Casual party rather than reception?

Oh...a couple of things. We plan on having the liquor, food, music, cake and favors for everyone. By things that aren't important I mean the centerpieces, chair covers, etc. As for a courthouse, small beach wedding or even little chapel...I know I might not have an aisle to walk down, but that's okay with me. I just want my dad to give me away...that's what is meaningful to me. And I'll definately have a photographer. Even if it's nothing huge...I still want the professional pictures to capture it all. Might not be a grand princess wedding, but it's still our wedding :o) Thanks everyone!!!

It sounds like a beach wedding with a casual bbq at a beach house would probably be just your thing. If you opt for courthouse you could always take your guests out to a nice meal, several brides on ww are having their receptions at a resteraunt.

I decided to have my wedding at a local restaurant. I am having the ceremony there as well with just close family and friends and the reception after. I just have to pay for the food and drinks. I didn't want a big hall either. You spend a fortune trying to get it to look like you imagined.I am still having a big wedding dress. This gives me more money to spend on the Photographer and entertainment.

My dress all depends on where we are doing the ceremony. To me, courthouse, beach and chapel all have different options. I know FH wants the big gown on me...but we plan on splurging on Hawaii for our honeymoon and doing a TTD session on the beach there, so I can always find a dress to surprise him with for that.

Only problem with a restaurant is we have a lot of people. We have around 10 or so we definately want with us for the ceremony...but there's about 80 people for the party portion. Cubans & Irish are always down for a party so I know it'll be a full house no matter what :o)

I am planning mine for 100. The restaurant is pretty big though and they are giving us the entire back half. They are also bringing in 4 servers dedicated to only my party. That is exactly what I am doing on my honeymoon, TTD. We are not going to Hawaii though. I guess it depends on the area and the restaurants you have there.

With 80 people at the reception, I'd consider renting a space in a pub or bar and serve buffet style if you are still thinking of a restaurant setting. My office throws office parties at bars/ pubs and they generally close off a section for the private party. However keep in mind that logistically it gets harder to keep an event "simple" with 80 people.

@ Jennifer D. - I'll check into restaurants and see what we have in the area. Thanks!

@ Samantha - By simple I mean, it's just a party, with everything a normal party would have, plus our cake and champagne. Rather than a birthday or holiday, it'd be to celebrate our marriage :o) It won't be hard to do...just seeing if anyone has done anything like this before. I don't know what's "right".

FH and I have thought of that.. beach weddings are rather inexpensive and you can usually get a really good package deal that includes decor, minister & sometimes even music and photography.

@ Jen L. - They have awesome packages all around us for the beach ceremony. It's just whether or not to have only a few people with us for the ceremony or invite everyone. The reception is the expensive part which is why we're considering a casual party.

We had a simple ceremony at the hotel where the OOT guests were staying, followed by a party in the function space of a local pub. Total of 90 people, and we skipped all the ceremonial stuff except for cake cutting and our first dance. Decor was just Dollar Tree vases with a few Gerbera daisies, for a cost of about $250. We had an open bar, mostly open seating, and a buffet of casual food like pasta, sliders, salads, etc. Instead of a DJ, we had two iPod mixes, one for dinner and one for dancing.

The guests LOVED it. They all said it was nice to be at a low-key party, instead of a big formal wedding with a bunch of performance stuff. And doing things our way was a big money-saver, too.