Wedding In Las Vegas, Nevada 4.12.2013

cindarelldoll

I have a few questions. We are getting at the Las Vegas wedding chapel. My issues start here i am trying to figure out where to have my reception. My FH and i are thinking of having a dinner at the Aria buffet (we are thinking of having the guest pay for their own food) we aren't quite sure of the guest count i am sending out 62 invitations with at head count of 106 people not sure how many are actually coming.I want to to have a nice dinner no more than $40 per person whether we are paying or the guests? I don't know if we should pay for the meals for our guest wherever our reception is. I don't know what the etiquette is for destination weddings: do we pay for their hotels, flights, transportation,activities, rehearsal dinner, brunch. We are trying not to spend alot of money on the wedding we want to save it for our honeymoon in Vegas as well. I am going to give each couple welcome bags once they arrive at the hotel.

lsvensson

No need to pay for their hotels or flights-- or even a rehearsal dinner or brunch-- but I would strongly recommend paying for the reception meal.  If you're from VA these folks will likely be spending $700+++ ton airfare and hotels for the week, so definitely give 'em a good meal as a "thank you" for coming!

If you're looking to scale back the reception costs and you can't cut down on your guest list any more, consider an in-suite reception-- you might back $300-$500 for the room but could likely get away with $20-25 per person (instead of the $40+tax+tip per head at Aria buffet) if you got it catered through Masterpiece Catering or Jason's Deli.

mizutamababy

You need to pay for a proper reception for your guests, including meals and drink to thank your guests for coming all the way out to LV to share in your day.  (By drink that could be non-alcoholic, beer/wine, or full open bar as you see fit.)

You don't need to pay for their airfare, hotel, or any other transportation.  It is, however, a kind gesture to pay for their transportation if you know many guests will not have a rent-a-car and there is a long distance between your ceremony and reception venue.

vegasgroom

Yeah; the purpose of a reception is to thank your guests for coming to your wedding, it's all the more important to thank them for coming if it's a destination wedding since it will have cost most guests a lot more than something local, so I'd +1 to everyone else who suggested you should pay for the reception.  You're not obligated to cover any of their travel expenses, that's up to them if they choose to, or can afford to, spend the money to come for your big day.

nycole09

We are doing a small in suite cocktail house style reception; we are providing a fresh fruit, appetizers, cake, champagne and non alcoholic beverages. We had to scale back as my FI hours were reduced; so I understand your pain. My family that is coming has actually offered to pay for their own meals plus treat my FI and I for a celebration dinner . I understand and appreciate etiquette, but in this economy you have to do what you can without breaking the bank. Just my two cents !

cindarelldoll

Thank you all for the information. I will be looking into paying for our guests reception meal. I need some restaurant suggestion that are no more than $30-40 pp. I don't know how many are coming. I heard the firefly was good and not to expensive?

Diamond1031

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_wedding-in-las-vegas-nevada-4122013?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:a761a2bf-5e99-414d-95a2-523a459e4b52Post:608997e1-26ee-4db6-b437-c409a16495c5">Re: Wedding In Las Vegas, Nevada 4.12.2013</a>:
[QUOTE]Yeah; the purpose of a reception is to thank your guests for coming to your wedding, it's all the more important to thank them for coming if it's a destination wedding since it will have cost most guests a lot more than something local, so I'd +1 to everyone else who suggested you should pay for the reception.  You're not obligated to cover any of their travel expenses, that's up to them if they choose to, or can afford to, spend the money to come for your big day.
Posted by vegasgroom[/QUOTE]





This!

starryeyed77

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_wedding-in-las-vegas-nevada-4122013?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:a761a2bf-5e99-414d-95a2-523a459e4b52Post:22fbe628-cfc6-4ca0-98e6-408d0eb0a7d0">Wedding In Las Vegas, Nevada 4.12.2013</a>:
[QUOTE]I have a few questions. We are getting at the Las Vegas wedding chapel. My issues start here i am trying to figure out where to have my reception. My FH and i are thinking of having a dinner at the Aria buffet (<strong>we are thinking of having the guest pay for their own food</strong>) we aren't quite sure of the guest count i <strong>am sending out 62 invitations with at head count of 106</strong> people not sure how many are actually coming.I want to to have a nice dinner no more than $40 per person whether we are paying or the guests? I don't know if we should pay for the meals for our guest wherever our reception is. I don't know what the etiquette is for destination weddings: do we pay for their hotels, flights, transportation,activities, rehearsal dinner, brunch. We are trying not to spend alot of money on the wedding we want to save it for our honeymoon in Vegas as well. I am going to give each couple welcome bags once they arrive at the hotel.
Posted by cindarelldoll[/QUOTE]

It is really tacky to invite people to travel across the country to see you get married and then not provide a meal.  If you cannot afford it, its best to not invite so many people. I know its exciting and you want to include as many people as possible but you need to properly thank them.  Would you have a wedding at home and not feed them? It should be the same, if not more important, when traveling so far.

Make sure you wait until your venues are set before sending Save the Dates (if you are planning to), once they are out they are set and when you really crunch numbers and may change your mind it will be too late to trim the list. Formalize the plans first.  HTH! :)

vegasgroom

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_wedding-in-las-vegas-nevada-4122013?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:a761a2bf-5e99-414d-95a2-523a459e4b52Post:62902e25-bf62-42ad-9c9a-751b5e354bbb">Re: Wedding In Las Vegas, Nevada 4.12.2013</a>:
[QUOTE]We are doing a small in suite cocktail house style reception; we are providing a fresh fruit, appetizers, cake, champagne and non alcoholic beverages. We had to scale back as my FI hours were reduced; so I understand your pain. My family that is coming has actually offered to pay for their own meals plus treat my FI and I for a celebration dinner . <strong>I understand and appreciate etiquette, but in this economy you have to do what you can without breaking the bank. Just my two cents :)!</strong>
Posted by nycole09[/QUOTE]

There's a point at which you should simply not have a destination wedding and hold it at home if you cannot afford to throw a proper reception for your guests who are spending just as much as you to attend your wedding.  It sounds like your reception will be fine, I'm just commenting in general about the bolded part; i.e. just because the economy sucks doesn't mean having a desitnation wedding suddenly means it's okay to tell your guests thanks but you get to pay for everything.

brookerich

You certainly need to provide food for your guests whether its in the form of a caterer or an actual restaurant dinner.  You aren't obligated to pay for any of their travel expenses, although it is a nice gesture.  But the food isn't really negotiable. 

Just go over your budget again and see where you can cut costs and find something that you can afford to do as far as food goes.  It doesn't have to be a super fabulous sit down dinner.  If you could find a place you could do a simple BBQ type reception with burgers and stuff.  It isn't ideal for a wedding but its better than telling your guests they have to pay for their own food.

For our wedding we are paying for our guests lodging for 2 nights (at Circus, Circus), we are paying for their dinner on Saturday night (that will be our rehersal/meet and greet dinner) probably at the Rainforest Cafe since there will be so many kids, then we are paying for a Double Decker bus tour of the city Saturday night, then their food (at the reception) on Sunday night after the wedding.  We will also be providing transportation for those who need it to/from the ceremony site.  I am also making up really nice welcome bags in lieu of favors.

We are having over a years engagement so we can provide all of this.  Its our thought that if guests fly all the way across the country to be at our wedding then we should do what we can.  We can't afford to help them with their flights but at least thats all they will have to worry about besides two lunches and a breakfast.  Unless they decide to extend their trips.

mizutamababy

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_wedding-in-las-vegas-nevada-4122013?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:a761a2bf-5e99-414d-95a2-523a459e4b52Post:a09da6b0-a27b-45d9-9709-f4bfa3c6b0c9">Re: Wedding In Las Vegas, Nevada 4.12.2013</a>:
[QUOTE] I can't reserve a recption area yet until i know who many people are coming to the wedding.
Posted by cindarelldoll[/QUOTE]

You're doing it backwards.  You make a guest list of who you want to invite.  You plan for everyone saying "yes" on that list, and then find an appropriate venue to hold everyone in the case everyone comes.  Then after making your guest list, you book a ceremony and reception venue.

It seems you've already booked a ceremony venue, so the max count of that venue is basically now the max cut off on your guest list, since you can't invite some to the ceremony/reception, and some to the reception only.

So what is the max count of your ceremony venue?  Then make a guest list that fits within it.  After you've finalized your guest invitation list, book the venue.  Who says yes they can come, or no they can't come has no bearings on booking the reception venue.  You should put the count at the number of invites you sent, or at least pretty close.  Usually the reception venue will ask for a final headcount a week/couple of weeks before the wedding in which you can trim the number of meals being provided if needed.

cindarelldoll

70 is the max guest limit that i can have the ceremony facility at COF? I was going to go with the las vegas weddings at 702weddings.com but i liked the package and the reviews better with COF? If we go back over our guest list and we can cut it down to 30 then i will go with COF if not i will stick with 702weddings. I have a guest list but it has 106 people in total on it but i will try and go over it again to cut it down.