If there's a low budget, have a smaller wedding/party or no wedding at all. Personally, I would be more comfortable with no wedding than a wedding where people are hungry and/or they have to have additional cash on them for a cash bar. In terms of having a wedding and looking for savings, I'd get rid of bridesmaids, groomsmen, flowers, rehearsal dinner, expensive wedding dress, etc before trying to save money on food and drink. I don't see much point to buy into the wedding dress and bridesmaid dress scam. In both cases, these are expensive dresses that will most likely never be worn again. In the case of the wedding dress, they're extra ridiculously expensive and in the case of bridesmaid dresses they're also ugly.
but alcohol gets pretty expensive and if you're on a low budget, hard alcohol is a very easy thing to cut from the "free for everyone" list. The whole point IS that "host is cheap". Or, rather, that the hosts are trying to have a cheap wedding. Which you may or may not agree with on principle, however, that is what is being discussed at the moment.
If you're having a small reception/whatever, then I think you should provide hard liquor for everyone. However if you're looking at any group consisting of more than 100 people drinking hard liquor, it's going to get really expensive really fast (here at least) unless you buy cheap liquor (imo, worse than making me pay for it!). Even if you have only a few dozen people drinking hard liquor, if they're trashing themselves out it (like many people do at weddings) then they're going to go through a lot of alcohol!
And I don't think she means that you only feed the wedding party at the reception. I think she means that the wedding party has dinner before/after the reception and NO ONE eats a meal at the reception (just small snacks and the like). Unless you have your reception over dinner time, I don't see any problem with that at all, particularly for large weddings.
If you're having a small reception/whatever, then I think you should provide hard liquor for everyone. However if you're looking at any group consisting of more than 100 people drinking hard liquor, it's going to get really expensive really fast (here at least) unless you buy cheap liquor (imo, worse than making me pay for it!). Even if you have only a few dozen people drinking hard liquor, if they're trashing themselves out it (like many people do at weddings) then they're going to go through a lot of alcohol!
And I don't think she means that you only feed the wedding party at the reception. I think she means that the wedding party has dinner before/after the reception and NO ONE eats a meal at the reception (just small snacks and the like). Unless you have your reception over dinner time, I don't see any problem with that at all, particularly for large weddings.
So it turns out that weddings are expensive...
- 12/12/2011 04:24:17 PM
1825 Views
I am looking to drop about a grand on my son's rehearsal dinner *NM*
- 12/12/2011 04:42:53 PM
481 Views
Well, part of it is that the rehearsal dinner isn't on the $5k budget.
- 12/12/2011 04:46:30 PM
821 Views
It is avoidable, but people will treat you like you're a nutcase if you don't do most of the things
- 12/12/2011 05:02:14 PM
863 Views
my first wedding was in church with a pretty dress and a preacher
- 12/12/2011 06:12:02 PM
801 Views
We had a pretty dress and a notary public in the courtyard of the B&B.
- 12/12/2011 09:36:52 PM
852 Views
If I had it to all over again I would have formed a Rock Band and dated supermodels
*NM*
- 13/12/2011 04:20:28 PM
448 Views
*NM*
- 13/12/2011 04:20:28 PM
448 Views
*NM*
I got married two weeks ago for less than that.
- 12/12/2011 09:56:43 PM
970 Views
Hey! No announcement??? Congratulations and may you find many years of happiness! 
*NM*
- 13/12/2011 03:27:51 AM
526 Views
*NM*
- 13/12/2011 03:27:51 AM
526 Views
No, no announcement. I'm not really the center-of-attention type. haha Thanks though! *NM*
- 13/12/2011 03:10:29 PM
450 Views
*NM*
- 13/12/2011 03:10:29 PM
450 Views
*NM*
i had 500 people at my wedding.......
- 13/12/2011 12:05:38 AM
976 Views
Everybody I have ever talked to that had a big, expensive wedding has told me that in hindsight...
- 13/12/2011 03:29:34 AM
764 Views
As someone who had a smaller wedding than was expected by certain people...
- 14/12/2011 10:36:57 PM
904 Views
These seem kind of extreme.
- 15/12/2011 06:03:15 AM
925 Views
because of your history you might find a cash bar lame...
- 15/12/2011 12:59:39 PM
964 Views
Not my personal history, but culture.
- 15/12/2011 03:53:12 PM
919 Views
Yeah, and that's why Russians are all dying of alcoholism. *NM*
- 15/12/2011 01:46:52 PM
490 Views
You don't have to be an alcoholic to prefer not to have a cash bar at a party.
- 15/12/2011 03:37:15 PM
825 Views
It is lame to expect the father of the bride to shell out tens of thousands for a party
- 15/12/2011 02:00:54 PM
925 Views
What my family tends to do (because it's huge) is this:
- 15/12/2011 02:16:31 PM
976 Views
If they're not close enough to invite to the reception, are they really needed at the ceremony?
- 15/12/2011 08:18:18 PM
933 Views
In most cases, a church ceremony tends to be an open thing. Anyone can come.
- 15/12/2011 10:11:30 PM
947 Views
Apparently it's becoming more common over here to do weddings on a weekday.
- 15/12/2011 02:13:57 PM
820 Views
I can't imagine someone in America announcing their wedding was on a weekday.
- 15/12/2011 10:07:55 PM
1055 Views
- 15/12/2011 10:07:55 PM
1055 Views
Why does the band get more than the photographer?
- 16/12/2011 04:30:29 PM
735 Views
Because if you put tiny plastic musical instruments on all the tables, your ears will bleed out. 
- 16/12/2011 10:04:59 PM
1189 Views
- 16/12/2011 10:04:59 PM
1189 Views