At home or on the farm
With the decline of the quarter acre urban block, many people do not have a garden or house big enough to host a reception. However if you are lucky enough to have the space, do some sums. Marquee hire, furniture hire, dance floor hire and crockery and cutlery hire etc could work out more expensive than the overall cost of a specialist venue or hotel. Consider also, safety factors (does household insurance cover this sort of thing? Give them a call) such as small children combined with staircases, fish ponds, fountains or swimming pools. Great play areas, but do you have someone willing and mature enough to supervise the littlies properly for the entire evening? (And it's not only kids who can hurt themselves, ever been to a party where a group of drunken adults discover a back yard trampoline?)
If you're going to be using a house, barn or other building, consider whether there will be adequate car parking, toilet facilities and what the lighting is like. If you will be having caterers and/or using a bain-marie AND having a DJ, is the electrical system able to handle everything running at once? And can everything be plugged straight into a proper electrical outlet, no extension cords and piggy back plugs for drunken guests to trip over?
Consider the number of guests, can you handle the catering yourself with help from friends and family or will you need to hire a caterer? Depending on the size of your guest list and the season, it is possible to do it yourself with minimum effort, or part cater. Salads, cold meat and chicken platters can be prepared 2-3 days in advance IF you have large enough refrigeration facilities (hire another fridge!). Or you can use the "each woman bring a dish" approach. Hot food and meat can then be heated in a bain-marie or a domestic oven and a microwave. You could have a caterer come and prepare and serve hot foods only, for instance.
The final consideration is, who cleans up afterwards ?!
Specialist Venue (hotel, wedding centre)
Hotel receptions are wonderful for your guests who have to travel from interstate, they can walk home. And a hotel or function/reception venue can take most of the load off you. They book up fast, so be prepared to book way in advance. They usually have a menu choice, and a choice of style: sit down (served at table) or buffet (serve yourself) or cocktail (stand and grab passing wait-persons), and a choice of drinks package (payment for consumption, at the end of the evening or prepayment "per guest/head"). If you have a reasonable proportion of boozers, "per head"is more economical. Putting a ceiling on the consumption price never works and you could be "stung" for several hundred (or even thousand, I'm not kidding) dollars more than you budgeted. Prepaying for food and drink ensures you will stick to budget.
Make sure the drinks package you select includes plenty of variety of non-alcoholic beverages and ask if the guests can have ice water too.
If you are having a "cocktail style" wedding (guests standing and mingling and not much seating) try and ensure that the soft drinks are stationed all around the room. I have unpleasant memories of attending a wedding that felt like the Sahara desert, I was marooned up one end, desperate for water, and all that was available was wine and beer, we were unable to cruise the room for softies or catch a waitperson because of the crush of guests. I heard nothing but commiseration from other guests after the event!
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DJ hire and table flowers can also be organised by hotels and specialist venues. Even cakes and bonbonniere - but these arrangements can cost a lot, so look into it.
Have an idea of how many guests you will be having before you start attempting to book reception venues, as many venues have an 80 guest minimum for Saturday night bookings. Sunday bookings are cheaper. Sundays in the middle of long weekends book out up to 2 years ahead, too. |
Beware of handing over deposits far in advance to new businesses too, as people have lost deposits when these places change ownership or go bankrupt. Find out when you can view the reception room, before you book - it may not suit your needs. If there is no dance floor, ask if they charge extra to set one up. Find out of they have a lectern (or podium) available if you require one for speeches (your MC and speakers may be able to use a portable mike, ask about this too). Many places will have a lovely album of photos of the room all done up for other weddings, but insist you be allowed to see the room before you book, and check how many tables fit in the room, and how many guests fit per table, so that you are sure all your guests will fit comfortably.
The most unusual venue I've ever seen was a paddle steamer. She regularly plies the Swan River, and moors down at Mends Street Jetty. I went on board to a 21st Birthday Cruise with a Jazz Band, and it was magnificent. There are also several other large and even brand new vessels for hire on the Swan River. Check your resources. A story from a DJ friend, however, had a guest diving overboard and swimming for shore after a fight with someone. Think back to Christmas and Birthdays, do all your friends and family get along OK? If so, you'll probably be OK with a floating wedding. Also, tired guests cannot leave early. Everyone is at the wedding until the boat docks.
shwtrbride@geocities.com
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