Thinking of a 'party' instead of formal dinner reception...

ikkelsharkie

Just wondering if anyone has been to or had a wedding that didn't involve a sit-down dinner.

We're planning a small civil ceremony, family lunch and a party for 120 that night (from 7 for 8ish) in a hotel.

Several friends will be coming with their partners and won't know other people. I'm concerned about how people mingle when there's no formal dinner element that enables you get to know the people at your table......

We're not cutting out food entirely just keen to manage the budget and scale back to canapes/finger food.

Also, not sure how the entertainment would work out...I can't see people walking in at 8 and going straight up to dance!!!

Any advice? I'd be most grateful of a steer on this!

tixylix

BUMP!

Caveat

Great idea.

We would have done it if not for elderly conservative relatives who would have been disppointed/confused. Just as well really becuase one of them died a year later.

If you are going for the party route though most structure or formality will go out the window so I wouldn't fret about people needing guidance or whatever. You will probably need a handful of key formal moments though so just make sure they are controlled to an extent.

Go for it, but prepare for a bit of friction from the trads.

WaltKowalski

After much debate and compromise, we're hoping to do something similar.

The plan is to have 35 to ceremony and meal - family and best friends. Really looking forward to it. Everyone will be involved in some way hopefully. We want an informal do.

Then we're having a party in a local pub in the evening. We're inviting everyone we'd have invited to a "traditional" wedding reception to the party, but we're not expecting half to turn up because of the lack of the formal meal.

We're having a band, plenty of food and a free bar so it's not actually working out that much cheaper than a traditional reception.

The hope is to have party start around 9 - give people a chance to have a couple of drinks and a chat - food served from 10, and band from 11 'til about 1. No disco after.

I actually would much prefer to be invited to a party like ours rather than a whole day reception. But that's just me!

Bally8

Our situation is somewhat similar. My OH and I are getting married in Las Vegas next week and are having a party for 200 guests when we return. We made a big effort to make sure everyone knows its our wedding reception and not a 'party' the reason for this is that people needed guidance on what to expect, what to wear etc. We send out formal invitations with rsvps inviting people to come. Our party starts at 7.30 with a free drinks reception for an hour then finger food from 8.30 to 9.30, speeches, cake cutting, dvd of vegas wedding, first dance then disco for the rest of the night. So we are having elements of the traditional in there too to make people more comfortable with the night. As long as you explain to people what you intend to do I think a party is a great idea. Most people have said they are really looking forward to the party as its different from the norm and not an all day thing but not just a short afters type thing either.

WaltKowalski

Bally8 wrote: »

Our situation is somewhat similar. My OH and I are getting married in Las Vegas next week and are having a party for 200 guests when we return. We made a big effort to make sure everyone knows its our wedding reception and not a 'party' the reason for this is that people needed guidance on what to expect, what to wear etc. We send out formal invitations with rsvps inviting people to come. Our party starts at 7.30 with a free drinks reception for an hour then finger food from 8.30 to 9.30, speeches, cake cutting, dvd of vegas wedding, first dance then disco for the rest of the night. So we are having elements of the traditional in there too to make people more comfortable with the night. As long as you explain to people what you intend to do I think a party is a great idea. Most people have said they are really looking forward to the party as its different from the norm and not an all day thing but not just a short afters type thing either.

We're having a first dance too - in the hope it will encourage people to join us on the dancefloor.

tfak85

just going to bump this thread as it's what i'm also hoping for..
does anyone know of a decent size function room in dublin city centre?
i don't particularly mind where my party is (pub/hotel) i would just like it to be in a private room....:p

sweetie

tfak85 wrote: »

just going to bump this thread as it's what i'm also hoping for..
does anyone know of a decent size function room in dublin city centre?
i don't particularly mind where my party is (pub/hotel) i would just like it to be in a private room....:p

harbourmaster, IFSC and fallon and byrne, wicklow st are two nice ones that spring to mind but there are a good few others too