cheap wedding reception ideas

A:Go for boxed wine. It is the cheapest way to buy it. Then, put it in a beautiful carafe to serve it. People will never know. You can get boxed wine anywhere. Check out places like walmart and http://www.ikea.com for cheap glass carafes. For 40 people, you'd only need a few of them. The carafes allow you to hide the fact that the wine is cheap. For food, pasta is very cheap to feed people in bulk, and also very italian. For meat, you can put grilled chicken in the pasta. Serve with italian bread and side salad. For starters, you can have tomatoes with basil and fresh mozzerella, with vinegar and oil. this is also very cheap. Bowls of olives. Cheese and bread plate. Fruit trays. Bruschetta. Salami and meat tray. For dessert, wedding cake of course! Or, italian ice. For decor, you can do candles on the table, because they are so cheap, but beautiful. Or, sprinkle rose petals over the tables and floor. http://www.lookalive.com/

A:You can get silk flowers fairly cheap at a craft store. For my wedding, we skipped the centerpieces and sprinkled glittery stars in our wedding colors down the center of each table. You can try the Dollar Store for cheap candles though.

A:Congrats to you and your fiancee!!! YAY!!! :) Well the main thing is to do what you can yourself... invites, flowers, favors, decorations, etc... those little things can add mucho dollars when you have someone else do it! I have a budget myself of $4000-5000 (hopefully closer to the $4000!) and I'm having about 125-150 guests. The biggest expense is the meal/bar bill, which is usually about half of your budget. Having a buffet might be a little cheaper than having dinner per plate, I think mine's gonna be about $10-12 per guest for dinner. As for the bar bill... I'm going to pay for soda, get a keg (or perhaps a half keg? I'm not certain yet lol) of beer and if anyone wants mixed drinks they will have to pay for them. (Some people may think it's tacky, but I am actually putting on the invites -- in small print at the bottom -- that a cash bar will be available all night, so they come prepared, cuz I know a lot of people won't bring money with them if they think *everything* is complimentary.) Mixed drinks are what really hikes up your bar bill! You can get a lot of ideas just watching those bridal shows on TV. I've also gotten a lot of ideas just reading people's questions and answers on HERE. My cake... I actually was lucky enough to come across a girl on Myspace that lives in my town that does beautiful cakes out of her home for relatively inexpensive. BUT you must watch that, only cuz a lot of reception sites require a licensed baker or to use their own on-site baker, plus there might be a cutting fee which can range from $1-5 per slice (or even more!!! Make sure you read the fine print before you commit!) :) Also don't look past going to Walmart's bakery or your local grocery store's bakery... I've seen some great cakes come out of those places too, and you would have never known it!! Or check craigslist, too... I am making my own flowers. I actually hit Hobby Lobby when they were having a 50% off sale on all of their flowers, so I got $100 worth of flowers for $50! You and your bridesmaids could have a flower making party (or a favor making party as well!) As for my favors, I'm doing a couple different things. Of course I'm having bubbles! I got plain bubble bottles at Dollar Tree for $1/dozen (CHEAP!) and I actually found a girl on ebay that prints up labels for very cheap! this is a link to the seller http://stores.ebay.com/Beautiful-Favors-Fast_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm As for my other favors, I saw a cute one on a website for sale that was called a spoonful of kisses, and it's a plastic spoon with a few hershey kisses, wrapped in tulle and on the tag it says "A spoonful of kisses from the Mr. and Mrs." with our names and wedding date. I also am having programs which I am printing myself. Also printing up myself are the invites! I didn't need paper that was real fancy so I went to Office Max and got some fall themed paper (cuz I'm having a fall wedding) and some envelopes and some postcards for the reply/save the date cards. (I'm only sending save the date cards to people that live out of the area that will have to make travel arrangements) Cuz I couldn't see spending a fortune on invites that most people keep until the wedding and throw away! Also, here are some websites that I am using to curb my costs: http://www.bridalonlinestore.com/ <---AWESOME dresses at a fraction of the cost of traditional bridal shops, excellent customer service and the dresses are JUST beautiful, and are guaranteed for satisfaction!!! They also have bridesmaid dresses as well and other accessories (veils, headbands, hair clips, gloves, guest books, etc.... you get the idea!) :) http://www.orientaltrading.com/ <---sign up to receive their wedding ideas book in the mail (it's free!) and there is awesome ideas in it and on the website for favors, decor, etc. I'm having a fall wedding and I'm getting leaves to scatter on the tables from here (those are under the fall section rather than the wedding section though) everything is relatively cheap and if you order over a certain dollar amt you get free shipping. They have great bridal party gifts, too! http://www.tullesource.com/ This is awesome for inexpensive tulle and they have such a wide variety of colors. My wedding colors are apricot and sage and they actually have my colors in tulle, which is great cuz I need tulle for one of my favors and for my centerpieces. http://www.confetti.com/ another great one for confetti (hence the name lol) and other decor. very reasonable prices! http://www.michaels.com/ yeah... awesome wedding stuff for not too much! I love going to Michael's! (Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree are my friends too!) :) Other great sites to check out: http://www.blissweddings.com/ http://www.brides.com/ http://www.ewedding.com/ http://offbeatbride.com/ http://www.theknot.com/ http://www.ultimatewedding.com/ http://www.weddingchannel.com/ http://www.annsbridalbargains.com/ http://www.efavormart.com/ http://www.favorideas.com/ http://www.getmarried.com/ There ya go, that should get you started!!! :) Good luck!!!

A:yes I can give you many--you can shop flea markets for bud vases well ahead of time--you can go to big grocery stores who have floral departments--and ask them to save their old roses about a month b4 your wedding for the petals--put white tablecloths on the table and sprinkle the tables with rose petals--looks very classy--also you can go to a fabric store and get some real thin ribbon in same color as you are having your wedding (red and white is beautiful) and then get a couple of yards of the white netting and buy hershey kisses and wrap them in the netting and tie a small bow--as your favors--take a few small kids toys (color book and crayons, bubbles etc. so the small kids will have something to entertain them if kids will be there) ---Put one red rose in each of the bud vases and tie on a small red bow----make a big Hershey kiss out of sand and reynolds wrap to sit on the tables and hold baloons---you can buy balloons at a craft store and then have a grocery store who sells baloons put in the helium for a fraction of the cost of buying baloon bouquets---just make each ribbon attached to the balloon different lengths to make a bouquet. Then tie it off and tie it to the bigger hershey kisses and put in the center of each table. Have a Bride and Groom Table with the cake on it and also if you can find a big bandy snifter (most flea markets--or thrift stores have at least one) find the color flowers you want and colored glass marble thingys that you can get at any dollar store--I used red and clear and put enough in to cover about one eighth--put a candle or flowers in the center and tie a bow around the base---if you can find different size snifters--you can put them in a graduated kind of way smaller then a bit larger--then larger etc. Candles look great too--especially on the bridal table and should be lit before the attention is spotlighted to them cutting cake etc. Also a gift table is a must! As for food, well you can usually find sliced ham and turkey at a real good price--get cheese slices--go to bakery companies to order small rolls--about big as a white castle roll to make sandwiches--make the night before and refrigerate putting saran over the trays of sand wiches--you can find trays at flea markets thrift stores or bridal shops! You can also find Bride and Groom champagne glasses and cake cutters--dress up cake knife set with ribbons tied on them. Put bouquet of roses or flowers on the bridal table with cake--I put rose petals on that table also--you can also find lots of crystal candle holders (flea markets sell them real cheap--you may have to pay a lil more at the thrift stores) Also yard sales are an excellent place to find deals! Another thing is don't forget to get some paper bells to hang--get some paper streamers and let a bouquet of balloons hang from them in middle of the ceiling--put bells from ceiling too! and you can get taper candles (white) at any dollar store or Walgreens--Walgreens has them on sale frquently--You can make potato salad, baked beans, chinese cold slaw, have chips and plenty of soft drinks, ice etc.---make cheese balls and crackers to put on platters--put swedish meeatballs in crock the night before --just buy frozen meatballs put a (about 1/3 cup for each 16 oz of meatballs) small jar of grape jelly and a bottle of Heinz chili sauce (sold in bigger grocery chain stores usually)--this should be in the ketchup area of store (it kinda looks like shrimp sauce--but it is perfect for the swedish meatballs) and people go nuts for them! Get some band to play and walla you have a great reception! I have other tips also! If you are interested just email me at Missdeby@bellsouth.net PS--Don't forget a Guest Book--Make sure you get a spiffy pen too!--So you can remember who all came to your reception. Also a good photographer--you can get an amatuer who has a good following and remember to have your relatives take pictures or friends just in case they might catch a few shots you would like to have! You can never have too may pictures--also you might want someone to tape your vows as you say them to one another! It's best if you know someone who can cook well to just give them money and let them take care of it--sit down and plan the menu with them! Ah yes, don't forget to chill the champagne! If you plan to have a bar, start buying your alcohol now--as well as your cokes, etc. If you do it a little at a time--it is easier than just one big chunk coming outta your budget! Easier to set up a buffet style--for your food at the reception. You can get white tablecloths for long tables (many times you can get them from your church--sometimes the church will let you borrow them) Have one of the guys go pick them up and set them up-- make a list and then follow it! How you are going to accomplish things etc---Cross off as you get what you need! There are places you can rent for one day for parties--or you might want to use the church basement--depending on whether you are allowing drinks etc. You can also use a CD Player that is very quality and has several CD's and have someone make your CD's for you according to what songs you want played! or hire a DJ! Your call--If you go the CD route, make sure you can play 6 or so CD's one right after the other! You may want to have someone in your family decorate the car while the reception is going on--maybe let the kids help decorate etc.! You put the favors in baskets (spray paint them for your color motif and maybe glue lace around the edges)--you can do many of these things well ahead of time! Therefore saving yourself time, yet assuring the quality look--for instance the ribbons can be cut and you can make your favors well in advance and just put them in plastic bags and make sure the candy won't melt! You can get matches at card shops that say on them "our wedding day" --although they are not engraved -- they have that special touch! You can make your own floral arrangements to hang at the end of pews if you are marrying in a church!

A:It really all depends on what you want to serve. Appetizers, buffet, fingerfoods, full meal? If you are trying to do it yourself and want to keep it on the inexpensive side you can always go with pasta. It's easy to make and in general most people like it. You could also do some lasagne, chicken parmesan (yes, I'm Italian), rolls and a salad. It would be easy enough to make stuff like that... Or you could do things like coldcuts, potatoe salad, macaroni salad, rolls, etc. Just think of things that are easy to prepare...