Wedding with or without reception

A reception is a thank you to your guests for coming to your wedding. You should budget in some way of doing this.

No. This is incredibly rude. A reception is the thank you to your guests for coming to the ceremony. Not having one, even if it's just cake and punch after a morning reception, is like a slap in the face to your nearest and dearest.

If your budget is that strapped, have a small ceremony with immediate family only, take them to lunch, and call it a day.

You should have something. How small is your budget? BBQ, typically, is an expensive option. Deli platters w/ cake and punch would also work. Just make sure your guest know that it will be light refreshments and not a full meal.

Having a larger or more elaborate ceremony without any reception for those attending is the height of rudeness.

It is incredibly rude to invite guests to a ceremony and not have some sort of reception.

If you don't want to pay for a reception and want to save money, just elope. You get the beach wedding, but none of the excess costs. You can also just take the essential guests (parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.) Out for dinner afterwards to celebrate.

I'm on a very tight budget too. We are keeping the ceremony to close family only so that I can put a little more into the reception which we are keeping small also. We are doing a football theme so we are going to do a few things that you'll find at a tail gate and bbq as the main dish.

I absolutely agree with Gryffin. You don't have to have a fancy reception but you at least should do something. Lunch, brunch, dinner, whatever could work for you. The people at your ceremony want to celebrate your wedding with you. Make sure you give them the opportunity to do so! As a pp stated, it is also a thank you to your guests.

If you want to have a reception after keep the guest list small so you can properly host them with food and drink.

I'll be perfectly honest. How many of these guests do you believe will get up, dress up, purchase a gift, and drive to your ceremony -- for all of 20 or 25 minutes? Your family and closest friends might, but you'll end up with rows of empty chairs once your invited guests realize that your wedding invitation doesn't mention any kind of reception.

You have an entire year to put together a light app and cocktail punch reception. Your invited guests will attend a non-mealtime wedding like this (as long as they aren't asked to stay for more than 2.5 to three hours total). I suggest you figure out how to do that if you want a well attended wedding. However, the idea of a ceremony with no reception is unthinkable to most people.

You can do an early ceremony and do a breakfast reception as it may be slightly cheaper than a dinner. You definitely have to have a reception though as it is a thank you for your guests.

The only way to avoid having some type of reception (brunch, lunch, dinner perhaps in a restaurant) is for the 2 of you to elope -- with no guests. Once you add guests, it becomes a small (perhaps destination) wedding and you need to be considerate of your guests.

I would at least take my guest out to eat after the ceremony

I agree with all PPs. It may seem like coming to witness your ceremony is no big deal, but they're spending their free time to witness something that, let's be honest, it's not exactly super entertaining. They're dressing up and spending money for you. So, the standard is to have a reception to thank them for all that.

How small is your ceremony? Could you have it a bit smaller and then take your guests to a nice restaurant? It doesn't have to be a big ballroom reception, just a nice meal in a good restaurant nearby (where you and your spouse pay for everyone's consumption).

I second the idea of having a non-meal time wedding and reception. That way, you can at least have some type of reception after the ceremony without breaking the bank.

It depends on how many guests you're having. A beach ceremony with you, your lover, and one witness. Fine.

A ceremony with ten people watching you? You need to feed these people.

My brother married his wife on their lunch break with a friend as witness and then they ate some tacos and went back to their workplaces. You can bet that witness didn't pay for his own tacos. Just sayin.

Take everyone to eat after.

Gotta have a reception. Unless you don't have guests, in which case, do whatever you want. That's the only scenario in which the day is really just about you and your future spouse.

If you really want the beach wedding I would suggest waiting a little until you can save enough for a small reception with limited guests.

When my FH and I were thinking about budget friendly-weddings we also considered going to the courthouse with direct family then having dinner or lunch at a nice restaurant. Also thought about a public park/garden wedding & bbq or picnic afterwards.

The reception is a thank you to your guests for attending so it's important to find a way to include that. What about a beach bbq or picnic? Either way there should be food.

Well depends on the time. If you do a morning beach wedding you could have mimosas and donuts. If you do an evening one, some type of dinner or really good cocktail hour is expected. What about going to a restaurant afterward?