Making Cheap Wedding Receptions Work

When planning a wedding reception, there is nothing that says a couple MUST just have a sit-down dinner at a reception hall. This is a good time for the creativity of the couple to come shining through, especially if your friends and relations share some kind of special interest.

One fun idea for your budget wedding reception is to plan to have a family-style picnic, either in your back yard or at a local park like a town or state park where you can rent a picnic shelter. This allows you to take advantage of anything special available at the site like a swimming pool or barbecue pits that may be available. You can also allow the people attending to provide their own foods for the day, and be responsible only for providing the wedding cake as dessert, and beverages like lemonade for the group.

By selecting this type of event, you provide fun activities as well as allowing the guests to change out of any formalized dress they might have worn for the actual ceremony. This will allow your guests to more fully relax and can help to take some of the burden off you in the form of reduced costs for the reception. Often the cost of the rental of a picnic pavilion will be far below that of a reception hall with catering.

Other activities available at this kind of site can include volleyball games, football games, baseball games and the space necessary to conduct races or activities for the kids in who might be in attendance to keep them less bored and more engaged to keep them out of mischief. Depending on the rules of the site chosen, cleanup can be as simple as policing the area you are utilizing (easier with the participation of other guests) and seeing that the garbage is contained appropriately for pick up.

Another fun idea for your budget wedding reception is to schedule it in conjunction with some sort of event put on by a group that caters to a shared interest like a medieval faire or sci-fi or comic convention. If the bride and groom are members of the group sponsoring the event, they can usually work with the sponsoring group to make appropriate accommodations for the reception. By sharing in some of the costs of the event, the bridal couple can find exceptional savings over what it would cost to rent a hall.

Members of the bridal party and any interested guests could put on appropriate costumes to attend the event, and chances are they couple could enlist other members of the group to help find costumes or other appropriate clothing for anyone who didn’t have any but were interested in having some to better participate.

One final fun idea for your budget wedding reception is to have the option of hiring live music for the reception that more accurately reflects your personal tastes in music and that of the majority of your guests. If you prefer country or Celtic music, for example, how much more preferable would that be over a DJ who offers only canned music via CDs? If chosen carefully, the cost of live music could be equal to or even less than the cost of a DJ, and often a live group can go farther in engaging the guests who attend your reception.

Participation from the audience in singing with the band would be encouraged, whereas this might not be possible with a DJ. Dancing as a participatory exercise for more ages might be possible for guests at a reception where there is an abundance of songs familiar to a greater population of your guests.

To your beautiful wedding reception!

By: Bob Hamilton

Choosing the Right Reception Entertainment

Choosing the most suitable and wonderful entertainment for your wedding reception is an extremely important aspect of planning for an amazing and endearingly.

Planning an Elegant Wedding in Las Vegas

No wedding reception is complete without a wedding cake. A popular place for wedding cakes is Freed’s Bakery of Las Vegas, which was featured in Bon Appetit, Martha Steward Weddings and The Food Network.

Hanging Lantern ideas for a Wedding Reception

Keywords: lighting ideas for weddings, reception decor, hanging lanterns for wedding, decoration ideas for wedding, lighting styles for wedding, receptions, bridal wedding ideas for reception.

Looking for New Budget Wedding Ideas?

With today’s digital cameras and video recorders, do-it-yourself photography is always a great low budget wedding option. Ask friends or family members to volunteer as photographers for casual photo.

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So we can’t help but make it a big wedding. The only mistake that we had during the planning was we planned first before having the budget. We should have had a budget first then plan thewedding.

Technorati Tags: Budget Wedding Reception, Cheap wedding receptions, Wedding Ideas, wedding reception, wedding reception site

I love attending weddings. Weddings are one of the occasions where everyone is emotional. Who wouldn’t get emotional when you witness two people proclaiming their love for each other in front of everyone? The flow of emotions is intensified when romantic wedding songs are played.

Choosing a song fit for a wedding is tricky. You have to consider lot things before finally arriving with a wedding playlist. Here are some guidelines on choosing the songs for your special day:

1. Choose the songs that mean something to you and your partner.

Wedding songs are about being sentimental. Now is the perfect time to remember all the songs that played a part in your relationship. For example, you can use the song played during your first date or during your first kiss. You can also use the popular love song currently played over and over the radio when the two of you started dating.

2. Select the songs that will set the mood of the wedding.

Remember that a wedding is a solemn event. As much as possible, you’d want to keep the wedding in that mood constantly. Steer clear of songs that are high-energy. Keep it slow and simple. Romantic songs are your best pick. Save the fast and invigorating music for the reception.

3. Play songs that are reflective of your love story.

Many love songs tell a story. Some of it may be similar to yours. These songs are also great to play during the wedding. It will give the guests an idea on how the two of you found true love in each other’s arms.

4. Consider the song’s music and lyrics.

Take time to read the lyrics of the songs and to listen to the music. There are songs that may have good music but unsubstantial wordings. There are songs that show otherwise. Pick songs that are ideal for the wedding in terms of music and lyrics.

5. The songs must harmonize each other.

All songs that make it to the final list must complement each other. It must continue to set a mood for the couple and the guests. The songs must be about happiness, love and faith.

Wedding songs add a little spark to the occasion. Choosing it carefully and properly will definitely make the occasion more meaningful and more memorable. Adding music in a wedding gives life to the saying that love is in the air.

To your beautiful wedding!

By: Bob Hamilton

10 Best Wedding Songs for the First Dance

If you’re having a tough time picking out a first dance song for your wedding, this list of the 10 best wedding songs should help.The songs in this list were chosen by AOL Radio listenersas you have the ability to rate the songs.

Hindi Wedding Songs

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Great R&B Wedding Songs

To paraphrase 1980s one-hit wonder Oran “Juice” Jones, a wedding reception without a love song is like cornflakes without the milk. Love songs - particularly R&B love songs - have traditionally played a significant role in weddings.

The Least Appropriate Wedding Songs Ever

Curiously, there was a story that made the claim that choosing songs about stalkers, adultery, and one-night stands for one’s wedding, could potentially be bad luck. You can listen to the segment.

How to choose songs for your wedding

A swing band created the mood for the reception with a few songs from my favorite film (When Harry Met Sally) including “It Had To Be You” – which was 1 of our two wedding songs.

Technorati Tags: theme song, Wedding Ideas, wedding songs

Reception

The reception is the largest of all wedding expenditure. Take your time choosing the venue and look toughly into all options in your chosen area. Many restaurants will charge a premium just because it’s a wedding. Be clear with the venue what you expect the quote to include and what you don’t require, as many venues consider the most basic things an extra. When getting your quote find out the total price and the price per head so you know how changing the amount of guests will affect the total cost. Having said this it is a good idea to ensure the venue does not have a minimum amount of guest for the per head price you have been quoted. Also find out the breakdown of the quote, how much is for food and how much is for drinks. Sometimes the drink portion may be much more that you expect your guests to average and you may save money by paying by consumption on the day.

Keep away from peak wedding season and Saturdays if at all possible. Saturday is the most common by avoiding it you could avoid paying a premium. If you have a small budget consider a brunch reception as the food cost is usually greatly less and your guest will usually not drink so much.

The best way to keep the wedding reception cost down is to keep the amount of guests to a minimum. Be aware of how much each guest is going to cost and consider who you could do without. A wedding reception with your closest friends and family is going to be a more pleasurable event than a room full of strangers and you will save a fortune. Just think how nice it will be when you are looking through your wedding photos in 20 years and you still know the people in them. Having no children at the wedding reception can also greatly reduce the numbers and save you a fortune.

Serving the wedding cake for desert can be a great money saving alternative, just make sure you have the venue include the cost of cutting and serving the cake in the quote.

Photographer

Save a fortune on your wedding photographer by booking them for only a few hours not the whole day. This gives plenty of time for getting ready photos, photos of the ceremony, stages shots and some of the reception, and then you are free to enjoy the rest of your day in peace.

Filming your Wedding

Contact your local university or TAFE the hire a promising student to film your wedding. Some of these students have the latest knowledge and access to top equipment. Students doing these courses often do a fantastic job of editing your wedding footage to resulting is a high quality keepsake.

Transport

Consider hiring a self-drive vehicle and have a friend or family member drive you. You may even be lucky enough to have a friend with the perfect car.

Flowers

Choose your florist carefully some love to overcharge for bridal bouquets. To avoid this try going into the florist and pointing out a bouquet you love and ask the price. Then if you are happy you can say that’s great I would like to order them for my wedding. It’s a bit hard for them to change the price then. Just be certain the flowers you have chosen will be blooming at the time of your wedding. You may also consider making your own bridal bouquet from either fresh or silk flowers. Silk flowers have the advantage of allowing you plenty of time to get your bouquets perfect well in advance of your big day. If you are considering creating your bouquets try using a step-by-step guide

Bride and Bridesmaids Dresses

Consider hiring your dream wedding dress. This gives you the opportunity to wear a gown you may otherwise not be able to afford. If the thought of giving your wedding dress back after your big day leaves you cold, consider buying an ex rental gown. Some bridal boutiques even have a second hand section which can be a great choice considering the dress has only been worn once and can shave thousands off the price. Bridesmaid’s gowns can be acquired from a boutique rather than a bridal shop. This saves a fortune and may offer a greater selection with fresher choices.

Wedding Cake

Consider chocolate mud or an alternative to the traditional wedding cake. If you can’t go without the traditional wedding cake consider buying the cake undecorated and having a flower arrangement made for the top of the cake. This looks fantastic and the price difference is huge.

By: Susan Tucker

Wedding Planning on a Budget

So far, our money saving ideas have included a lot of do-it-yourself. We’ve enlisted a talented cake decoratoring aunt of his for the cake, my mother and I are doing all the food, and his uncle will be marrying us.

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Wedding Money-Saving Tips

I hope you took a peek at Rory and Michael’s wedding on “Real Wedding Wednesday” They were a great couple and it was a beautiful wedding. Here is the inside scoop on some of their near misses and a money-saving tip.

Wedding Saving Tips

Starting out your lives together in debt is probably not the best way, avoid a wedding loan at all costs. When you budget keep it realistic, if you do not have the funds right now start saving towards it. I do not want to get into.

Wedding Planning on a Budget Book Giveaway - Everyone Wins

So far, our money saving ideas have included a lot of do-it-yourself. We’ve enlisted a talented cake decoratoring aunt of his for the cake, my mother and I are doing all the food, and his uncle will be marrying us.

Technorati Tags: Wedding Ideas, wedding invatations., wedding reception