Hi Everyone, I'm new here, so I thought I'd introduce myself and ask a few questions. It seems like there are some good advice-givers here. Hopefully, I'll be able to return the favor someday too.:) We're getting married March 2010 in an art gallery in AZ. Both of us have REALLY big families (my mom has 10 siblings and it's the same with his side) so it was hard choosing a site. As it stands, we'll be having the ceremony and a dinner afterward for 60 pple in the gallery. His mom is going to throw a party for his side of the family in another state. We also plan on having a dessert-only open house here in AZ for the rest of my relatives who couldn't fit in at the main wedding. I wish I could include everyone at the ceremony, but it just didn't seem to work. (Most of my relatives on my mom's side are used to going to open houses without being at a ceremony). My problem now is where to hold the AZ open house! Gallery owner offered us the following weekend for $500(to be cont)
(cont. from above) so that would mean we could get married Sunday night and then the following Saturday have a dessert open house for everyone. The gallery is about 4000 sq. feet but has a wall dividing it into two parts. If we set up cocktail tables we could probably fit about 200 maximum. Would that be really weird or rude to have a second reception in the same place that we had our wedding? I'm starting to feel really stupid for booking the gallery, even though I think it will feel nice to be able to have an intimate dinner. We could technically have an open house for free at a relatives church bldg, but that wouldn't feel right since we aren't members of that church. I thought about a park, but don't want strangers walking through... I guess I need to brainstorm more. I guess $500 is too expensive for a second reception but I'm having a hard time letting the idea go. Anyone else doing multiple receptions? Thoughts and ideas welcome. Thanks! (Sorry post is so long).
Welcome to the boards! I'm an AZ bride too! Anyways, I think having a seperate reception (apart from the dinner after the ceremony) is a great idea. Honestly, $500 for renting the space at the gallery on a Saturday sounds like a good deal. You could look into some hotels to see what they would charge, but they may require you to use their caterer and/or meet a catering minimum. I guess it really depends on your budget and how many people you plan on having.
Thanks for your response, Sweet_firefly! That's great you're an AZ bride too. :) Yeah, the gallery is extremely flexible with us so we can bring in all our own vendors etc. Part of what's holding me back is that we'd have to rent cocktail tables. (Or we could borrow regular round tables/chairs from my uncle but then we'd have to transport and set them up). We'd also want to purchase insurance (less than $200) to protect the art... I'm still wishing for the second gallery reception though because then I could invite everyone. I'd still love to hear more peoples' ideas though. My fiance wants me to ask all my aunts about inexpensive/free places but I'm feeling really shy about it.
Hmmm. I didn't realize that the gallery didn't provide cocktail tables in their rental price. Those "little" expenses add up quick (like the insurance, tables, etc.). If you borrow tables from your uncle, perhaps you can hire some people to set them up. You could hire some students, and I'm sure they will do it for a reasonable price. Do you know anyone who's had a wedding recently? Maybe they have venues they can recommend. Or, have you tried the "Get Matched" feature on this website? I used it when I was looking for venues. It did kind of help me by eliminating venues that could not accomidate my budget. It certainly helped narrow down vendors since there are so many in our area.
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