re: Wedding Planning - UPDATED

Hey I'm just looking for any shortcut that gets me to having a good time at the reception the soonest.

No that actually sounds like a smart plan. Assuming everyone in your group is experienced enough at drinking to not spill anything on the tux.

I know I'm late to the party but no matter how many people you expect to attend budget for no more than 80%of them showing up and eating/drinking. Even if you get close to 400 people at least 50-60 people will go to the ceremony, sign the guestbook and drop off a gift, and then leave without eating or drinking to go do other stuff.

Congratulations on your engagement!

Invite whoever you and your bride want at your wedding. If you can afford lots of folks, go for it. It's your day. We have a big wedding coming up in our family and that's the way it is. It's not for everyone, but the bride and groom and both families are pretty excited about it and looking forward to it.

There are lots of kids in both families, so there will be kids there. We are kid oriented, so we can't imagine not having them. At a big wedding, they're hardly noticed and they have a ball. We have a kids table of food and drinks especially for them.

In January, it's possible you could be competing with Mardi Gras events relative to venues and caterers even though you're having a day wedding, so keep that in mind also.

A 1 pm wedding has your guests arriving at the church during the noon lunch hour, so they may be hungry and expect a decent lunch offering when it comes to food.

A 2 pm wedding is enough time after lunch such that guests will have had an opportunity to eat lunch before the wedding. 2 pm, in my mind, is more of a mid afternoon snack food time. Think finger sandwiches or mini poboys/muffalattas, dips, spreads and other such things like you see at a baby or wedding shower, but not necessarily those foods. You can still have good food that's not so heavy or expensive, but is satisfying and tasty for that time of day. You may not have guests who eat or drink all the much at that time. Some will and some won't due to time of day. I don't. I rarely take a bite of anything at an afternoon wedding.

You know your group better than anyone else. Don't blow a wad on the music at an afternoon wedding. There's less dancing at those in my experience, though I'm not expert on it. People are much more into it in the evenings.

While I don't love morning weddings, I have really enjoyed the food and drink at those. Brunch/breakfast foods can be delicious, fun and so much cheaper and selecting drinks like bloody marys with a bloody mary bar, mimosas and the like without having a full bar is another way to save.

I don't have any venue suggestions for your size wedding, unfortunately. Many have been discussed. It may be that if you cut costs on food, drink and band, you could find an indoor/outdoor venue where you could have a tent and heaters if necessary. Those good tents work. I went to one in January a few years ago in New Orleans. The tent worked great with the heaters. Everyone was comfortable. Some of the food was inside and some was outside. There was a nice soup outside that everyone enjoyed with some finger food. They also passed some food. There were these great simple cheese straw type cookies with a dollop of pepper jelly on them being passed a lot. Now, I must have pepper jelly with cheese straws.

I'd love to hear what you and your future bride decide on. Good luck and have fun!

My advice:
Get the Varsity
Hire Hai Karate (he posts on the Music Board)
get Chef KD to cater it.

I actually like the Varsity suggestion. I plan to call for prices today. Thanks!

That sounds great. If you don't mind me asking, about what did you pay for The Varsity's services?

Great, thanks!