The wedding reception is to most attendees, the big event. In many cases, where it is possible to do so, the wedding ceremony is held at the same venue as the wedding reception. The wedding reception can be as simple as inviting all guests back to the home of one of the parents of the bride and groom. Or, it can be as lavish as having the wedding ceremony and reception at some romantic getaway and paying airfare and lodging for the entire list of invitees. Somewhere between these, you should surely find a plan that fits your budget.
Other than the ongoing costs of getting married, the most expensive cost associated with a wedding is usually the cost of the reception. Wedding receptions are the lifeblood of large rental halls. All over the U.S. in larger cities, many reception halls only cater to weddings. Other halls do no catering at all although they do host weddings. In those cases, you will have to contract your own caterer, and your caterer will have to be acceptable to the hall.
No matter how you contract for the catering, you will find that you are contracting for meal service at a per head rate with a guaranteed minimum. It is not uncommon for the simplest catered affair to have prices starting at $100 per plate with a 100 plate minimum.
At these prices, you are advised by caterers to sample the menu items you are choosing to serve your wedding guests and to carefully go over the menu to make sure that you didn’t leave out something important like the wedding cake.
The wedding cake is not often included in the cost of the meal or the reception hall. Wedding cakes are also priced by the number of people you expect to serve, as well as the general design of the cake and the regular price rates of the bakery. There are wedding cake bakeries in most medium to large cities. In smaller towns, there is usually a ‘lady who bakes wedding cakes’.
Unless you are planning to have your wedding reception at a hall which has great experience with weddings, you may find it worth your expense to hire a wedding planner to make sure that you don’t forget any of the details that can make or break your wedding.
