Im new to the Board...

Hello Msjena64 and welcome to the boards! I'm sure you'll find almost every question you have, answered somewhere around here. Congratulations to your daughter on her upcoming nuptuals! What do you have figured out so far? Colors? Styly/Theme?

Hello and welcome. You have just hit the bridal jackpot. This sight is so informative and has be a blessing sent to me. I am certain you will find every answer to you questions at this sight. What is it exactly you need info about?

Did you find a reception hall yet? If so are you paying per plate or having a buffet style. What I did was meet with the reception hall manager. She asked me if I wanted to have a sit down dinner or a buffet style dinner. I informed her that I wanted a sit down dinner and asked her to tally up how much it would come out to for 130 guest including gratuity and taxes. She game me a price that of course was over my budget but was workable. My fh and myself agreed to evenly split the total number of guest in half leaving me with 65 and him with 65. I would love to invite more people however looking at my budget right now it doesnt call for it. Now if we have a little extra dollars after everything is paid for then we can talk about adding more people.

You can host receptions at your church, a nice resturant, outside in the park, or in a relatives backyard, you can rent houses and use there house and backyard, hotels, beach and have a candle light dinner theme, some housing complex have community rooms, etc... There are lots of places you can throw a reception.

If you cant find a caterer then have members of your family cook, or go to a couple of your favorite resturants and purchase a couple of pans of your favorite items, such as rice, vegetables, meat, etc..

That is a great idea, indeed. We're doing the same thing! Our menu is very typical (yellow rice, string beans, pasta salad & chicken) and my mom & my aunts said they would do the cooking. I don't want them in the kitchen the day of/before the wedding. So we opted to have our favorite chicken spot cater.

MsJena84, welcome to the site! It's very nice to see you helping your daughter plan the wedding. I look forward to getting to know you better!

Definitely check family restaraunts that may offer catering services and even may have a banquet facility. Also, some catering services offer great food for great prices. We found a caterer in town that was going to cost us maybe 10-11.00/pp and she was going to use the "china-like" plates and plastic wear and because that cost was so cheap, we would have been able to afford the chair covers whick were beautiful. She has a banquet facility but it ws too small for our guest list. So after checking facilities which were through the roof, we saved more money going with a restaraunt.

Also, doing a simplified menu (Chicken and or a beef selection, 1 starch, 1 or 2 vegetables, and tea) and a buffet keeps the cost down. Order your cake from a local grocery store (Publix here is great) to save hundreds on a cake and remember that 50% of your budget goes towards the reception so take that 2500 understand that including tax and gratuity, you need to stay under or as close to that 2500.00 as possible. And YOU CAN do it. Don't let these extravagant weddings you see in magazines and hear about throw you off (or your daughter). The magazines are great for ideas and brainstorming, but the best think about them is trying to replicate the ideas into more affordable versions, that look just as great if not better. You are in the right place. We should be called Bargain Brides instead of Vibrant Brides (Vibride)

lol, I know that's right. Have anyone heard from Tajmom. I noticed that I havent seen her post in a while.

No, I don't know where that girl! Taaaaaaaaaaaaaj, can you hear us? Wait, did she get sent to the corner? lol

That's why we're here, Msjena! :-)