Beach wedding— reception later at home

You need to treat the guests traveling for your wedding to a meal. You don’t have to have an at home reception at another time, but you absolutely have to do something for the people attending your ceremony.

We are doing the same. After the ceremony we are getting pizzas for everyone. Yes, it’s more money but it’ll give you something to do and enjoy with everyone and it’s not that much more! We also plan on doing a pool party, setting up a cot hole tournament, and a poker night! Just some suggestions!!! Good luck!

Fully host those who come to your DW and skip the at home party if you can’t afford both. Or have the large wedding at home and honeymoon at your destination. You can’t expect your guests to go through the time and expense of a DW and not provide adequate hosting.

I agree- embrace the fact that you’re doing a destination and celebrate with those 30 people, they came all the way to see the ceremony and I’m sure they (and you both!) will want to totally celebrate afterwards! Pay for those special people and make it great, and Maybe re-think your at home ‘reception’ as more of a casual bbq or cocktails and bites at a restaurant without all the bells and whistles of a traditional reception.

You need to treat the 30 people traveling to your wedding well. Skip the at-home reception if necessary, or wait a few years and have an anniversary celebration. But you can't ask people to travel to your destination wedding, then not serve them a full (nice) meal. We're having a destination wedding and on top of a big reception, we're hosting everyone for dessert and drinks the night before and continental brunch the next day. It's an extra cost but people are spending hundreds or thousands to come celebrate with us so it's the least we can do.

View Quoted Comment That is our plan is to have it semi Informal with no first dance or wedding cake cutting etc. but we were going to have it catered under a white tent in my parents backyard.

I don't want to rain on your parade. But here is some reality. We are having a beach wedding and our guest count is 38 people. It's going to cost us over $10,000. Our venue was free (my best friend has a beautiful beach house) but once you add up a photographer, flowers, caterer, alcohol, ice, cake, rentals, HMUA, dresses, etc. Bye bye $10k. And I am not being extravagant by any means. Not even having a DJ.

Our guests are all traveling at least 3 hours for this wedding and will need to stay overnight in a town that is not cheap. The least we can do is feed them well.

What do you envision for this beach wedding? Totally casual? Formal? That will tell you what you will spend.

You definitely can cut corners to make it cheaper. If you go with a cheaper photographer for only a couple hours. Buy the cake at a grocery store or don't have one. Make your own flowers. Don't have an open bar. No decorations at dinner, etc, you may be able to pull it off for 1/2 that price. We just didn't want to worry about a thing on our wedding day and were willing to pay for it.

We were going to do the big wedding on a friends property with a tent...don't even get me started on what that costs. Tents, bathrooms. generators, rentals, we could have bought a luxury car for that budget! It blew my mind.

Bottom line, if you are inviting people to a wedding at the beach, you need to host them and pay for a meal that day.

Personally, I would think you would want to at least have a meal after the ceremony as a type of closure to the wedding. If people are travelling they’ll want to see and spend time with you and your new spouse! I would include that meal in your overall budget- so ceremony, celebration meal and future reception. That might mean going smaller scale for the reception or pushing it back but in my opinion it would be best to properly host the wedding when guests are making a special trip to be there.

We are doing a beach wedding in Navarre. Not far from destin but more low key not as touristy. We are getting a beach house and having everything there. It can be done on a smaller budget if you diy. That’s what I am doing. No dj just a playlist and speaker. I have several friends that are doing photos for us. We hired a food truck since it is outside wanted to make it simple. Don’t want to sit down for a full meal outside. Just causal and low key. Our guest list is about the same size as yours. You just gotta look for deals. You have time so it is definitely possible. Found a great bakery there and we are doing cupcakes and just a small cake to cut. I found someone for hair to that is reasonably priced. Found most of my vendors through ww vendors. Good luck. I can’t think of a better place for our big day than the beach. Simple decorations since the view is really all you need.

No, that's not okay. You need to host the people at the ceremony immediately afterwards in some way, e.g. by taking them out to a meal at a restaurant (you pay).

View Quoted Comment I agree with this. A DW is very costly for guests. Unless you’re paying for their travel or accommodations, it’s necessary to host them well not only for your wedding day but usually an extra meal (ie Welcome Dinner, or find hotels that include breakfast).

For our DW, my family hosted a BBQ Welcome Dinner. We hosted a 5-star dinner with full top-shelf open bar. We also negotiated a great rate at the resort’s hotel and also found cheaper ones in area so our guests could choose what worked for them. Our location was an 8-Hour drive or not-to-costly flight.

If if it’s too much, just elope at your dream destination & throw a killer reception when you get back. 😊

Have you given it some more thought, taken in the comments from previous posters, Sarah? What are your plans for after the ceremony? Are you still going to have your at-home reception?

I don't think that's okay. I've been to a handful of destination weddings and all of them had a reception after (at least a dinner but most had dancing too). It would seem so abrupt to end after a ceremony and have everyone go off and do their own thing. It seems far more fun to extend the day and have at least cocktails and dinner afterward. I'm guessing people will have spent a lot of $ to get to your destination wedding - it would look cheap to not even treat them to a dinner.

View Quoted Comment We are doing a reception. I need to take down this post. Thanks!