How to Save Money on a Wedding Reception

Your wedding reception is the costliest part of your big day. There are many ways to reduce the costs associated with your reception. If you are able to cut costs on some of the elements, you could possibly splurge on others. Here are some tips to save money on your wedding reception.

Things You'll Need

• bridal magazines

Instructions

1. Have a lunch or afternoon reception. Food will be much lighter than if you had an evening dinner reception. Think finger sandwiches and appetizers. Also, you will not need to spend as much on alcohol, as most people do not start drinking until evening.

2. Bring in your own caterer or cater it yourself. If your reception hall has a caterer, they usually charge much more than what you could spend to cater the reception yourself.

3. Ask family members if they would do a potluck. This would be a good idea if the reception will not be very large. Family members could all get involved and you will have a wide variety of food to eat.

4. Skip the band or DJ. Many weddings are now going to the "MP3 reception". Plan out the songs that you would like to listen to, and program them onto your MP3 player. Give the responsibility of controlling it to some responsible. Have another CD player set up that guests could make requests.

5. Order a small tiered cake, and have sheet cakes instead. Sheet cakes are much cheaper and will feed more guests. Offer other dessert options. Some guests will not eat cake, and would much rather eat a cookie or a piece of pie.

6. Decorate the reception hall yourself. Think of a theme and visit discount retail and craft stores to assemble centerpieces and other decorations. Comparison shop before purchasing decorations. You could buy small aluminum pails and spray paint them to the colors of your wedding and fill them with favors or flowers. Buy glass bowls and place floating candles inside.

7. Place disposable cameras on the tables and have guests take candid reception photos instead of paying the photographer to do so. The reception is supposed to be the fun part of the wedding, and you do not want pose photos.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask friends and family how they were able to cut costs on their wedding reception.

• Have a keg and cash bar. Alcohol costs are hefty. Offer a keg of a certain kind of beer or two and pop. Anything else the guests can purchase themselves.

• Have a detailed plan. If you plan to do a lot of the activities yourself, it may become overwhelming. Delegate these to family and friends.

• Have a designated driver. Hiring a limo is not necessary, but do have a planned ride home from the reception. Getting a ticket on your wedding day is not a good way to start off your marriage.