Cake and drink reception

Any advice much appreciated..... X

How long is the wedding?

and what day of the week?

whats your venue like?

length: if your having a wedding/reception thats only and hour or two this might be fine but if your planning 6 hours etc... from 2pm then you need to feed guests

day: if its a weekday I would hold the wedding after 5pm so people dont require a day of work, it would be rude to expect people to lose a days pay and not feed them, mid day seems strange for a short wedding to me (traditionally morning or night) but on a weekend or bank holiday it should be fine

venue: if its the back room of a pub or a village/church hall then I think a classic cake reception could work but if you have a fancy expensive venue then people will expect to be fed

honestly I wouldnt do this, even at birthday/house parties I would put on more food than just cake even if it was just simple things like sandwhiches and/or nibbles

have you though about cheap buffets, platters, bbqs or afternoon tea as an option, they are often very affordable and caterers ive looked at offer buffets from £1.10pp. still very casual and relaxed but more of a real food option as not everyone eats cheese and a cheese wedding cake could still be very expensive (average cheese wedding cake price is £150-£200 and the cheapest ive seen was £70 for that price you could put on actual food)

the thing with weddings is once you invite guests your now a host and its no longer all about the couple, if you would not host any other event without feeding people then I wouldnt at your wedding as lack of food is the number one complaint that sours peoples memory of a wedding

another option is cutting the guest list... 100 people is a lot and the more people the more likely people are to moan about missing things (mob mentality). 50 fed and contented close knit people are more likely to have a good time and fill the atmosphere with a happy mood than 100 hungry aqaintances wondering why you skipped over looking after your guests

one last issue: alcohol + mid day + no food is going to equal drunk or sick people who cant drive (taxi is another guest expense for a short wedding if drink is involved... no one wants to get drunk just for 1 hour mid day)

As a guest I wouldn't be best pleased with this. I also sometime base the cost of the wedding present I give on how much I think the meal has cost per head so you may end up with a lot of crap presents too. If you can't afford to give your guests a meal then don't do it at all.

Sounds like a great idea if you're having a brief reception. If your reasons are to keep costs down could you offer a simple buffet and just drinks for the toast? That's what I'm doing and guests are more than happy to pay for their own drinks at the bar. We're having a very casual evening reception (more of a big family party) as we didn't want to formal sit down meal or the expense of it. Went to a family wedding recently where guests paid for drinks and everyone was perfectly fine with that. However I'm always of the opinion that it's your wedding day and nobody should expect a wedding to be a certain way just because it's a wedding.

Costco do huuuuge platters of sarnies and membership isn't bad, it would cost you a lot less than a caterer x

Costco is a great idea and if you know someone who is a member you could just shop with them as their guest and there's no membership cost to you

Costco is a great idea so will definitely look into that. Our idea of not having it over a mealtime is where we thought drinks & nibbles would work. Our venue do not provide a bar so would want us to provide them ourselves so we would want there to be enough - and knowing our family & friends the majority will want at least a few drinks even if it is only over a few hours!

HappyBlueCars582 we are really not having a wedding to receive gifts! I'd really rather people didn't and just came to enjoy themselves. We brought our first house when we were 19 & 20 (now 24 & 25) and have always felt people thought we'd been left money for us to be able to do that although we just worked so hard and saved every penny to make it into a lovely home. Same goes for the wedding - we want to be able to provide it ourselves even if the budget is small.

My brother in law is getting married next week; on a Friday (which is great for them as they are both teachers on half term, not so great for everyone taking a day off of work), the venue is over an hours drive for nearly everyone so guests are having to pay for a hotel or expensive taxi, there is only a cash bar and 1 arrival drink per person (which people seem very narked about) and they have asked for cash as gifts to go towards their honeymoon. Like it has been said it's the bride and grooms day but so many people have been negative about their plans L ...

I think as long as it's not over a meal time and you make sure everyone's aware of it I think it would be nice. Maybe if budget allows add some extras like nuts, crisps, mini cakes maybe some chips and dips just as nibbles, you could get them cheap from the supermarket.

The only thing I would say is don't be disappointed if people leave early.

We supplied our own booze, I worked it out by using an online calculator, there's lots of tips if you Google it. If I remember right it said as a rough guide it's one drink per guest per hour but I added to this as I didn't think it sounded enough, I did have loads left over but our guests left earlier then we thought as it was a early wedding.

It also said 50/50 split on wine but we did more 40/60 as I thought the white would be more popular, you should get 5 small glasses out of one bottle but I worked it out to be 4 as people wont be pouring small glasses. You can hire free glasses at some supermarket or buy very cheaply from wilko.

don't forget soft drinks even if there's not any children. I was so hot and thristy on my wedding day that I didn't want anything other then iron brew (my favourite) luckily my hubby was prepared and hide a few bottles, by the end of the day I carrying a bottle around with me, my cousin stuck a bow on (stolen from the gift table) to make it more bridal.lol

I hope some of this helps.