Timing of ceremony and type of reception-help!!

[aristocatz]

Arggh!!!....Sorry, just had to get that out Why does this have to be so complicated???

Ok, when we first started planning, we were thinking 20 guests max (including DF & I) with a small lunch reception at a WDW restaurant afterwards. Very simple, very low key, fun. Neither of us want the big dinner/dancing reception.

Now my parents want to invite 30 more guests! My parents offered to kick in money to cover their costs, but so much for our low key wedding

I don't mean to be complaining, I am just completely lost now on what day/time to have the ceremony and reception. When it was just going to be our close family and friends, it didn't matter because we knew they would accomodate us, but now that these other people are coming I want it to be on a day/time that will meet their needs with travel and such.

We are doing a Swan/Dolphin ceremony and would like to do the reception somewhere on the Boardwalk. I am thinking that a breakfast or brunch reception would be appropriate because it will tastefully cut out the dancing and such. We are also on a tight budget so we figured a breakfast or brunch would be cheaper as well.

About a third of our guests will be traveling from FL (just 3 hours away from WDW). The majority of the rest will be traveling from New England. Many of my parents' 30 guests are retired and non of our guests will be school aged children. We are looking at beginning to mid December of next year as our dates.

**Anyways, would a Sunday morning ceremony/brunch be ok or would that be inconvenient for travelers? Or would you go with Saturday?**

I know this sounds rude but, aside from close friends and family, I also do not want to have to formally entertain all of these people. I want to do special things for our close friends/family before the wedding but thats all.

All advice is appreciated-thanks!!

 

[lurkyloo]

My advice is... is it too late to say "thanks, but no thanks" to your parents and stick to your original plan?

You don't want to regret being pressured into having a kind of wedding you don't want. The fact that you don't want to have to entertain all these people (and I wouldn't either) says to me that you are not very close to them. I'd rather pay my own way and have things as I wanted than take all the strings attached to the parent money (i.e. 30 extra mouths to feed).

That said, if your guests are travel-savvy they will know that it is cheaper to fly on a Saturday than on Friday or Sunday, so a Sunday wedding would fit their plans better. But if they care less about the flight cost and more about not having to take time off work, then it seems like Saturday would be better cuz they could fly in Friday and leave Sunday.

Heck, if you had it on Sunday morning, they could still leave Sunday night... hmmm... this is prolly not helping you at all, eh?

 

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

The majority of the rest will be traveling from New England.

**Anyways, would a Sunday morning ceremony/brunch be ok or would that be inconvenient for travelers? Or would you go with Saturday?**

I don't think a Sunday morning ceremony/brunch would be inconvenient for travelers unless you're talking about them leaving then. If that's what you're thinking, I'd go w/Sat.

O yea, and, yea, New England! :is from Massachusetts:: )

 

[aristocatz]

I would love to stick to my original plan, but my mom is not well, healthwise, & I'm trying to compromise and let her give me the wedding of her....ahem MY dreams It means alot to her & I want her to help out so I'm willing to sacrifice some....for now. If it gets out of hand, I'll put my foot down.

DF & I talked it over & really, as long as we do a breakfast or brunch type reception with NO dancing, party games, typical reception events, we are fine with it. Some soft music in the background, brunch, & then skip off to the parks for the day and it's DONE!

Including close family, close friends and their small children, DF & I's guest list is between 20-25. The rest are ALL friends of my parents. They are lovely people (I met most of them at my brother's wedding-he only had 15 guests who he knew btw!!), but certainly not people I want to entertain beyond a polite brunch.

I just ran into another dilemma though-I read on another website that S/D does not do ceremonies on weekends Anyone know if this is true? If so, I wonder how willing people will be to hang around for a Monday morning ceremony???

I was looking at the menus and really like the Cape Cod room brunch at the BC/YC. I wonder what time constitutes "brunch"?

My advice is... is it too late to say "thanks, but no thanks" to your parents and stick to your original plan?

You don't want to regret being pressured into having a kind of wedding you don't want. The fact that you don't want to have to entertain all these people (and I wouldn't either) says to me that you are not very close to them. I'd rather pay my own way and have things as I wanted than take all the strings attached to the parent money (i.e. 30 extra mouths to feed).

That said, if your guests are travel-savvy they will know that it is cheaper to fly on a Saturday than on Friday or Sunday, so a Sunday wedding would fit their plans better. But if they care less about the flight cost and more about not having to take time off work, then it seems like Saturday would be better cuz they could fly in Friday and leave Sunday.

Heck, if you had it on Sunday morning, they could still leave Sunday night... hmmm... this is prolly not helping you at all, eh?