How to Have a Low Budget Wedding Reception
A Wedding Reception can be as expensive as you wish, or as inexpensive as you need it to be. When funds are short there are numerous cost-cutting steps that could be taken. Depending on which areas you want to trim the budget will be entirely your decision. It is a necessity that you designate someone to be your coordinator – you and that person must be liaising with each other on a regular basis and notes made constantly.
The Wedding Reception Venue:
- Decide how many guests you absolutely must invite.
- The reception can be held at your home or someone else’s at no cost. Some Churches and Schools have rooms that they are happy to loan or rent for a small fee or even free.
- Decorations can be sourced inexpensively from party shops; you will be amazed at how pretty balloons, ribbons and crepe paper streamers can be. Follow the colour scheme of your Bridesmaids’ dresses, or just choose a colour you like. Small twinkling, clear strings of lights, create a fairyland look. Hang them on bushes and anywhere that you can. Buy lengths of cheap coloured fabric and drape it elegantly on wall or beams. Get creative! You also cannot go wrong with traditional wedding colours that are neutral – white and silver and a hint of another colour if you wish. There are always people around you that have great decorating ideas and are eager to be a part of your special day!
- Depending on the weather there are sometimes parks available, with a gazebo and picnic furniture, or you can rent chairs at a nominal cost.
The Food:
- Instead of using caterers, you can ask the family or close friends to get together and prepare the food – everyone should be responsible for a specific dish for a specific number of people.
- You can sometimes find people who like cooking and do ‘in house’ catering at a very reasonable price. Perhaps you will only have to provide the ingredients and a flat fee for their trouble.
- Meals can be simple but tasty. If it’s summer time and outdoors, you can have German potato salad; tossed salads with anything that is in season and inexpensive; chicken; fish - local and inexpensive; garlic bread; bean salad; brownies & ice cream for desert
Assistants:
- Layout the food buffet-style and in order to regulate the size of servings, have a few family members help with the serving. They will only need about one hour of their time to stand there.
- If the budget allows hire a few people who are in training at Hospitality School – they will be happy for the experience and the opportunity to earn a small wage.
Dishes & Accessories for Meal:
- Disposable plates and cutlery can be used or if it is not too expensive you can rent crockery and cutlery, but for clean-up purposes, disposable might be a better choice, Use disposable table cloths as well as paper serviettes
Music:
- If there is dancing, instead of hiring a DJ, ask around among your friends and family. You will be surprised to see that someone would be honoured to play music on your special day. Even if there is no dancing, it’s always lovely to have music in the background.
Drinks:
If you are serving alcoholic drinks you can stock your own bar, and hire a ‘trainee’ tooperate the bar, or it can be a self-serve bar. It does not have to be fully stocked, but just have enough of whatever you intend to serve. Most times, standard drinks would be white wine, red wine, beer, whisky, rum, vodka and lots of different mixes so for those who are not drinking alcohol can enjoy their drinks also. Plenty of ice. Clear plastic cups can also be used, or you can rent some glasses if affordable.
There are so many budgetary ways to host a wedding reception. If you don’t know, just ask or check on the internet for ideas.
Remember, people will attend your wedding because they care for you and want to celebrate with you. You were kind enough to invite them; they were gracious enough to accept the invitation, and you should ensure that they are not hungry or thirsty at the reception. They will remember discomfort, but a good time and the simplicity of the event will be appreciated!
