Affordable
Wedding Receptions
Wedding receptions don't have to cost a fortune.
Many families are on tight budgets these days, limiting
the parents' ability to contribute financially and
placing much of the burden of wedding
expenses on young couples who are just starting
out in life and on limited budgets themselves.
When planning a wedding reception, location is key.
Depending on how many people are invited, you may
need a sizable place to have the reception.
Weather permitting, your wedding reception could
be held in someone's back yard or at a local park.
My own wedding ceremony and reception were held
at a local park in a specially reserved area (including
gazebo) that cost only about £30 for the entire
day. My mother and I recently hosted a wedding
reception for my sister in our mobile home park's
club house. A £120 deposit was required, but
the deposit was returned after we cleaned up and
left the club house the way we found it. We had
full access to a fully equipped kitchen, sitting
area, tables, chairs, and restrooms for an entire
day. Everything we needed was right there
and didn't cost us a dime.
Decorations that can be used after the reception
is over more than pay for themselves. For
my sister's reception we created beautiful centrepieces
for the tables by buying some glass Pyrex cereal
bowls and placing green glass marbles from the craft
store in the bottom of each. We then filled
the bowls half way with water and placed a white
rose-shaped floating candle in each. These
attractive centrepieces were very easy to assemble
in just a minute or two and in addition to lending
their candlelight to the room made a wonderful inexpensive
gift for the bride and groom--a complete set of
matching cereal bowls!
Food also doesn't have to require too much effort
or added expense. My own wedding reception
was a pot luck luncheon. My mother provided
the sandwich rolls, sliced meat and cheeses, and
condiments, and close friends and family members
were asked to bring side dishes and salads.
My husband's aunt made the most beautiful multi-tiered
wedding cake for us, and our expense was minimal!
No one went away hungry.
My sister's reception was more of a sit-down affair,
but still did not cost us a fortune. Knowing
the reception would take place in October, we thought
that it was taking place close enough to the holidays
to have a Thanksgiving-style dinner. Most
of our relatives don't have the opportunity to see
one another during the holidays anyway, and we knew
this would be a great opportunity to get everyone
together and spend some time visiting and eating
a wonderful meal.
My husband barbecued a turkey, my mom baked a ham,
and we again asked close friends and family members
to bring their favourite holiday salads and side
dishes. The dinner was a huge success. A family
friend made the wedding cake and let us borrow her
punch bowl. The wedding cake included the
cake top that had adorned our own parents' wedding
cake more than 30 years ago. This was a surprise
for my sister, as was the crystal cake plate that
had been a wedding gift to our parents from a great
grandmother.
All of our family's wedding receptions have been
huge successes, and while requiring a lot of effort
on the part of many friends and family members,
have never cost any one of us more than £100 or
so. When planning your next wedding reception,
don't focus on
the lavishness of the event, focus on creating a
memorable day that will live on in your family's
memories for years to come.
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by Rachel Paxton
-
rachel@creativehomemaking.com
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom
who publishes the
Creative Homemaking Recipe of the Week Club, a weekly
newsletter
that contains quick, easy dinner ideas and money-saving
household
hints. To subscribe send a blank e-mail message
to
mailto:FreeRecipes-subscribe@egroups.com.
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