Does this reception sound OK to you?

CompBunny

We are on a very tight budget for our wedding. Our original venue fell through as they have been sold! Long story but we had a fantastic deal with them.

Our new potential venue is essentially a pub. A posh pub, buts its quite small. They have a function room and a little courtyard - if anyone would like links to see the venue please PM me, or ask me to PM you.

We will have 70 guests, its easier just to have everyone to all day as our wedding is at least 30mins away from every single guest. The reception venue is opposite the church!
Ceremony time TBC.

- Welcome drink of Pimms - £2.57 per head
- BBQ served to table on platters to include
- Steak, meat kebabs, sausages
- BBQ'd vegetables, vegetable kebabs, corn on the cob, vegetarian sausages
- Breads and salads £14 per head
- 175ml glass of wine with the meal £3.20 per head
- Dessert of Eton Mess and tea/coffee £4.50 per head
- 100ml Prosecco for toast £3.14 per head
- Evening buffet of either mini pizzas (£3.50 per head) or crackers, chutneys, fruit to go with a cheese wedding cake which we provide (£3 per head)

Total : (using £3.50 evening buffet for worst case scenario)
£30.37 per head or
£2,125 for 70

What do you think? Anything you would cut/increase? I'm very open to suggestions.

Is 1 glass of wine per person for the meal too tight? Are we providing enough for our guests? Some of whom will have had to come from N.Ireland to be there..

Do you think there is any way to get away with not having a toast drink?!

Thanks!

jackieblack

Sounds lovely
(And I'd go with the crackers rather than mini pizzas)

Nenen

Sounds a lovely menu and it is nice to be able to walk from the church to the reception venue. Will you be having any music or dancing in the function room? If so, is this covered in the cost?

I do think you need a glass of fizz for toasting but it might be cheaper to ask for a certain number of bottles of this, and of wine for the meal, rather than pay by the glass as this is usually more expensive? You can usually get 6 small glasses of wine from one bottle. Alternatively, would they let you bring your own wine and fizz? Even if they whack on a corkage charge this can still work out a lot cheaper.

Whereabouts in the country are you? Is there any chance of hiring somewhere and doing the catering yourselves with the help of family and friends?

CompBunny

Thanks I'm glad the menu is going down ok, I was a bit worried people might say it was a bit informal for a wedding.

Music in the evening will be provided by a friend who runs a mobile disco for free as a wedding present to us

That is a good point about the wine and fizz. Hmmm I will ask about bringing our own, not sure how to write it in an email without sounding cheeky :S

We are in Suffolk, but the nearest decent village hall is already booked for our wedding date There is another village hall that is acceptable nearby which is £450 to hire for a wedding but it would mean having to organise transport, and finding people willing and reliable enough to take care of the catering...and to be perfectly honest I'm not sure who would be able do it! All of my aunts are elderly, cousins coming from a long way away, friends travelling in, I have ME so will need to be on bed rest the day before the wedding, H2B will be picking up his family from the airport and my Mum will be providing hospitality to travelling family members!

Stephb1986_2

Sounds lovely xx

Trixsie1989

Hi compbunny! Your reception sounds awesome :-) wishing we were doing summit like that now lol xxx

Dekazer

Sounds great! Go for it.

If there are certain people you'd like to buy a few drinks for, why not nominate a 'Treasurer' for the day? (I asked my Dad to do this).

Give them a wad of cash and tell them to use it for buying drinks for certain guests (subtly!), or perhaps for the odd emergency taxi, tipping the staff, paying for any sundries along the way. Oh, and they can pay for all your drinks too!

That way you won't need to worry, and your Treasurer can keep a gentle eye on everything.

BlueMoo

Compbunny, that sounds lovely! :j :j

Agree with others that you should be able to get wine cheaper by the bottle rather than the per glass price. Think you should aim for around £10/12 per bottle. At our venue we negotiated a £100 discount for buying 50 bottles in advance. Perhaps you could do something similar.

I too would have crackers, rather than mini pizzas. Only as you already have a cheese 'cake', so with pizza as well it may be too 'cheesy' (if that makes sense?)

If you do end up paying by the glass, Pimms is your cheapest option so how about serving a glass of Pimms with the meal instead of wine? (179.90 total compared to 224).

Or alternatively, serve Pimms as your toast drink. It's still bubbly, and if served in a champagne flute will still look really pretty. (similar cost saving)

I think you are providing a lovely day for your guests. 3 glasses is not tight at all - most weddings I have been to have just the one 'free' toast drink.

Relocationrelocation

Could your wedding cake be the dessert? A pub most probably wouldn't let you bring your own wine (we have enquired with some for ours and they have said so) but they will probably do you a deal on the wine - normally they recommend half a bottle per person (but obviously you will have some non-drinkers/non-wine drinkers so this will go further).
One glass of bubbles for the toasts is fine, we will probably do the same.
Sounds really good - good luck and congratulations to you.

cazpumpkin

CompBunny wrote: »

We are on a very tight budget for our wedding. Our original venue fell through as they have been sold! Long story but we had a fantastic deal with them.

Our new potential venue is essentially a pub. A posh pub, buts its quite small. They have a function room and a little courtyard - if anyone would like links to see the venue please PM me, or ask me to PM you.

We will have 70 guests, its easier just to have everyone to all day as our wedding is at least 30mins away from every single guest. The reception venue is opposite the church!
Ceremony time TBC.

- Welcome drink of Pimms - £2.57 per head
- BBQ served to table on platters to include
- Steak, meat kebabs, sausages
- BBQ'd vegetables, vegetable kebabs, corn on the cob, vegetarian sausages
- Breads and salads £14 per head
- 175ml glass of wine with the meal £3.20 per head
- Dessert of Eton Mess and tea/coffee £4.50 per head
- 100ml Prosecco for toast £3.14 per head
- Evening buffet of either mini pizzas (£3.50 per head) or crackers, chutneys, fruit to go with a cheese wedding cake which we provide (£3 per head)

Total : (using £3.50 evening buffet for worst case scenario)
£30.37 per head or
£2,125 for 70

What do you think? Anything you would cut/increase? I'm very open to suggestions.

Is 1 glass of wine per person for the meal too tight? Are we providing enough for our guests? Some of whom will have had to come from N.Ireland to be there..

Do you think there is any way to get away with not having a toast drink?!

Thanks!

it all sound sfab except the breads/salads at £14 a head? I would go to sainsburys and get ready prepped salad bowls and dot them around on te day, ask a relative to get them fro you , or order them online and specify a date and time slot fro home delivery. ditto the bread, buy your own rolls and leave baskets of rolls ou t on the table

totallybonkers

cazpumpkin wrote: »

it all sound sfab except the breads/salads at £14 a head? I would go to sainsburys and get ready prepped salad bowls and dot them around on te day, ask a relative to get them fro you , or order them online and specify a date and time slot fro home delivery. ditto the bread, buy your own rolls and leave baskets of rolls ou t on the table

I think the OP is trying to say that all the BBQ food is £14 a head, ie the steaks, sausages (including breads and salads) etc as these don't have a price against them? Correct me if I'm wrong?