Wedding potluck?

[loyola_rambler]

You could be really smart and just do sparkling fruit juice and a little Asti Spumante at your reception. That way you don’t need to worry about the cost of alcohol nor whether any of your guests gets too intoxicated during the reception. It also cuts down on how much munching people do…the more they drink, the more you have to feed them.

 

[Lilyofthevalley]

Tree Hugger what a breath of fresh air! A humble and thankful bride.

 

[JessicaCeleste]

Hey there!

I’m going through this right now! My wedding is 33 days away!

I’d like to share with you how my spice and I have handled this situation.

We don’t have a lot of money, and are having a very small wedding, about 60 people - we chose about 12 trustworthy folks, gave them a short list of the types of food/drinks we wanted . From that list, they picked what they felt they could realistically bring and we are going from there Because my spice and I have somewhat specific tastes, especially with Wines, we made sure to let them know exactly what we wanted.

I admit, It’s not necessarily the way I wanted to do things, but when money’s tight, you do what you have to.

Hope it helps!

~Jess

 

[TreeHugger]

Hi everyone,

My fiance and I met with the caterers next door, and have figured out our reception. After taking into consideration your posts and feedback, we decided that we would host the reception. We discovered that the caterers at the University next to our Parish are very reasonable, and we are going to have a small cocktail party, serving hor d’oeuvres, champagne, fruit, cheese and crackers, and cake. we changed our ceremony time to 1:30pm, and will do our pics before the wedding. then, we will run next door and greet our guests as they enter the lounge (2:30pm) where we will give them their bombonierres/favours that i’m going to make. so, we’ll kill 2 birds with one stone by having the ‘receiving line’ as they enter the reception, and make sure they get their favour. the place hosting our reception is awesome. there are no gratuities on top of the prices given, they will provide linens, glasses, china, single stems in vases, serving staff floating around with hor d’oeuvres/champagne, etc. without any extra charges. i even asked them about uncorking champagne! lol…no extra or hidden fees. i think it’s because toronto has so many fancy hotels, and competition is steep, so the university students and staff who run this catering want a competitive edge as their decor isn’t as fancy as a hotel. of course, it’s still lovely.
so, our reception will last no more than 4 hours, i’m thinking most people will be gone by 4:30pm, and that’s that. i’ve asked my friend taking photography in college to do pics, and i’m very happy with where this is all going. i feel like we will be able to keep the focus of the day, give the illusion of fanciness to our guests at a savvy price, save some cash for the part of our lives that comes after the wedding, and have a celebration with family and friends that is more suited to us. Thanks for all your help!
And, if anyone has tips about making your own bouquets/boutinierres out of real flowers, let me know!

 

[Toni]

WhiteDove:

I personally see nothing tacky about a wedding potluck. If your Dad feels embarrassed, then let HIM go into debt to save face, not YOU. Probably, folks will be also bring a gift as well as a dish, that’d be my guess.

I think it’s terrible the way folks will spend a small fortune on a wedding, going into debt and also causing themselves a lot of stress over the wedding plans.

Your wedding should be a joyful occasion for you and all the guests you would like present with you. It sounds like if you did it any other way, your guest list would be limited. A potluck is wonderful the food is always great and there is always plenty to chose from, and I don’t think your true friends and family would mind.

 

[Aurelia]

It’s your wedding, and it’s not my business to tell anyone how to run things, but this pot luck thing resurrected a memory from my distant past. When I was a young child, I went with my parents and grandmother to the wedding of my father’s cousin. It was an afternoon ceremony held in a small town many miles away from our home. The reception was evidently a pot luck type of event, with the whole town invited to the American Legion or VFW Hall (whatever). The ladies of the town were providing the food, and I remember that we were waiting and waiting and waiting for it to be served. Finally, about eight o’clock or so, my parents gave up and decided that we had to get started for home. We were already in the car when my father’s uncle came out and, after a bit of discussion with the adults, led me back into the kitchen where I was hurriedly given a ham sandwich. Then we left. I still wonder when they served the food.
So you see, without proper planning, this type of thing can go horribly wrong.

 

[Marie]

There is nothing Tacky about it. It is a tried and true tradition from way back. We just celebrated our 40th anniversary which was catered. Many of the guests brought side dishs even though it was not nessecary but it sure brought back fond memories of our Wedding Reception. The entire parish at the American Legion’s Club who’s members as well as Parish and VFW members put on our original Wedding Reception. It was fantastic and the norm in small town USA 40 years agur wedding was beautiful and the reception wonderful as the whole community gave it as a gift to us as poor struggling newlyweds. It is a precious memory still to this day.