Maryland

Budget/DIY Maryland wedding

Hi you guys. I got engaged about a month ago, and our wedding is August of next year. I started planning our wedding the night I got engaged. And the more me and my fiancee plan, the smaller we want it. Our guest list went from 50 to a little over 20. We have 10 guests each besides our bridal party. 

We want to have the wedding in her backyard and then have the reception at a country club down the street from her house. We are going to my aunts house this Saturday to dogsit and there is a huge park behind her house, so i'm thinking we could have it behind there, and the reception on her deck (she has a nice sized deck). But it would have to go through my grandfather and he's kind of homophobic and he doesn't even know i'm with a female yet, but thats another story. If we have the reception at my aunts house, I may ask, and pay, my aunt to cook, and I could help because I love helping her cook. But I don't know if we should have actual meals or appetizers or what. 

So thats one question, if we have it at my aunts, should we have meals or appetizers? If we have it at the country club, they cater so we wouldn't have to worry about that.

Also, if neither of those ideas pan out, are there any cute parks or outside setting that are cheap for weddings?

And I want to do as much of it myself as possible. Any DIY ideas? Our colors red, orange, and yellow, but more red and orange. And the reception is gonna be rainbow, if that matters. Lol.

Re: Budget/DIY Maryland wedding

  • I would not try to cater myself because I would want to avoid that stress. We host parties for 20-30 people a few times a year, and they are a lot of work. There are definitely ways to make it easier. One would be to keep it simple with a cake and punch reception at a non-meal time (like 3-5pm). Another option would be to keep a simple menu with a fix your own sandwich bar and cold side salads. Or go italian with big pans of baked ziti, lasagna, a garden salad, and sliced fresh italian bread from the grocery. If you wanted to go for inexpensive catering, California Tortilla, Qdoba, Panera, and many bbq restaurants offer relatively inexpensive catering options.
  • We want a night wedding, our favorite time of day is nighttime. So maybe I could have like snacks and not meals. I didn't even think of that. It's probably gonna be around 8pm. And I was actually looking at Panera. I love that place. Subway caters too. Fix your own sandwhich bar seems like a good idea too. Thanks :)
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