Is anyone having a lunch reception to keep the costs down?

[Nicola2010]

Hello everyone,

Another dilemma from me lol

Ive had a look price wise (inc tax) of what it would roughly cost for ceremony, dinner reception and dp with illuminations, which all in for my party takes us over $10,000.

Is anyone having a morning ceremony followed by a lunch reception?
If so what are you planning to do after lunch is over? I want to spend all day celebrating if i can and preferably to remain in my dress for as long as poss.

I would still like to end the day on a dp and illuminations so does a lunch venue reduce costs by alot? or only a fraction in which case i might as well pay the extra and go for the dinner.

I have based my price on a dinner at narcossee's as was trying to keep costs down but that looks like it will $100 pp min so for that i may as well pay a site rental and spend their minimums somewhere.

If anyone is doing something like this please let me know how much of a difference it makes (there are 15 people in my party) and what you are planning to do after lunch so as not to end your day too early.

Thanks

Nicola

 

[lov2b@disney]

Hi Nicola- Welcome! We are having a 9am ceremony and a lunch reception. I think your lunch will depend on what you choose to have. We have decided to use more of the dinner type food for our reception so the cost is higher than say doing breakfast/brunch even a more lunch food.

our food costs are
$25pp pre-reception-brunch items

$89pp dinner- appetizer/salad/duo entree plate

if you want more specifics let me know :

We plan on changing and spending the afternoon at Epcot, before meeting everyone for the DP.

 

[hope1826]

Hi Nicola,

We are having a Wishes wedding for just over $10,000. With taxes and the service fees it is $11,580.

This is what we are having...
46 guests (36 adults, 10 children)
Ceremony @ Sea Breeze Point @ 5 pm
Cocktail Hour @ The Attic at the Boardwalk Inn Resort 5:30 - 6:30
- Premium Cheese Platter with Artisan breads ($9 per person)
- Open Bar (bill on consumption)
Dinner Reception @ The Attic 6:30 - 8:00
- The Floridian Buffet (Modified to be $70 per person)
- Open Bar (bill on consumption)
Epcot Upper UK Dessert Party 8:30 - 10:00
- White and Milk Chocolate Fondue Stations ($21.50 per person)

We were able to keep the cost down, because of the locations we chose and the fact that we aren't having dancing and traditional wedding activities like the bouquet and garter tosses, we are just having a dinner and dessert party. We are doing a first dance, toasts and the cake cutting. An open bar for 2.5 hours instead of 4-5 hours saved a lot of money.

If you do want to have something more than a dinner party along with the dessert party, I think a brunch or lunch would definitely be more affordable.

Hope that helps

Nikki
P.S. My name is actually Nichola, but I go by Nikki because very few people get that name right in America

 

[sungela]

We're having a 10 AM ceremony, 11-12 pre-reception, and then 12-3 reception. We wanted to do a morning wedding because: 1) you're not supposed to eat before your wedding in Judaism, and we didn't want to fast that long; 2) it's cheaper; and 3) we're vegetarians, and people don't miss meat at a luncheon like they would at a sit-down dinner. We used the Tinker Bell Brunch buffet with modifications, for a total of $48pp for the reception. We were just going to have the cheese plate ($9.50pp) for the cocktail hour, but thanks to lurkyloo's TR, we're going to ask to have some of our reception food served earlier. Right now, our menu includes:

Tropical Fruit Platter
Bagels and cream cheese
Asian salad with tofu and edamame
Mickey roni and cheese (DF's fave!)
Risotto cakes with olives and artichoke hearts
Penne pasta with artichoke olive oil and julienne vegetables
Eggs and omelets made to order
Chocolate hazelnut crepes made to order (with mandarin oranges, raspberries, and Devonshire cream)
Milk, white, and dark chocolate fondues (fruit, pretzels, graham crackers)
Croissants, danish, brioche, cinnamon buns, rolls, butters, jellies)
Assorted pastry display
Tea cookies, truffles, and biscotti served family style at each table
Mad hatter wedding cake

Even the biggest eaters in our family can't make it through all of that!

We're going to spend the afternoon relaxing, resting, and celebrating. I think some of our guests are going to play in the parks, others might go home, and I'm sure my folks are going to take a nap. That evening, we're having a dessert party in Epcot.

 

[caryndisneydiva]

i had a 10 am ceremony, 11-12 pre reception and 12-3 reception. our pre reception food was about $13/pp and our lunch was $68/pp, we had a lot of food at the lunch though.

 

[lurkyloo]

Hi! We had a 9am ceremony, (took pix with all guests, got on a boat to the BoardWalk) 10:30-11 pre-reception and brunch 11-2 - I thought it would be too short, but it was the perfect amount of time, since we didn't do a DJ. Our prereception food was FREE b/c we had them serve the fruit and pastries from our brunch early for the prereception (and it was so much food that one guest got full at the pre-reception b/c she thought that was the meal! ). Our brunch was the Cape May Lighthouse buffet and it cost $32.50 per guest. We were able to meet our minimums of $75/person (the before 2pm min) because the cake counted toward them.

As for the gap between the reception and dessert party, some brides change clothes and go play in the parks with their guests. We let our guests have a break and used the time to relax, talk about the wedding, and take a nap. It was PERFECT for us, and I am now so glad we had a break. Instead of the DP being just the third in a string of spectacular events, it was something to look forward to and capped the night.