Wedding Savings Trend #3
(You may have not heard about this trend because it’s so hot off the market! A member of your family or friends can become temporarily ordained in order to marry you! Hey, don’t laugh; you could save in ministerial costs on this one.)
Okay, so having your Uncle Bob marry you may not be your cup of tea. I can’t say I’d go for it either. Saving money on your wedding isn’t just limited to the wedding itself. The bulk of your savings will come from cutting the costs at your wedding reception. I’ve had many couples ask me, “Well, do I really have to feed them?” They may have been joking, but my response was a resounding….
YES, YOU’VE GOT TO FEED THEM!
I know some people who have gone so far as to cook the food for the reception and store it in a freezer a week in advance. Still, others have gone to the grocery store to have the reception catered. However, buying from the supermarket is not the only way you can save money on food.
The time of day that you hold your wedding and reception also plays an important role. Take a look at the timetable I’ve developed. You can save a pretty penny by having your wedding during a time of day when folks are not “as hungry. Take a look at what I mean.
Morning Wedding Ceremony before 11:00am
Continental breakfast or buffet
Midday Wedding 11:00am to 1:00pm
Luncheon buffet
Afternoon Wedding 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Hor d’oeuvres buffet or cake and punch only
Early Evening Wedding 4:00pm to 7:00pm
Dinner buffet
Evening Wedding after 7:00pm
Hors d’oeuvres buffet or cake and punch only
As you can see, the amount of food you’ll need to supply at your wedding reception depends on the time of day you hold your reception. Let’s now look at the ways you can save in a nutshell! Here’s how to do it and do it big! Save as much as 40-60% on your reception costs by following this advice. Here are the TOP TEN ways to SAVE MONEY on your reception.
SERVE NON ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
You can save a fortune by only serving non-alcoholic drinks at your wedding reception. Some couples are choosing to serve non-alcoholic drinks like sparkling cider or grape juice to their guests. I think this is especially understandable if the couple doesn’t drink. Some other couples just serve wine or champagne. In those cases, you can still save money by buying your alcohol in bulk. I’ll show you how. Read on.
BUY LIQUOR WHOLESALE
You may decide to go the extra mile and give your guests the option to drink if they want. One way to do this and save money along the way is to buy your liquor direct from a wholesaler. A wholesaler will offer you a discount of up to 20% on bulk purchases of alcohol. A wholesaler will also allow you to return any bottles of liquor that you have not used. By in large this is a great deal.
LIMIT COCKTAIL HOUR
Having an open bar is quite expensive. You can still show your guests a good time and keep the costs down as well. Another way to do this is to limit the amount of time for the cocktail hour. Once the cocktail hour is over, you can then limit drinks to nonalcoholic beverages or wine. I suggest having a host or hostess to pass out the drinks because this helps to prevent waste.
OFF HOUR RECEPTION TIME
We talked a little about this earlier in the ebook. You can have a breakfast or early afternoon reception and save 30-50% off the reception costs. Breakfast and brunch receptions cost a lot less than dinner receptions do for obvious reasons. Plus, people do not drink as much during the day as they do at night.
SERVE GOOD FOOD NOT EXPENSIVE FOOD
You’ll want to go for the lobster and filet mignon meals, however chicken and pasta is just as tasty. Save money by ordering good food, not the most expensive! Also consider having a buffet as opposed to a sit down dinner that costs more.
SERVE EASY HORS D’OEUVRES
Let’s face it! You look at some hors d’oeuvres and you just know the cook spent hours in the kitchen making them fancy. I say don’t worry about that. Your guests just want something to snack on until din-din arrives. You can have some prepared that aren’t expensive requiring hours of preparation time. Also, avoid using hors d’oeuvres that require expensive ingredients.
SERVE THE GUESTS
You’ll want to have someone serve your guests rather than have them helped themselves for several reasons. For one thing, people have a tendency to take too much food before everyone is served. You want to make sure everyone gets at least one heaping helping!
The worst thing that can happen at your reception is that everyone doesn’t get fed. Here are another trick, use small plates. Your guests won’t be able to take too much food if it doesn’t fit on the plate. They can always come back for more after everyone is served.
EAT AND THROW IT AWAY
Okay, not everyone is going to love this idea! But, I do! You can save lots of money by using paper plates, plastic cups and utensils. You can save up 10-20% over the cost of renting breakable china, glasses and silver.
BE PICKY ICKY WITH YOUR GUEST LIST
You can keep your costs down by keeping your guest list down. You can invite only close friends and business associates. You can do this by asking your guests not to bring dates and children. I know one couple that actually hired a babysitter to watch the kids during the wedding and reception. Now isn’t that a great idea. The kids got fed and played while the adults did the same thing!
WAYS TO CREATE A MOOD
MUSIC & ALL THAT JAZZ
You can cut the cost of music with a little ingenuity. How many of us know someone who knows someone who is as good as professional without actually being one? Yes, that’s right. I’m suggesting getting an amateur to play and perform at your wedding! No, I’m not crazy. You can save tons of money this way. Take a look at this breakdown.
You can have the friend of a friend or relative of a relative play a musical instrument. It could be a flute, piano or horn. The key to this is to make sure the person is good. Now, you wouldn’t want this person to play alone. The cost of your friend’s friend will hopefully be nothing. You can have them perform for a short time. Then, you can follow them up with someone who is professional. Someone you do have to pay! The going rates for musicians and singers these days’ starts somewhere around $50.00.
Another option is to use the above combination along with some pre-recorded music. I like this option because it gives you a little of both worlds. You can even record you own music using high fidelity recording equipment.
