Member- wonderfulmoondancenights
- 4 years ago
- Wedding: October 2015
Sorry this is longer than I thought it would be.
We are having a wedding of 45-50 guests, and already have the venue booked. What we are having trouble deciding is what time to end the reception, and head to the after party.
We plan to have the ceremony early, starting at 1 or 2 and then head in for food/toasts/light dancing/cake. 10-15 of our guests are older and will most likely be looking to leave as soon as the cake is cut, which is fine. The early start time is for the older guests who are driving in (1hour) and will want to leave before dark.
The problem is the cost of alcohol, at the venue we will probably only be able to provide wine for the tables ($400ish) and then have a cash bar. There is a location downtown which our friends always went in university and we want to go there for wings and beer as the after party. We could easily buy the first round of pitchers for everyone ($150-200) and most would only need to buy maybe one more themselves. It seems to be the best option; more enjoyable, and affordable. The bar also has a dance floor which we all love which opens up later.
So, should we end the reception early, 4-5pm…or let the reception go as long as it can if people are dancing and head down 6pm or 8pm? The only issue is we can’t reserve the tables at the bar, and it’s usually busy by 5:30pm. Also, if we do the reception early, if people want to dance it will still be daylight since the sun sets at 6:30pm so I’m not sure if that changes the atmosphere.
Has anyone else organized something like this for their wedding? Or have any ideas?
