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Consider a
morning wedding with a breakfast buffet. The hotel we were married
at had 3 or 4 breakfast menus, ranging from Continental all the
way to a brunch with several different salads & meats. Of
course they want you to want to pick the fancy brunch, but we
stuck to an American breakfast/business meeting type meal with
eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast, pastries and fruit and it was
less than $10 person including champagne mimosas. (Not claiming
that is the cheapest amount possible but it was a good value.)
Guests seemed
satisfied to have a nice breakfast, and likely drank less champagne
Than they would have had in the afternoon/evening. And it's kind
of neat to get married in the morning and have your whole wedding
day in front of you after the Ceremony.
We had our
reception at the hotel and then a house party with close friends
and family that included a big snowball fight, dancing (rather
than hire a DJ we took the opportunity to add to our CD collection
and used a stereo with a 3 CD changer on random), various party
platters and beer & wine. We were trying to avoid all the
work and stress that goes along with having family and friends
prepare and serve a bunch of food or decorate a house for a wedding,
and we succeeded.
Keep in mind
that a lot of what a reception is very similar to what would
be at a nice company party or seminar. Instead of asking for
a "wedding" package, ask what options are available
for a daytime or evening event for x people. Get the basics set
up and then add in the extras that will make it special to you.
I.e. if you start out asking about how they will set up the cake
table then you will be chalked up as willing to pay "wedding"
prices just because it is your special day.
When planning
your table decorations, make sure to ask what decorations the
hotel has available for centerpieces.
Maybe they
will provide a mirror with candle and you can just add a wreath
of flowers or a blooming potted plant (which is then nice to
send home with guests). If you want background music for a reasonable
fee they will set up a stereo system and even operate it for
you.
Another
note: If
you are getting married at a non-peak time of year, you may be
able to negotiate the set-up costs for a morning wedding. (These
are the costs for staff to arrange the tables, chairs, etc. and
are sometimes called a room rental fee.) If you can arrange for
your reception to be the first event of they day, ssk if the
fees can be reduced or waived since staff will already be working
in the room to cleanup the previous night's event. This is especially
likely if you are able to hold your wedding on a Sunday morning
(of course not possible for those who attend church Sunday mornings). |
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