Is this horrible?

CassieBeth926 · April 2016

hey everyone I would really appreciate some input. My fiancé and I have been planning a certain wedding on a certain budget for the better part of a year now, we realized that we honestly just aren't the type of people who can throw away a ton of money on that type of party so we decided to scrap the whole thing. Awesome. We decided to have our immediate family and very close friends (12-15 people tops) go to the beach, get married and have a super fun weekend. So the only part I'm concerned with is the 'reception' aspect. We don't want one, our best idea so far was to rent a suite instead of a hotel room, one with a living room, kitchen, dining area; and just have the people attending our ceremony go there afterward, buy some beer and champagne and grill out like we would for any regular occasion. Is that way too cheap?

MobKaz · April 2016

CassieBeth926 said:

hey everyone I would really appreciate some input. My fiancé and I have been planning a certain wedding on a certain budget for the better part of a year now, we realized that we honestly just aren't the type of people who can throw away a ton of money on that type of party so we decided to scrap the whole thing. Awesome. We decided to have our immediate family and very close friends (12-15 people tops) go to the beach, get married and have a super fun weekend. So the only part I'm concerned with is the 'reception' aspect. We don't want one, our best idea so far was to rent a suite instead of a hotel room, one with a living room, kitchen, dining area; and just have the people attending our ceremony go there afterward, buy some beer and champagne and grill out like we would for any regular occasion. Is that way too cheap?

A reception has more to do with proper hosting than it does the budget. If you have a wedding ceremony and invite guests, then you must host a reception to thank your guests for attending your ceremony.

If you enjoy grilling and want to host such a reception, then so long as your guests are not asked to cook or prepare any food, your plan is fine. You may want to reconsider some of the self cooking, however, so that you can more fully enjoy your time with your guests. Perhaps you could consider a budget friendly semi-catered meal.

STARMOON44 · April 2016

CassieBeth926 said:

hey everyone I would really appreciate some input. My fiancé and I have been planning a certain wedding on a certain budget for the better part of a year now, we realized that we honestly just aren't the type of people who can throw away a ton of money on that type of party so we decided to scrap the whole thing. Awesome. We decided to have our immediate family and very close friends (12-15 people tops) go to the beach, get married and have a super fun weekend. So the only part I'm concerned with is the 'reception' aspect. We don't want one, our best idea so far was to rent a suite instead of a hotel room, one with a living room, kitchen, dining area; and just have the people attending our ceremony go there afterward, buy some beer and champagne and grill out like we would for any regular occasion. Is that way too cheap?

Are you buying all the beer and champagne and stuff to grill and taking care of all the shopping and cooking and cleaning yourself? If so that's fine. It doesn't need to be fancy you just need to make sure you aren't expecting guests to contribute money or labor.

climbingsingle · April 2016

That sounds fine to me - as long as you are hosting everything, and it sounds like you are.

thefanciestbeckler · April 2016

Honestly that sounds like a lot of fun to me! As PP's said, as long as you're hosting everything it doesn't need to be fancy.

missJeanLouise · April 2016

Treating everyone to a meal at a restaurant also counts and doesn't require you to do any cleanup.

ShesSoCold · April 2016

I agree with PPs but also want to add that you need to have chairs at the beach. What do you mean by "super fun weekend"? Are you going to ask your guests to spend the weekend with you? Will you host them the entire weekend?

CharmedPam · April 2016

Sounds fun, I agree with PP's though, and to make it easier on everyone, can you cater in the food? It may cost the same, and be less stress. I'd check that out.

scrunchythief · April 2016

I think it sounds awesome! I would look into more "catered" options, just to save yourselves the work of cooking so you can relax more. But I think with that small of a group, you can pull of cooking. I just know personally I'd rather relax more (and I do love cooking). Or I suggest picking a meal you can prep mostly beforehand and just pull out of the fridge/stick in the oven.

MesmrEwe · April 2016

One kink in the plan may be the hotel you use - you may want to check with a campground/cottage rental instead to be able to do the cookout without any complaints from the management. Otherwise I agree with the PP - for that size of group - as long as everyone's fully hosted and don't have to lift a finger for this cookout, no problem!

Really think about just going to a restaurant for that meal and having people just order off the menu or from a condensed one. That way you get to have a great time on the same/less budget while fully hosting everyone without having to do one second of cleanup!

CassieBeth926 · April 2016

Thanks for your responses, yes, we will be purchasing all the food and drinks, and also preparing it. We do it basically every weekend so we have a pretty good system down, that part shouldn't be too stressful. As for what I mean by super fun weekend... Originally we were just going to elope, go get married and stay at the beach for the weekend. Our families really wanted to Attend the ceremony so we agreed that they could, along with our close friends who were originally part of the bridal party. We've told them out plans and they decided to also stay the weekend. We're fully hosting the get-together after, and the small gathering the night before. As far as I know the only people staying longer than that are my fiancé and I, our invitations are only for the wedding and party after. If our guests ask about the entire weekend I guess we will have to come up with some activities. I didn't think about that. And yes we will have chairs

[Deleted User] · April 2016

CassieBeth926 said:

Thanks for your responses, yes, we will be purchasing all the food and drinks, and also preparing it. We do it basically every weekend so we have a pretty good system down, that part shouldn't be too stressful. As for what I mean by super fun weekend... Originally we were just going to elope, go get married and stay at the beach for the weekend. Our families really wanted to Attend the ceremony so we agreed that they could, along with our close friends who were originally part of the bridal party. We've told them out plans and they decided to also stay the weekend. We're fully hosting the get-together after, and the small gathering the night before. As far as I know the only people staying longer than that are my fiancé and I, our invitations are only for the wedding and party after. If our guests ask about the entire weekend I guess we will have to come up with some activities. I didn't think about that. And yes we will have chairs

Then, as far as I'm concerned, you're fine. Chairs, food, drink, conversation. Have fun!

CMGragain · April 2016

A wedding reception is simply when you greet your guests after your ceremony and offer them food and drink. You are planning on doing this. No problem. I suggest that you buy an inexpensive decorated sheet cake from Sam's Club or a grocery store. Then you can cut the cake and offer it to your guests. A wedding cake doesn't have to be an expensive, tiered job.

MesmrEwe · April 2016

CMGragain said:

A wedding reception is simply when you greet your guests after your ceremony and offer them food and drink. You are planning on doing this. No problem. I suggest that you buy an inexpensive decorated sheet cake from Sam's Club or a grocery store. Then you can cut the cake and offer it to your guests. A wedding cake doesn't have to be an expensive, tiered job.

Sam's, Super Target, and Walmart all offer small tiered cakes if the OP would want a tiered cake without breaking the budget. I had one of their theme tiered cakes quoted from Walmart for my daughter's birthday and it was somewhere in the $50-65 which really wasn't bad.. But OP - if you go this route - I HIGHLY recommend their whipped icing option over their regular icing ANY day of the week!!!!

wandajune6 · April 2016

MesmrEwe said:

CMGragain said:

A wedding reception is simply when you greet your guests after your ceremony and offer them food and drink. You are planning on doing this. No problem. I suggest that you buy an inexpensive decorated sheet cake from Sam's Club or a grocery store. Then you can cut the cake and offer it to your guests. A wedding cake doesn't have to be an expensive, tiered job.

Sam's, Super Target, and Walmart all offer small tiered cakes if the OP would want a tiered cake without breaking the budget. I had one of their theme tiered cakes quoted from Walmart for my daughter's birthday and it was somewhere in the $50-65 which really wasn't bad.. But OP - if you go this route - I HIGHLY recommend their whipped icing option over their regular icing ANY day of the week!!!!

We actually got our cakes at Costco. At $26 for a huge sheet it was a serious bargain. We bought a pretty cake for cutting and this tasted even better!

JediElizabeth · April 2016

wandajune6 said:

MesmrEwe said:

CMGragain said:

A wedding reception is simply when you greet your guests after your ceremony and offer them food and drink. You are planning on doing this. No problem. I suggest that you buy an inexpensive decorated sheet cake from Sam's Club or a grocery store. Then you can cut the cake and offer it to your guests. A wedding cake doesn't have to be an expensive, tiered job.

Sam's, Super Target, and Walmart all offer small tiered cakes if the OP would want a tiered cake without breaking the budget. I had one of their theme tiered cakes quoted from Walmart for my daughter's birthday and it was somewhere in the $50-65 which really wasn't bad.. But OP - if you go this route - I HIGHLY recommend their whipped icing option over their regular icing ANY day of the week!!!!

We actually got our cakes at Costco. At $26 for a huge sheet it was a serious bargain. We bought a pretty cake for cutting and this tasted even better!

For anyone thinking of this, your cutting cake and your sheet cake should be the same quality. If you get a sheet cake from Costco, you should be getting the same kind of cutting cake (if you have one), as you and your guests should all be fed equally.

scrunchythief · April 2016

JediElizabeth said:

wandajune6 said:

MesmrEwe said:

CMGragain said:

A wedding reception is simply when you greet your guests after your ceremony and offer them food and drink. You are planning on doing this. No problem. I suggest that you buy an inexpensive decorated sheet cake from Sam's Club or a grocery store. Then you can cut the cake and offer it to your guests. A wedding cake doesn't have to be an expensive, tiered job.

Sam's, Super Target, and Walmart all offer small tiered cakes if the OP would want a tiered cake without breaking the budget. I had one of their theme tiered cakes quoted from Walmart for my daughter's birthday and it was somewhere in the $50-65 which really wasn't bad.. But OP - if you go this route - I HIGHLY recommend their whipped icing option over their regular icing ANY day of the week!!!!

We actually got our cakes at Costco. At $26 for a huge sheet it was a serious bargain. We bought a pretty cake for cutting and this tasted even better!

For anyone thinking of this, your cutting cake and your sheet cake should be the same quality. If you get a sheet cake from Costco, you should be getting the same kind of cutting cake (if you have one), as you and your guests should all be fed equally.

I might be wrong, but I think she meant the Costco cake tasted better than their cutting cake. I see no problem in giving your guests better than what you give yourselves:)

JediElizabeth · April 2016

scrunchythief said:

JediElizabeth said:

wandajune6 said:

MesmrEwe said:

CMGragain said:

A wedding reception is simply when you greet your guests after your ceremony and offer them food and drink. You are planning on doing this. No problem. I suggest that you buy an inexpensive decorated sheet cake from Sam's Club or a grocery store. Then you can cut the cake and offer it to your guests. A wedding cake doesn't have to be an expensive, tiered job.

Sam's, Super Target, and Walmart all offer small tiered cakes if the OP would want a tiered cake without breaking the budget. I had one of their theme tiered cakes quoted from Walmart for my daughter's birthday and it was somewhere in the $50-65 which really wasn't bad.. But OP - if you go this route - I HIGHLY recommend their whipped icing option over their regular icing ANY day of the week!!!!

We actually got our cakes at Costco. At $26 for a huge sheet it was a serious bargain. We bought a pretty cake for cutting and this tasted even better!

For anyone thinking of this, your cutting cake and your sheet cake should be the same quality. If you get a sheet cake from Costco, you should be getting the same kind of cutting cake (if you have one), as you and your guests should all be fed equally.

I might be wrong, but I think she meant the Costco cake tasted better than their cutting cake. I see no problem in giving your guests better than what you give yourselves:)

Ohhhh, in that case, I agree!

CassieBeth926 · April 2016

I think we are going to end up with a small maybe two tiered cake, probably from Publix, it doesnt really matter to me, I guess I just never had a 'wedding vision' We just want to be married. We really only decided to have any type of wedding because my dad REALLY wants to walk me down the aisle, and I love my dad so, a wedding it is.

wandajune6 · April 2016

JediElizabeth said:

scrunchythief said:

JediElizabeth said:

wandajune6 said:

MesmrEwe said:

CMGragain said:

A wedding reception is simply when you greet your guests after your ceremony and offer them food and drink. You are planning on doing this. No problem. I suggest that you buy an inexpensive decorated sheet cake from Sam's Club or a grocery store. Then you can cut the cake and offer it to your guests. A wedding cake doesn't have to be an expensive, tiered job.

Sam's, Super Target, and Walmart all offer small tiered cakes if the OP would want a tiered cake without breaking the budget. I had one of their theme tiered cakes quoted from Walmart for my daughter's birthday and it was somewhere in the $50-65 which really wasn't bad.. But OP - if you go this route - I HIGHLY recommend their whipped icing option over their regular icing ANY day of the week!!!!

We actually got our cakes at Costco. At $26 for a huge sheet it was a serious bargain. We bought a pretty cake for cutting and this tasted even better!

For anyone thinking of this, your cutting cake and your sheet cake should be the same quality. If you get a sheet cake from Costco, you should be getting the same kind of cutting cake (if you have one), as you and your guests should all be fed equally.

I might be wrong, but I think she meant the Costco cake tasted better than their cutting cake. I see no problem in giving your guests better than what you give yourselves:)

Ohhhh, in that case, I agree!

That's all correct. I think the Costco cake tasted better than our pretty cake. That's mainly because I loathe fondant, etc. but I think everyone agreed.

[Deleted User] · April 2016

If you are providing food to your guests, you are hosting them properly. But instead of cooking out, maybe see if there are any restuarants in the area that you can order a couple of pans of food from that you can just have delivered at the time you want to start eating or that you can just warm up in the oven. Even some pizza places provide chicken dishes, pasta & salad, etc. The reason I suggest this is then no one has to be put onto grill duty and it would be less work for you to heat up & serve then having to prep & cook things. This will allow you, FI and family to relax and visit more with each other.

Is this horrible?

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