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The following comments have been edited to prevent internet crawlers from
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Comment 1: A Budget Reception
My brother just got married and we bought a wedding cake from Walmart for
about $80. We then made regular 9X13 german chocolate cakes -- his
favorite -- which we served as refreshments. We also served vanilla and
chocolate pudding (from the #10 cans you get at the cannery -- the trick
to making that great is to use water, not milk and to "beat it to death" I
used my Kitchenaid mixer). We sliced strawberries really thin and placed a
couple slices or a couple segments of mandrin oranges on top of the
pudding. We got many compliments on it, and no one knew we were using
"food storage." For drinks, we did water with an orange sliced thin
floating on top, and pink pop with ice. We found colored napkins on
clearance at a dollar store for 50 cents a package.
The bride's colors were pick and orange, and she wanted gerber daisies, so
the morning of the reception we ran to Walmart and bought 4 bunches (about
$5 each) from these we made her a bouquet by grouping some together and
wrapping ribbon around the stems and leaving some dangling down. It was
beautiful. We also made a boutinere for the groom and corsages for the
grandmas. For each mom, we just put some in vases and used them in
decorating then they took them home to display; Mom's corsages always get
smashed with the first hug anyway. :) We rented a backdrop and some
greenery for $150, but we set it up and took it down in the church gym. We
added lots of white Christmas lights and gauzy material. It looked very
good. For the centerpieces, we had gerber daisy plants that had been
bought for the first reception 2 weeks earlier, most of the flowers had
died, but the greenery was pretty. We wired some of the purchased flowers
and stuck them into the containers. We used some silk gerber daisys a lady
in the ward had, too. The funny thing was, we all kept walking over by the
one plant with "real" flowers from the plant and thinking we needed to
stick them in more. THat one was the one that looked like the flowers were
fake. :)
It looked great!
but was done very inexpensively!
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Comment 2: Affordable Live Music
Check with your local college music dept and inquire if they have any
students that can play at a reception. If you live in Utah, our family
plays a string quartet and could play background music.
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Comment 3: Centerpieces
I ordered my Calla Lilys for our son's wedding from Costco.com. The flowers
were fed ex'd right to my door and were beautiful. Then we just put them in
tall dramatic vases with some curly willows for an easy yet pricey looking
centerpiece.
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Comment 4: Food Idea 1
Sams club will do meat trays, cheese trays, veggie platters for a very good price.
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Comment 5: Food Idea 2
Right after Valentines and Easter you can get good sales on chocolates
and other heart shaped candy. Unwrap each individual heart shape and
place them on a 3 tier plate with some paper doilies (can be found on
clearance if you watch for them) If you remove the foil wrapper, no one
will know it was Valentine candy. Hershey kisses and dove chocolate
after Valentines or Easter, too, will work. Wrap several chocolates in
tulle and tie with a ribbon. Keep them in a freezer or fridge.
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Comment 6: Guestbook Idea
I had a friend who recently went to a wedding reception. At the wedding book
signing table, the bride and her mother had put together a hard-bound photo
book of the couple's engagement and pre-wedding photos. This is what the
guests signed! It was awesome because it was hardbound and would be a
keepsake forever. Combining photos along with well wishes from guests is a
great idea.
If you would like to create your own photobook to use as a guest book, create
a free online account at Photomax.com.
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Comment 7: Table Cameras
We tried the idea of putting a disposable camera at each table and ended up
with a lot of wasted photos. We got some good ones, but many were obviously
taken by unattended children playing around. We had photos of the floor,
close-ups of noses and fingers (out of focus, of course), and so many photos
of the centerpieces that we essentially bought all of them twice...or more!
The best photos we got were of partly eaten refreshments. And we thought we
were sick of them during the reception!
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Comment 8: Wedding Line Attire
With 5 daughters, we always have built-in bridesmaids. Luckily, I am a
professional seamstress. So far I have made all of the dresses for the
sisters. This last wedding, all of the girls (5 in all, counting the
groom's sister) could not decide on one pattern. So, I purchased a bolt
of fabric the bride picked out and each girl chose her own style of dress.
The bride did not want a formal line, so we called it an open house (since
it was held at our 100-year-old home). It was very informal. The bride and
groom were able to mingle with their guests and enjoyed that much more
than if they were to stand in a line for 2 hours.
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