PLANNING
YOUR WEDDING RECEPTION
by
Mia LeCron
Great
deals can be found when you know
how much money
you are working with. It really doesn’t
matter how small your budget is for
the reception because all budgets
can be accommodated.
Your reception budget should consist
of approximately 30% of your wedding
budget or more. Most wedding receptions
are so expensive due to the fact
of providing meals, decorations,
hall rentals etc.
For the purposes of this article,
I will give two different examples
of common receptions and an idea
for cutting costs on the food and
drinks as well as give you the best
tips for throwing your reception
on a budget.
Renting a Hall
If you prefer to rent a hall or
space for your reception, you must
consider many things before making
this decision. You will have to think
of the prices for the hall rental,
the cost of using their servers (most
halls include servers in price and
they are not negotiable), decorations,
flowers, meals, drinks etc.
When
you wish to rent a hall for your
reception there are some things
that the hall will include in your
rental that you can’t avoid
paying for such as: servers, decorations,
and wine. However, some halls will
give you the option to pick and choose
the extras that you want.
Depending on the type of hall that
you choose to rent, the costs can
vary greatly. For example, if you
rent a large hall, you could pay
more than if you rented a legion
hall.
You might also want to consider
that if you are starting with a small
budget, that renting a hall might
not be worth the effort and money,
or it may leave you with less options.
There
are a few tips when renting a hall
that could keep a great deal
of your costs down. Let’s take
a look at them.
-
You
should only consider renting
a hall if you have invited 50
or
more people to your reception.
- When renting a hall, you have
to decide
if you are opting for a
cash bar or an open bar. A
good compromise is to purchase
a few cases of beer
on your own and host a cash
bar for those who want mixed
drinks if you
are trying to keep costs down.
-
Rent
a hall that you can decorate
yourself
-
If
you must have servers, rent a
hall that includes servers in
the
price of the rental or
go with a hall that lets you
bring your own.
-
Choose
a hall that will cater to whatever
your needs or budget
is.
-
When
it comes to the food, you should
go with a hall that will allow
you to bring your own food
if you
would prefer to not pay
extra for catering.
-
Serving
vegetable and fruit trays, as
well as finger foods like finger
sandwiches will be of great
value
in accommodating vegetarians
-
Opting
for a casual reception will allow
you to serve your food
buffet style which will
be predominantly cheaper.
-
Opting
to tell people to forego giving
you a wedding gift and serve
a completely cash bar is
a great way to accommodate guests
and recover
some of the money for the hall.
-
Opt
for non-weekend dates because
these are not peak hours
for the hall and the prices may
be cheaper
-
You
should choose to host your event
during the winter for the best
rates
-
Negotiate
a special discount by paying
cash instead of credit
card. Most reception halls
will do this
-
Choose
to go with a non-dinner reception
offering instead snack
foods and munchables
Hosting a wedding reception at a
hall does not have to cost through
the nose if you know how to get around
the basics which I have just mentioned.
Most people would like to host their
reception at a reception hall because
they feel that it is more elegant
than hosting it outdoors, however,
this is not always the case. Sometimes,
hosting your event outdoors is more
fun and it is also much cheaper.
Mia
LaCron is the founder of Cut-Wedding-Costs.info—www.cut-wedding-costs.info—devoted to helping individuals
live out the wedding of their dreams
on a realistic budget they can afford.
