Tips for having Low Budget Wedding Reception
Wedding reception takes the greatest percentage of your wedding budget but there are ways you could cut down on wedding reception expenses while still enjoying a fun-filled and festive party for your family and friends.
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The venue for your wedding reception is everything
You can save a lot by choosing wisely and appropriately. Instead of booking a hall fashionable hotel or very popular other venues, find somewhere that is a bit different and unique. You may be able to discover a free or very cheap venue to hold your wedding reception like gardens, vineyards, museums, church halls, hotel banquet rooms or a home of a friend or family member. It is also possible to find restaurants in your area that concentrate in reasonably priced wedding receptions.
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Cut down on your wedding guests List
You may be tempted to invite as many people as you could imagine as well as let your family members bring in their own guest too but you must always refer to your budget and try to keep to that.
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Cut down on the size of the cake
Consider going for a small display cake, and in addition ordering a sheet cake to serve to your guests for the sake of cost. You may also be able to finds a friend or family member that can make cake for you at a much reduced price.
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Food and catering services
You may find out that your friends or family members may be willing to help out with cooking so don’t forget to ask their help. Also buying food materials in bulk will also save you some amount of money if you are not hiring a caterer.
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Avoid serving alcohols as much as possible
Alcohol can increase the cost of your wedding reception. You may want to limit the number of alcohol or avoid it completely. Some wedding venues don’t also permit alcohol so it is wise to check when you are booking a venue.
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Get creative with decorations
You have options available out there to make your wedding decorations cheap and affordable. You can find affordable table decorations. Your family and friends may also be able t help you with the decorations instead of hiring a vendor.
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Your choice of music can also save you a big buck
You can save a huge sum by crossing out the use of a live band. If you inquire, you may be able to get a family member, friend, or friend of a friend who can do wedding DJ duties and who would be willing to handle that responsibility.
Planning Your Wedding Reception Menu and Picking a dining scenario
You may want to choose a sit-down dinner or a buffet depending on your budget and your preference. To enable you to make a choice, ask the price difference between seated dinners and buffets. You may think that plated dinners are pricier, but they are habitually not, because the caterer knows exactly how much food to order and prepare, while buffets have to have room for numerous trippers.
Choose whether to have an indoor or an outdoor reception
You must put into consideration the season of the year when you are planning to have an outdoor event. You may be able to save more money on venue when you fix your wedding during rainy season but make provisions for canopies in case of rain if you want an outdoor wedding reception.
Fixing the toasting time
Decide when to toast and plan to keep the time for it as short as possible. Although toasting is traditional as well as an excellent thing to do they get boring when the time allocated to them is too long, mushy, discourteous, or simply boring. You can make the toasts all through or amid dinner courses, with two or three people talking every time. Ensure that all who toast keep to their scheduled time and let somebody at the party act as the time keeper. The bride and groom can make their speeches before the cutting of the cake.
Choose when to dance
It is becoming a growing trend to leave the dancing till the end of every course instead of dancing between courses. Apart from playing your preferred song, it is advisable to incorporate songs that would really make people want to dance instead of odd songs that just suit very few people.
Video and Photography
It is wise to hire professionals for this except there is a member of your family or a close friend who wishes to take care of it for you either as a free gift or at a discounted rate.
My Top Five Tips
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Choose a wedding venue
You may want to consider whether to do an outdoor wedding reception or indoor wedding reception. Your choice would really depend on budget, your fancy and the season of the year.
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Book in advance
When you have come up with the wedding location to use endeavor to book well ahead of time to ensure availability of the hall for that particular day.
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Fix your wedding reception budget
Wedding reception takes the lion share of your wedding budget. So, it is wise to bear in mind the numbers of guests you are expecting when selecting a venue for the reception.
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Choose the type of wedding reception menu you fancy
You may want to have sitting reception or buffets reception.
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Avoid being extravagant
Hang your coat according to your size and do not aim high because your friends threw flamboyant wedding reception.
