ideas for a reception. I know that the candy bar/ice cream and popcorn bar is becoming very popular in our area these days, and since we’re not getting married until May 09, I don’t want it to be over-used. Any new ideas on what to do at the reception would be great! Thank you!
March 4th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Amber, here are a few ice cream buffets at weddings. They’re a little easier for caterers who have cold pans, party tubs, etc. on hand, but you could go to Home Depot and buy some galvanized tubs and fill with ice for your cream. A few portable hot plates would work great for warming hot toppings, then just concentrate on a variety of room-temperature toppings you can serve in bowls like sprinkles, candy chips, fruit. Please see pics!
Another popular option for some weddings: rent an ice cream cart or even an ice cream van. See pics above, or check out the really cute kid manning the ice cream cart here!
March 4th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Does anyone have any idea how to make an ice cream bar for a wedding? Thanks
January 17th, 2008 at 12:55 am
And, I felt compelled to add a few more!
I love the details here .. the darker donuts for the stately wooden background, the white powdered donuts for the winter wedding, the chocolate-dipped strawberries one couple placed at the base … then, the touches of iris and hydrangea are cute!
January 17th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Jessica, that’s such a cute idea. Here are some really sweet photos of donut cakes from couples around the web who weren’t afraid to have fun at their reception.
January 17th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Has anyone done the Donut wedding cake? I would love to know more about that? I am wanting to plan a low budget reception with lots of spunk, sweets and color.
September 11th, 2007 at 11:32 am
I’m getting married in 1 month… and nothing has been planned yet! (i’m from South Africa and the visa only just arrived) I would love to have a beach wedding and i’ve picked up great ideas from this site… we have about a $2000 budget- and we’re planning it for a sunday morning. a huge worry for me is the weather- has anybody found a cheap option for bad weather back-up plans? if anybody else is planning cheap beach weddings i’d love to hear what you’ve come up with!
July 9th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Here’s a way to save money, don’t serve alcohol! Is it really that important? I was actually relieved when our pastor said no alcohol was allowed for the reception! Not only did it save me several hundreds of dollars, but it made me re-think what to serve. We’re having pasta (another great low-budget choice…see your local Costco for some great deals) and what better to go with Italian food than Italian sodas!? If you must have alcohol but can’t afford “dinner” I would say go between making and purchasing lots of appetizer-type foods. Again, many can be purchased from your local grocery store, and many can be made a day or so ahead of time. Farm some of those things out to folks who have offered to help (it doesn’t take a culinary degree to cut up cubes of cheese) You could do something along the wine and cheese line and save actually serving dinner. Or, if you just really feel like your budget doesn’t go much farther than cake and punch, maybe just offer up some other desserts and fruits. Chocolate fountains are fun with all sorts of things to dip. Varieties of cookies, caramel popcorn, divinity, pound cake, chocolate covered fruits, and fruity drinks will be quite fun! Why not an ice cream sundae bar? But, if you are having the reception around dinner time I would go with more “substantial” foods.
April 29th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
We are getting married on 7-7-7 and have a very low budget. The potluck reception idea sounds better every minute. We dont have money for a photographer and videographer, but feel its important to have our memories recorded. Question? how can we ask our guests to all pitch in on the vidoe/photographer in place of a wrapped gift? Do we include this in our gift registry, and traditionally do you send the gift registry with the wedding invitation?
April 10th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Much like Tracy my dilema is, what to feed my guest? I don’t have a low budget, I have a LOW
budget. We just want to let our friends and family know that our union is official now. (we have been together for a while).
April 9th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
You are right - if you are hosting the event over a meal time, you need to feed your guests. One option is to move the wedding to 7pm with a 7:30 reception - because it is after regular supper hours, a cake and punch reception would be acceptable.
For a 6:30 reception, it depends on the length of the reception. If your reception is a simple dinner with guests going home after - finger sandwiches, veggie platters and a few salads would be acceptable. If you are having a full dance and guests will be staying late, then a larger meal will be needed.
April 6th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I am having a wedding reception on 4/21/07 and I am on a very tight budget. We were just going to have a cake and punch reception, but I feel like we should feed the guests too. The wedding is at 6pm, and the reception should start around 6:30pm. Any ideas on the food menu.
August 10th, 2006 at 11:48 am
I’m planning my wedding now and we’ve found that if you can have the reception at a place without a liquer license and catering plans, you can save a lot of $ and you can have the fun potluck buffet and open bar… something that people will remember and ejoy! Our families are equally very large, so good food and a great party are a must! Thanks for the ideas!
March 26th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
I just read another article that might help brides on a really tight budget. It suggested a potluck reception too, and it’s called “A $1000 wedding.” I first read it because it was stirring up a bit of controversy on another forum. Some people thought some of ideas were tacky or inappropriate. But for anyone on a REALLY tight budget like me, you will probably find the article helpful and it might give you some hope.
http://budgetdreams.wordpress.com/2006/03/17/a-1000-wedding/
March 26th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Really some great ideas.
Maureen