2Nd time around mid 50’s small wedding suggestions

Check with your venue what their liability laws are. Many venues require you to hire a licensed bartender to serve alcohol. Otherwise if anything happens to your guests as a result, you are held responsible for it. Hiring a professional is always worth it. Find other areas to cut that don’t affect the guest experience.

View Quoted Comment We have to pay $100 for a liquor license.

2nd time for me - first time for the future hubby. We are hitting the 40 mark with our ages.
We went smaller event with a guest count of 73 (68 adults) - but splurged more on the food and hired bar staff- it is easier than worrying about ice / glassware/ coolers etc on day of!

We looked at two options for our small budget - the first was booking out a pub (bar!) which has no hire fee, but rather they do the catering and obviously all drinks would be bought through their bar and the second was to hire a local village/town hall (here in the UK these are common wedding venues and have their own alcohol licence which usually expires at 11pm), obviously with the second option we would need to provide all the catering and drinks (or suggest that guests bring their own bottle).

In the end the cost different wasn't extreme so we decided to go with the pub option just so that we don't have to worry about food and drinks in the run up to the wedding and to have some bar staff on hand to sort out drinks throughout the day/evening.

The venue (or rather, the food!) is definitely our biggest cost but we've been able to cut costs significantly in other areas - opting to stay in our own house instead of a hotel (this seemed like a much better option for us as we want to spend the following day hanging out with everybody who travelled!), looking at high street or second hand dresses for me, letting bridesmaids wear shoes they already have (so we don't have to pay for them!), going for more affordable rings, passing on the idea of a vintage car taking me to the ceremony etc.

There are loads of ways to cut financial corners - you just have to identify which areas matter to you. My fiance and I wrote a list of things that were important to us (for instance I wanted to pay for the bridesmaid's and groomsmen's outfits because I don't believe people should need to pay for their place in my wedding). This way we were able to identify where we would be happy to make cuts, and where we wouldn't be happy to!

Second time around for me as well. I'm 55

View Quoted Comment Congratulations to you too!! Enjoy your wedding day!!!

View Quoted Comment Thank you. We are so overwhelmed

The backyard coolers out.
Maybe dress it up a Lil have a friend make drinks have finger foods and lots of music and dancing.💜

Congratulations to you both and I would go with wines ,beer, and mixed cocktails that they still should enjoy. And it will save you money from the expensive top shelf alchohol. That's what I'm going with and so I can put it towards food or dessert choice

View Quoted Comment Yea, that’s what we are going to do!! Thanks for your input!!

View Quoted Comment You are so welcome hey we can save money where we can and still have a great wedding day