Save Money on Your Wedding Reception

Wedding Reception Ideas to Save Your Money and Your Sanity

To save money on your wedding reception, post this on your mirror where you can read it every day: "Those who will notice don't matter. Those who matter won't notice". Five years from now, no one remembers expensive petits fours with gold leaf decorations. They remember if they danced, if children ran around gleefully, and if you were laughing.

The reception is an event to celebrate the start of your married life, not the climax of your entire life. It is also the first party you and your husband will host, so concentrate on what will make the guests happy and the celebration memorable. Here's some ideas to focus you on the celebrating, not running up your debts:

* Make your own reception décor if you can, and ask friends and family to help. It's a wedding memory they will cherish.

* Hold the reception in a public park that will reserve a picnic area for you. Rent or hire a hot dog vendor, a popcorn cart, and an ice cream truck. Hand out balloons to all the children. Enjoy the smiles of strangers who enjoy the sight of someone celebrating.

* Go retro, and hold the reception at your parents' home, or any large residence you can borrow. Many wedding accounts early in the 20th century say something like, "The delightful outdoor reception was at the home of the brides aunt and uncle, Dr. and Mrs. R. Goodfamily."

* Marry in the early afternoon, and have high tea instead of a full dinner. A selection of gourmet teas, exquisite cookies and small sandwiches spares your budget, and has an offbeat elegance. You get double points for elegance if you can find enough pretty thrift store china for the tables.

* Elope. Have a coming home or housewarming party at your new place as the reception.

* Use inexpensive, reusable, or resellable décor in abundance. Add one or two expensive accents if you want. For example, floor-length unbleached muslin tablecloths with a runner of embroidered fabric look more lavish than skimpy tablecloths of more expensive material. After the reception, resell or recycle the muslin.

* If you have access to garden flowers, or can legally pick wildflowers, use whatever you can pick in large casual bouquets.

* Decorate tables with bowls of fruit or seasonal vegetables. Donate them to a food bank or take them home for your own use after the reception.