Comments on: Ideas For A Small (but Fairly Upscale) Wedding Reception? (approx. 30 Guests)?

By: Blunt

Blunt — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

I had an upscale wedding for 38 people. The cost per person ended up a little over $300 dollars per person and that included a cocktail hour with raw bar and passed hors d’oeuvres and a lobster meal and 5 hours of top shelf liquor on our full hosted bar. We got married on a beach resort in Cape Cod, MA close to the Kennedy’s compound.
We had a DJ and 3 children ages 5 to12. The kids had a blast dancing! We had a harpist playing during our beach reception and the cocktail hour at the venue. We had orchids for flowers and Godiva chocolate boxes as favors.
Everyone commented that it was th best wedding that they ever attended. We wanted our few and selected guests to enjoy the party of a life time. We party for 3 days on a beautiful beach location and everyone had a lot fun.
If you have a small, you can have much better things. We were able to hire the best in town and had the best meal and the best of the best on everything. It was NOT boring at all, it was all family and very good friends and we partied from the beginning to the end.
It was a magical affair. We gave our loved ones the very best for their company and their support.
Good luck

By: eternalm

eternalm — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

There is this great blog I stumbled upon a while back that has videos of actual weddings. Great resource for design elements, color schemes, centerpiece ideas and themed weddings. Check it out:http://www.uniquelyyouplanning.com/

By: Vashti

Vashti — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

Check with the hotels in your area to see what sort of reception packages they have.
They might have a beach barbeque option!

By: happy (:

happy (: — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

Wait until your mother and future mother-in-law find out.
You will have a guest list of 250.

By: Syreen

Syreen — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

Are you going to be having wedding favors? I used a site that sells some pretty unique and can be upscale items for pretty cheap. There’s personalized fortune cookies or there’s these really nice cookies that you can put your pictures on that are totally edible. I think these are a pretty neat idea. The kids would love these (what kid doesn’t like cookies) and the adults would like the originality of them. To give you an idea of the prices the most of the fortune cookies are about .99 cents each, and some of the picture cookies are about 2.89 each. Hope that helps! Oops, almost forgot the link. http://www.fortuneweddingfavors.com

By: Goin to the Chapel4/5/09

Goin to the Chapel4/5/09 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

Find a nice restuarant that the two of you love, and see if they have large private dinning area, or if they would be willing to close for you for the night. Don’t do seperate tables but rather get 3 longer tables and form a U-shape in the room have the two of you in the center of it all and then flank the sides of the tables mixing friends and famly so that way they can get to know each other if they are not already familiar. I would go for more rich heavy colors in golds and ivories maybe adding a splash of color depending on the season (burgandy for winter, marigold for fall, celadon for spring, and say fuschia for summer.) Get lovely high center piece that are overloaded with flowers 2 or eachof the “branches” of the U shaped table. Do small individual cakes and then one large one for the two of you so it can be saved for your 1st anniversary. As far as music I would just create a few different playlists on your ipod and have one for apps/cocktail time, one for dinner, and one for after. And just let it play. Have the best man MC. Place a small dance floor (if needed) in the center of the U-table. I think probably a friday night, would be best or this type of event. And with the small amount of guests and large number of young kids I would deff. skip the garter toss and probably the bouquet toss as well. You could even work with the restuarant to see if they will give you 3-4 entrees and sides to choose from and allow eveyone to order off of a small private menu and have everything made to order. Good LUCK!!!

By: casper4

casper4 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

I would look into some really nice restaurants. You could do a really upscale menu (lobster, steak/filet mignon) for $150 per person. Open bar with premium liquors. Maybe you could a wine-tasting menu, where different wines are paired with several courses of food. Plus they probably have music piped in anyway, so that saves you from having to hire a band or DJ.
You could also look into something fun and quirky, like a bowling alley, a zoo or aquarium. Or try a fancy museum or art gallery, maybe with really swanky hors d’oeuvres … set it up like a cocktail reception. Offer different stations for food (carving stations, fresh-made pasta, sushi station, seafood bar, mashed potatoes in martini glasses). Have chairs and tables for all, and go around and talk to people all night. People can look at paintings or exhibits if they’d rather not dance.

By: Amy W

Amy W — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

Well obviously you can get good champagne and fine food for everyone. A DJ might be a good idea even if all he does is select calm music to play and maybe one or 2 dance songs. Most people will dance to slow songs though, so put a few in there. Maybe you could put together a little dance show with you and your new wife and a few other members of your family. Like learn a dance together thats crazy and fun and would make everyone laugh. Do you have a family member or friend that sings? Have them sing one song at your reception. Another thing you could do is have nice favors for everyone wrapped up in a gift box. Have special ones for the kids. Have candles and flowers everywhere so it looks more upscale.