ideas for 30 guests please!

bubbles747

after much thought and recent redundancy, i am scaling down my wedding from 120 to just 30 people, i dont see the sence in wasting money on a lavish reception only to spend a couple of years trying to pay for it.
anyway ive told everyone things are being scaled down ALOT... and now i have 30 close family and friends picked, my question is what could i do to make a nice reception for 30 people? i intend on bringing them for a meal after the ceremony but what to do after that?????

tinkerbell

To be honest, I don't think there's much of a need to do something after the meal, if you want to keep the budget low. You can have the meal and then stay for drinks after or whatever, nothing wrong with that at all!

santiago

You can hire a small function/conference room in a hotel with a small dance floor so you can have a dj(cheap or even better your own music if there is a PA System in the room) after the meal.
If you avoid Saturdays/Fridays you can get the room for free when you book the meal.

32finn

What about having a marquee at the house, Buffet meal and some music! If the space is available to you, would keep your costs down a fair bit.

patwicklow

i agree with last post a 13f x 20f marquee bring them back there do a buffet you can even have draught beer and works out amazenly cheaper and your guests will love the day and its easy enough to do up the inside of the marquee to look fab and then you can sell the marquee afterward.

bubbles747

thanks everyone. would a marquee not be very expensive to buy or hire?, my house is a tiny cottage so couldnt do that indoors!

Prenderb

bubbles747 wrote: »

thanks everyone. would a marquee not be very expensive to buy or hire?, my house is a tiny cottage so couldnt do that indoors!

It depends on what you want to do. We looked at a marquee reception, with food service, bar service, cutlery, outdoor toilets, lighting, heating, all that good stuff and we felt it would be too expensive, upwards of 5 figures (not including cents!). If you just want to hire the tent, then probably a lot cheaper. A lot. But the minute you start adding services it gets a lot more expensive.

If the time of year was right, (e.g. summer..) you could probably get away with just hiring a tent and flooring and maybe a portaloo if your house loo won't cope with the numbers. That shouldnt be too expensive. Extension lead will probably run a small few lights and CD player, but anything more than that would need more thought. Drink can go in ice buckets, and go for either plastic glasses or do a breakage-only hire from a supermarket or somewhere (do they still do that?).

I love the idea! Best of luck with it!

WaltKowalski

I think a marquee and catering would be an unnecessary expense.

I would suggest having the ceremony as late in the day as you can - therefore dinner will be later and you'll have less time to fill with entertaining guests.

It totally depends on the type of guests you'll have.
If I was a guest, I'd be happy having a few drinks at the bar with a bit of music in the background.

bubbles747

thanks everyone, i think after the meal i am going to tell everyone to meet up in the local. the main thing for me is getting married as im not one for fuss. also do you think it would be ok for somone to wear a regular wedding dress for a small wedding like this or would i look a bit silly?

How Strange

bubbles747 wrote: »

also do you think it would be ok for somone to wear a regular wedding dress for a small wedding like this or would i look a bit silly?

OP, if thats what you want then go for it.

Heineken Helen

bubbles747 wrote: »

thanks everyone, i think after the meal i am going to tell everyone to meet up in the local. the main thing for me is getting married as im not one for fuss. also do you think it would be ok for somone to wear a regular wedding dress for a small wedding like this or would i look a bit silly?

No, if you want a regular dress, go for it, absolutely! It IS a wedding after all... and the ceremony is the most important bit. Hope you have a brilliant day

kollegeknight

OP, my bro had 26 at his wedding a few yrs back, the hotel, gave him a smaller room with table service for free and a local band did the music for normal pub price rather than a wedding price and it was fab... you will have a great time no matter what you decide.

tfak85

hi OP, i think this wedding sounds great and you're right not to waste your money on a big day!

why not do something like hire a bus for before/after your meal to take you and your wedding party somewhere really beautiful for photos.. if you're in dublin you could think botanic gardens, iveagh gardens etc...

even if you're not hiring a photographer you can appoint one or two friends to take your "official" photos!