WWYD? (yeah I'm snowed in and bored)

Goldlie11

A question on my local board got me thinking about budget.  If you had a really tight budget, which of the following would you do:

Option A-  Cut the guest list way back and provide a full meal for your guests.

Option B- do something with limited food (just cake and punch and light apps) but invite a lot of people.

For a point of reference, someone wanted to know places to have a wedding in NYC for $7,000 with 120-150 pp.  Even though the out boroughs are less than Manhattan, they're still not cheap and expensive compared to most other places (excluding other HCOL cities).  A wedding with that many people was not going to happen unless it was some kind of cake and punch reception.  Even if the person DIYed the hell out of it.  Most places charge at least $70 per plate (before taxes and gratuity)

loopy82

I would try to do both option A and B. I would cut all unnecessary people people from the guest list and also try to do an economical meal option.

Oh and I couldn't imagine paying $70/plate for just food. Crazy! Or does this $70 include any cake or drinks or anything besides a meal?

Goldlie11

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wwyd-yeah-im-snowed-bored?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:794c386a-bafa-4f92-922a-3541e9c45d38Post:3bd83042-648b-4c1c-a197-2831636bf02f">Re: WWYD? (yeah I'm snowed in and bored)</a>:
[QUOTE]I would try to do both option A and B. I would cut all unnecessary people people from the guest list and also try to do an economical meal option. Oh and I couldn't imagine paying $70/plate for just food. Crazy! Or does this $70 include any cake or drinks or anything besides a meal?
Posted by loopy82[/QUOTE]
You might be able to get a limited bar (beer and wine) for that price if you tried really hard.  That probably would not include the cake though,  Don't forget taxes are almost 9% and gratuity usually is 20%+.

tafft1

I agree with Loopy. i know one place we are looking at has special "premium" packages that start at 65 and go to 85 a person depending on the guest count, but it does include bottles of champagne at every table , bottle of several wines at each table , a room for the bride and groom , appetizers , horduerves , chair and sash covers , as well as unlimited punch and lemonade as well as other extras - that i can justify if the food is amazing.

We are looking at roughly 125 people invited , but i think when the final numbers come in will be closer to 65-80 but will plan for more of course. We have already talked about trimming things down as well if needed - and the guest list is the first thing. It's mostly FI's family and friends , all mine are pretty much non existent so it wouldn't be a huge issues. i would rather be able to thouroughly enjoy myself with those important to me with a good meal and provide more for us and them then invite every last person i have ever met and be forced to shrink down everything.

In the end it comes down to what you feel most comfortable with , good luck!

KD+BC

Yeah, I would do both. I would cut down as much as possible while still inviting the people who are important to us. I would do as much as I could with the budget I had for the number of people. Like, if I could expand to some cheese and cracker and veggie trays as well as cake and punch by cutting down the list I would do that.

loopy82

There are a few places around here that have packages similar to what tafft mentioned. However here, the places I saw that do this are closer to $100/person.
I broke down the numbers and calculations to compare it to how our venue has priced things. (Because we have a venue that is very similar in regards to the look & feel of these places) and it was far more expensive to go with the all inclusive package.

My

loopy82

(GRR my work computer and the knot do NOT get along!!!)

My venue is charging us $24/plate. (or $21 for vegetarian) This does only include the meal though. It is at a very nice private country club. So at $24 I feel like we are getting a great deal. (Thank you FMIL for working for them for so long!)

Goldlie11

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wwyd-yeah-im-snowed-bored?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:794c386a-bafa-4f92-922a-3541e9c45d38Post:f944160b-527f-4269-94f9-3e33d0ce3e21">Re: WWYD? (yeah I'm snowed in and bored)</a>:
[QUOTE](GRR my work computer and the knot do NOT get along!!!) My venue is charging us $24/plate. (or $21 for vegetarian) This does only include the meal though. It is at a very nice private country club. So at $24 I feel like we are getting a great deal. (Thank you FMIL for working for them for so long!)
Posted by loopy82[/QUOTE]
wow, that's amazing.  I keep telling FI we need to get the hell out of nyc.

katanne9

A good friend of mine had tables and chairs set up in the entry of the church (it was a really big church). They had a table of desserts and punch for 150 ppl. It was a late ceremony (think 7PM) and was all over by 9:30PM.

On the other hand, I went to an afternoon wedding in Maine with a sit down lunch for 70 ppl.

Both weddings were under $5k and I remember both being lovely experiences, despite them being "frill-free".


If it was me, I'd go for a Friday night wedding, 8:30PM backyard ceremony. Have dessert and dancing for as many ppl as I wanted afterwards.

katanne9

did anyone see this on the Etiquette board today:
http://www.younghouselove.com/wedding-album/

Goldlie11

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_wwyd-yeah-im-snowed-bored?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:794c386a-bafa-4f92-922a-3541e9c45d38Post:f9172f9a-e40a-4fc6-a6bb-eb44109b243d">Re: WWYD? (yeah I'm snowed in and bored)</a>:
[QUOTE]did anyone see this on the Etiquette board today: <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/wedding-album/" rel="nofollow">http://www.younghouselove.com/wedding-album/</a>
Posted by katanne9[/QUOTE]
I have seen that before and it looks awesome.  In NYC not many people have huge houses like that.  I went to a NYC home wedding but it was much smaller due to space.  <div>
</div><div>I chose A by the way.  It's not to say that it would be impossible to do the whole wedding for 7k if a cheap hall were rented out and platters from Costco were used, but that's not what I would want.  I'd rather keep it intimate and take everyone out for a nice meal.  That's just me.  I respect both sides of the argument.  </div>

paintgirl

Wow Kat - that is AMAZING. I guarantee I couldn't pull of something half that classy. It is obviously a "home-grown" wedding but really well put together! Awesome!

(I wonder what they did for bathrooms. We have 3. Not sure if that's enough...)

loopy82

That backyard wedding was very cute and well done.

jeanacorina

Our reception will be $41/plate and that includes dinner (buffet and butlered hors d'oeuvres), cake, beer & wine open bar, linens, china, candle centerpieces, DJ, coordinator, guest book, flower girl basket, ring bearer pillow, and free champagne and snacks in the bride's dressing room and the groom's dressing room.

But I don't live in NYC.

If I did, I'd cut my guest list down to family only, and our wedding party. I'd skip dinner and do light apps and a dessert table (I love me some sugar!). I'd make an attempt at having champagne as well. I have an invite list of about 160. I could probably cut 20 out, but the rest are family... so there's no way I could have a small, inimate wedding unless we eloped. THAT would be pretty intimate.

jeanacorina

Wait, I want to change my answer.

I'd elope.

**Mutley**

I voted for option A.  That is where we decided to cut.  If I had not been a meanie-head about the guest list, we could easily have had a list around 300.  We had 240ish (without kids) on our first draft, and that was with eliminating people.  We cut about 70-75 people from that draft and ended up with only 130 adults and 15 kids attending.  Food and family were the most important parts for DH.

I loooove that wedding.  Shocking, I know. 

202987

I chose less people with more foodstuffs.  My entire family (except parents and sister) lives at least 6 hours away.  Most of them more.  So if they are coming out for a family gathering (which doesn't happen often anymore) there had best be decent food and an open bar.

loopy82

Yes Goldie you should come move to sleepy MN!