This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine. When I got married, my single mother could not afford to help with the wedding costs. My husband and I ended up taking out a loan to give me the wedding of my dreams. In retrospect, starting our new life together in debt was not the smartest move. When my daughter told us she was getting married, I could not wait to help her plan her magical wedding. Because we are a one income family, we are working on a pretty tight budget.
Planning The Perfect Wedding Reception On A Budget
To plan the perfect wedding on a budget, there are many things to take into consideration. You can read my tips in my recent post, 7 Ways To Plan A Magical Wedding On A Budget. We researched where we can save money and came up with a list of what we would need to cut costs on your wedding reception. Many of the ideas we found were quite budget-friendly. Here are my top five:
Budget Friendly Ideas For Your Reception
- Catering: We have friends and family helping with the food, so that will save us a ton. We are opting for appetizers and finger foods instead of a sit down dinner. Another saving is by not hiring servers or bartenders. Just keep your food table stocked and let your guests serve themselves. We are going to have stainless buckets of ice with bottled beer, water and soft drinks. We will have just two signature alcoholic drinks, which we will take turns making in batches.
- Cake:Chelsea does not like cake! I am not sure who’s daughter she is, but OK! Her best friend owns a cupcake business and has offered to make cupcakes for the reception. We are buying the ingredients and she is making the cupcakes as her gift to the bride and groom. Yay!!
- Music: Instead of hiring a DJ, we had a community playlist everyone could add songs to. At the reception, we will have one of my older kids to be in charge of the music. Total cost? ZERO!!
- Seating, Etc.: Because we aren’t having a sit down dinner, we don’t need as many tables. We have a handful of tables offered by the venue. These will be enough to display the cupcakes, set up the bar and to hold the food. The venue also has some beautiful outdoor seating, including an old wooden swing and chairs. Also, we got lucky and found a party rental store just a block from the venue. They offer a huge discount for weddings booked at our venue. We are able to get all the plates, glasses, serving trays, etc. for a fraction of the cost of a typical party rental. Score!!
- Lighting: We are going the rustic and DIY route for the wedding and reception. This means the lighting provided is minimal. Although we were offered a discount on lighting from the party rental place, the cost was more than we wanted to pay. We decided to find lighting we could use for the wedding and the reception. I was thrilled to discover the perfect option for us; Enbrighten Café Lights by Jasco!
I must say, when we took our Enbrighten Café String Lights by Jasco out of the box, we were pleasantly surprised. They are so well made! You know how most sting lights are flimsy and the bulbs are small and so thin, you expect them to break easily? Not so with the Enbrighten Café Lights. They are nice and sturdy and the bulbs are nice and thick.
Another pet peeve I have with sting lights is how fake the lighting seems. Again…Not so with the Enbrighten Café Lights! When you have an evening wedding and reception, you want lighting that will offer enough light without being overly bright. You don’t want your guests to feel they are in the spotlight, but you also need to offer enough light so they can move around safely.
The bulbs have a lovely glow that makes any space, indoor or out, very complimentary. No need to wear your sunglasses at night with the Enbrighten Café Lights! These lights are perfect to ‘enlighten your life’, whether it be for your wedding, fall party, tailgate or to light and dress up your own back yard. The LED lights come in a variety of sizes, are energy efficient, and you never have to replace them!
Honestly, my husband and I are in LOVE with these lights! I love how our deck looks with the 24 ft strand of the Enbrighten Café Lights The entrance to our house is around back, and it is pretty dark back there. The Enbrighten Café Lights give off the perfect level of lighting to illuminate our path from the car to the back door. Also, my bedroom is off the deck, and the lights do not bother me when I sleep, which I appreciate. These lights are built to last all year round, are impact resistance, and are weather proof.
Because we are on a tight budget, we are always on the look-out for ways to save money. If we are going to have our Enbrighten Café Lights on the deck, I don’t want them on all night. With the the TouchSmart Timer for our Enbrighten Café Lights, we control when the lights come on. The timer, which is super easy to use, allows us to just plug it and forget it! Now we don’t come home to a dark house!
This video truly illustrates how perfect the Enbrighten Café Lights are. Rain or shine, spring, summer, fall or winter, these lights are just a smart choice! The strands come in 12′, 18′, 24′, 36′ and 48′, with prices ranging from $39.99 to $99.99. Because you can connect the strands, you can almost customize the size you need for your wedding, home, office, dorm, club or school. Be sure to follow Jasco Products on Facebook and Twitter.
I am super excited to announce the folks at Jasco are offering a giveaway for one $250 Amazon gift card!! Enter below for your chance to win and good luck!
Do you have any tips to cut costs on a wedding reception? I would love to hear them!
I love all the simple ideas to save on a wedding. We did ours pretty cheaply also, why pay for such an expensive wedding when what you really want is a life with that person. I love the idea of those lights in there.
We had my daughter’s wedding on a budget too. My daughter had just taken a cake class so we made our own cupcakes!
These are all great ways to cut cost. I wish we had scaled ours back some. If I had it to do all over again. I would make the decorations, flowers and food myself.
We did a lot of DIY at our wedding reception. My family helped cater it and we created our own playlist and put a friend in charge of the music.
These lights are real pretty. I would love to have some of them for my deck. It would really set my deck off.
I’m glad you found some ways to cut costs. Weddings don’t have to be gigantic productions.
These are all great ideas, as it is so easy to rack up big bills when it comes to planning a wedding. These cafe lights would add such a charming touch to our backyard.
My daughter is getting married and can use this. Love the bulbs!
Ah! So excited I have a friend getting next year I’m totally sending this to!
These are great ideas! I need these lights for my deck for entertaining. Must enter now!
These are great tips for saving money on your wedding reception. I love the Enbrighten Café String Lights. They would be amazing in my back yard.
The Enbrighten Café String Lights are so pretty. I would love to have an outdoor reception. These are great ways to cut your costs.
My friend is planning her wedding right now. I will have to share this with her. These are great tips and I love the lights.
I love simple weddings – focusing on the importance of the day. These tips are great and these lights would set the perfect atmosphere.
I love the idea of getting others to contribute to the wedding as their gift. It’s not just a great way to save money but it makes the whole thing so much more special too.
These lights are pretty cool. I have been a DIY girl since I was a kid. My mother was always about doing anything she could herself. Now in her 60s, she is still doing it.
My sister is getting married in a year or so and her and her husband are paying for it themselves, so I will be sharing this with her. These are all great, simple ways to save money.
Wedding can be expensive! These are really great tips for anyone who is planning one!
Weddings now a days cost more than a down payment on a house. So it’s good to know your tips on how to cut corners and doing things nicely but without spending a huge amount of money.
I love your ideas for saving money on wedding receptions, It’s such an expensive event that every penny saved is a big deal! Those Enbrighten Café Lights are really gorgeous. I’d love to have a set for our backyard!
Unless you have an abundance of it, no need to spend tons of money on a wedding. As long as you celebrate, I don’t see why having a huge wedding that costs so..too much is a good idea. These are great easy to save.
a friend of mine is getting married next month, just a small little wedding so i will have to share with her. it was kind of a quick throw together, so i’m sure this could benefit her!
I love all these tips! Such a great way to save without sacrificing the fun and concept of the wedding.
Loved all your tips! Can’t wait to share with my friend who’s getting married!
It seems like so long ago when we got married, and I’d be frightened to know how much weddings cost 11+ years later. These are all great ways to cut back & still make a great celebration.
Wow, these are great tips. I will share this with a friend who is going to marry soon.