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That is heartbreaking. I wish your family well in this difficult time.
How about cutting back on favors, invitations, the cake and other non-necessary items? Since you have the main parts booked, stick with those and try to avoid adding more to the wedding. Does a buffet cut back on cost? How about limiting meal choices? Appetizers only?
All will be okay!! For our wedding, my love and I have been talking about having a fairly late ceremony and reception (we both like nighttime and a full moon with an outdoor reception would be gorgeous) and I actually don't like dinner at weddings anyway-that is the most awkward part-you're sitting with people you don't know and it's just an odd void in the excitement. Plus, a lot of people go to stay for dinner and then leave right after-I'm sorry, but if you are important enough to us to come to our wedding, I'm hoping that you're there for more than just dinner! We are going to forego the dinner and have a fruit/cheese/dessert wine/champagne/dessert bar...I'm thinking tons of our favorit candies and desserts in crystal dishes and so many that it would be reminiscent of Versaille during Marie Antoinette's hay-day-something romantic and seemingly all sorts of tasty treats, but still much cheaper than dinner! Plus, if you have it late like you were saying, at 7:30, then people can easily eat dinner beforehand and then it will be perfect for cocktails and dancing and enjoying your special day with people you love and who love you. :)))
*HUGS* My hopes and warmest thoughts are going out to your family right now, in this tough time.
I think that, if you're going to be doing the wedding at 7:30, you could definitely skip serving a full dinner (it'll probably be at least 8:00 by the time you all sit down to eat, maybe longer if you insert a couple minutes between your ceremony and reception).
I would suggest having a dessert reception, and putting that on the invites. On your wedding site, maybe explain the situation and gently remind guests to eat before coming to the wedding. You might also want to provide some finger-sandwiches/foods in the ceremony venue for about 30-15 minutes before the ceremony, to help guests who are still feeling a little peckish.
I would also suggest cutting back on or eliminating favours if you can (this can knock hundreds from your budget), as well as perhaps getting your cake and the rest of your dessert buffet from a grocery store, or making it yourself. (Cookies and two-layer cakes are fairly simple, as are cupcakes.)
You could have a dessert & dancing reception! That way you could have it later at night and still have the band play, and you could probably cater it yourself if push came to shove. Our caterer does not include dessert in our package, so we're getting all the cupcakes, pies, etc. for our dessert table ourselves.
I agree just do cocktails and dessert; dinner costs an arm and a leg; try to reduce whaever unnecessary things that you can; I looked at sales, bargained, DIY and negotiated and negotiated, minimized my guestlist; I must have saved at least $15,000
Sorry to hear that !!!!! HUGS!!!! Check with your venue or caterers, perhaps a carving station or buffet option would be cheaper as our venue had. Considering that might save you some bucks and still give you the evening option!
Quick question, does your reception area have any food minimums you have to fulfill or is it just a space?
chuppah_and_feathers.jpg (72.8 KB, 76 downloads) 1 year old
I say do a dessert and dancing reception! You could even get a lot of the desserts at your local grocery store. They have great stuff and good prices.
Or you could try and find a less expensive caterer, or do less options on the dinner, or do light, simple finger foods, something like that. You could cut the budget on other things, that might help...
So sorry!! My FI is losing his job in October, they atleast gave him a warning! We're paying for our wedding mostly ourselves. My parents are helping a little and no help at all from his parents- our wedding date is the day after you, April 25th. To help with costs we're have a Hors duerves reception, the reception will start at 2:30- we figured that everyone would have already eaten lunch and it's too early for dinner. We were able to have quite a few options too from our venue- this way a lot of time wont be spent sitting eating a big dinner and there's more tome to mingle and dance!! I know you were worried about people having a good time. Hope this helps!! Us April brides have to help each other out 
Absolutely do desert and drinks...you can do a whole desert bar buffet style in addition to your cake which will really cut down on costs!
Im so sorry to hear about your dad, best wishes to him and your family. I agree that people have the mis-notion that cocktail receptions are cheaper than full dinners. For the most part they are actually more because its is more food to plan on. I think a dessert reception would be very nice, you could have lots of mini desserts, cupcakes, various cakes, a candy bar, etc. I hope the people coming to your wedding will have fun no matter what food you serve (but be sure to put dessert reception on your invitation so people dont come expecting dinner) If dessert is not enough, how about a couple hors d' oeuvres in the beginning and dessert later?
I'm so sorry for your news. This must be extremely stressful on all fronts. Definitely do dessert and drinks. Maybe you could have a theme to your drinks so that you could have a couple of signature cocktails to cut down on costs? If your looking to provide a meal, perhaps offering a pasta station buffet style would be doable?
I'm with the rest -- dessert and drinks are a great idea and your guests won't have to "save room" for the REALLY yummy stuff if you do that.
You could even make "sweet" the theme for your entire wedding and really play it up with some great DIY projects with candy, etc.
I personally would LOVE to go to a wedding with only dessert. YUM.
We're paying for our wedding ourselves and simply can't afford a caterer, so we're doing a dessert reception. We'll have both homemade and store bought candy, cakes, petit fours, chocolates, etc. To counter the sweetness, we'll have some spiced nuts and some Brie and fruit.
I'm with Lorienne, I'd love to go to a wedding with only dessert, so I'm just going to make mine that way! :) Best of luck to your father, I know how difficult a lay off can be. :( I hope things turn around very soon.
As long as I was given advance notice and the reception didn't fall smack in the middle of dinnertime, I'd be totally stoked to go to a desserts-only wedding reception. I really like the idea of offering some spiced nuts and cheese to cut the sweetness a little bit, too. Talk about fun! And delicious!
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Hello Bees-
I just got some very heartbreaking news today. My father, who is paying for our wedding, was laid off from his job. I've been so upset tonight and I don't know what to do. I'm not upset at all about the wedding, but about what my family is going through.
My dad told me to not worry about anything, that my budget is still the same... but right now I don't want him to spend money that he may need later on if he can't find another job soon.
So... here's my delima... our reception venue is booked and mostly paid for, along with the photographer and the dress. The place I think I can cut back on is in the food department. However, my fiance really would like to do the wedding and reception in the evening. We are getting married on April 24th... I don't want to get married in the dark, so the latest we could do the wedding would be about 7:30, which usually still would require dinner at the reception. He is open to moving the reception to the afternoon, and doing just cake and drinks, but I'm afraid it will not be at all fun. We are having a live band (friends of ours who aren't charging us) and really wanted it to be in the evening. If I could not do a full dinner, I would LOVE to! It would save so much money! Does anyone have any ideas or creative suggestions that could help me!?!? I've looked at cocktail receptions, but they sometimes end up costing almost as much as a whole dinner. I need really creative ideas... please help me think outside of the box!!!