okay, i have a bunch of questions about a small wedding we are having for about 40 people.
1. we were thinking about plastic table cloths just because it’s cheaper and easier but someone told me that would be a bad idea. is it?
2. as far as church decor is it tacky to only have an aisle runner, we were thinking about pew bows but i think they’re ugly. is there something else cheap and simple we could use or do we need anythingn at all?
3. we don’t want a guest book, does that scream bad?
4. also how does the pictures after the wedding thing work. do guest just go and hang out outside until all the photos are finished or do we walk out and get the rice thrown and then just go back in or how does that work and if people wait is there something we could do to keep them entertained.
5.i was thinking about walmart for the cake, has anybody went through them, and how was it. also does anyone know if they do catering and how that all works?
6. is there anything else i need to know
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1. Not a bad idea! That is what I used and the are great, they come in many different colors and patterns. I used a clear plastic with silver stars over a green plastic.
2. No you do not NEED pew bows! What about a small bunch of flowers on each pew end?
3. Most people ignore a guest book, I only had about 6 entries out of 92 people
4.Your photographer will tell you what were and how he would like you to do this. Most people would not need entertaining
5. I am in Australia an so do not about wal-mart but my local cake shop did my cake, it was great!
6. try these sites, they should help!
http://www.theknot.com/?MsdVisit=1
http://www.blissweddings.com/
http://weddings.about.com/
1. I’m sure plastic table cloths will look fine, and they are easier to wipe down, should you have any spillages.
2.We had no pew ends as we thought that would look too over crowded, but you can pick up stuff cheaply at garden centres,flowers and greenery. Shop around.
3.It is your day, so it is up to you whether you have a book or not we did but only because we were given it by someone.
4.For our pictures after the wedding, we had a few done with us and other guests, and then the confetti was thrown after that. The important thing is to have a photographer who only takes a few shots of you, briddesmaids and your and your partners immediate family, and then takes more at the reception. A good photographer is one who can organise people for photo’s quickly and efficiently. Also that is what your usher is for, to round people up, or the best man.
Don’t worry about your guests it is your day just focus on that.
4.Never been to walmart, but I had mine made by my auntie, if someone in your family can make it that works out even cheaper.
5.Just relax and enjoy the day,coz it goes past so quickly, don’t worry about anyone else it is your day and they will slot in with that.
Good luck
1. It depends on the theme of the reception. If you’re doing a backyard picnic, I think plastic table cloths are fine. However, since you’re only having 40 people, it probably wouldn’t be that expensive to rent or even buy cheap white table cloths.
2. Aisle runner is fine. I agree–those cheap pewbows they sell are ugly.
3. I work at a banquet hall, and I’d say about 20-30% do NOT do a guest book. With only 40 people, you will probably remember everyone who was there. I had 80 at my wedding and I remember everyone! Most people who have a guest book put it in a drawer or in the attic and only look at it again on their 25th anniversary.
4. You and your husband will walk back down the aisle, greet the guests as they are exiting the church, then go back in for pictures. Your guests can hang out if they want to. Since it’s so small, I’m sure most are family and will be in the pictures anyway, so they will come back in also.
5. Ask the bakery at Walmart if they do a tasting, even just a a cupcake, so you can taste the flavors you want to try and make sure the icing is good (my biggest complaint about most wedding cakes is the frosting!). Actually, cupcakes have become a big trend at weddings, so that’s something to consider. Get a small 6-8″ cake decorated as a wedding cake so you have something for the cutting and pictures. It will serve 10-12 people, so you only have to order 3 dozen cupcakes for the rest of the guests.
As far as catering, you can ask them if they offer full service catering, where they deliver the food, set it up and provide disposable chafing dishes to keep the food hot. If they don’t, I’m sure they will still be able to make it and put in aluminum pans. You can buy your own disposable chafers at a party store, like Party City or Card and Party Factory Outlet. If you have a Sam’s Club nearby, you could get the chafers from them. We buy ours at Costco, so if they sell them there, I’m sure they have them at Sam’s Club, too.
If you’re doing this at your home, or if you are renting a hall and have to do the rest yourself, remember:
Tables
Chairs
Plates (dinner and cake)
Silverware (regular or plastic, and extra forks for the cake)
Serving utensils
Centerpieces and other decorations
Salt and pepper shakers
Bread baskets and butter dishes/plates (with a knife)
Glasses for beverages
Ice and an ice scoop
Coffee, coffee maker, cups, cream, sugar and extra spoons or coffee straws
Music or entertainment
That’s all I can think of for now.
1. plastic is just tacky. Rent cloth instead, its probably the same price. Opt of cotton instead of linen, that should bring the price down.
2. simple is better than having something u think would look tacky.
3. No guest book is not unheard of. I feel that sometimes, people are just “forced” into writing something just to say something (like “best wishes” or “congratulations”, which really does not mean anything but the obvious)
4. Guests should be allowed to go to the reception and served hors devours and punch while waiting for the entourage.
5. Find a local caterer who can work on your price. As for Walmart cakes, never tried them. Sometimes supermarket bakeries have great cakes too!
6. Have fun on your wedding. All the little stuff wouldn’t matter much after the wedding so just try to relax!
1. plastic table cloths are fine
2. don’t need to decorate the church – no one will notice. just flowers on the altar.
3. you will never look at the guestbook again. mine got tossed in decluttering along with all the other cr(bleep) people think they need for a wedding.
4. most places will not allow you to throw rice.
4. we did the photos an hour before the service. and then we had cake and punch and light hors doerves in the church hall.
Plastic tablecloths are fine, so is the rolls of paper that cut into tablecloths.
If you hate pew bows, dont have them, lots of weddings don’t. There are lots of ideas out there for a substitute, a corsage of flowers, a few flowers stuffed into a basket, one bride had a small triangle made of galvanized steel[think bucket]vase with a flat back, obviously designed for the purpose.
You do not have to have a guest book. If you want, put something signable up at the reception, use your imagination, like a poster with flowers, or a poster with a flower border, and have people write their thoughts on it.
From the moment the guests walk out the church dooor, until the time of the reception, the guests are on their own. Some brides have a appetizer and wine bar set up in another room besides the reception room, or even in the reception room, where people can mingle and have something to eat. But most weddings do the “on your own” thing while pics are taken.
I have not had a wedding cake from Walmart, but I have tasted the cake at a party, it was very good, we were all surprised it was Walmart, and it was well decorated.
Hi and congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
Well, I have said it a thousand times….but small weddings are my absolute FAVORITE! Here are my thoughts on your questions:
(1) You will not be needing that many tables (for 40 people)….say 6 (or 8?) at a table….so you will only need about 7 tables. If it was me, I would buy tablecloths. I know that is an expense, but you want it to look nice. Plastic tablecloths are for picnics (in my opinion). I don’t know if you have a Family Dollar store near you, but I bought tablecloths from there for my son’s rehearsal dinner and they were only $5 each and they were real linen tablecloths! Also check on Ebay and wholesale retailers. I think cloth tablecloths would look so much nicer. You may even be able to go to thrift stores such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. and find some.
(2) No, it is not tacky to just have an aisle runner. Pew bows are overrated and are definitely NOT needed. I think a church looks much nicer without them. Forget those.
(3) No, again for your small guest list, you don’t need a guest book. If you ARE wanting one, but due to budget don’t want to purchase one, they have these at Dollar Tree stores. But again, totally unecessary. To be honest, I don’t know what purpose these serve….especially for a small wedding.
(4) Pictures: Where I live, no one does the rice/bird seed thing anymore….especially if the reception is immediately following.
Question: Is your reception immediately following? Is it at the church? Or another location?
If it is immediately following and at the church, just have the minister announce to the guests to go into the hall immediately. Have some snacks for your guests. Also, do as many pictures AHEAD of time…..with your bridesmaids, parents, etc. Then, all you will need to do will be to have the pictures with the entire wedding party and the bride/groom pictures, so it shouldn’t take too long.
(Sorry, I can’t really help you out on this one, as all the weddings I go to there is a big gap between the wedding and the reception (for pictures), so everyone just gets in their cars and goes home immediately…..no waiting around for rice/bird seed.)
(5) Walmart has excellent cakes! The only thing is…..I don’t think they deliver….but don’t quote me. You would need to check with them. No, Walmart doesn’t do catering.
If you want, you can simply have a “dessert reception” with cake, brownies, cookies, punch and coffee immediately following your wedding ceremony. This would be really inexpensive and is very acceptable. The only thing would be that obviously this type of reception cannot be at a meal time. It would be best to have this say at 2 p.m. (with a 1:30 p.m. wedding.) If you did something like this….then you could have a 1:30 wedding, reception from 2-4, then do the pictures AFTER your guests have left the reception. Just an idea.
Good luck with your plans!
I think you could probably purchase some inexpensive cotton fabric for your table cloths.
You don’t need an aisle runner or pew bows or anything for church decorations.
You don’t need a guest book
When the service is over, you walk down the isle stand at the door and greet your guests as they walk out. Then you return to the inside, have your pics taken, while others wait for you.
Costco does a good cake.
I had about 40 ppl at my wedding too….ceremony at a small wedding chapel and reception at my parents house.
1. I used plastic table cloths…nobody cared. it was just something to cover the tables. I got colours that matched my wedding. no biggy. $1 from the dollar store. I got decorations there too.
2. for the length of time you spend in the church, I wouldnt bother going all out. if you want something then maybe get some flowers that match your wedding colours and tie them with a small bow and hang them. we didnt use anything. the front of the chapel had flowers and candles. good enough for us.
3. I didnt have one. for 40 guests, I think I’ll remember who was there
4. we walked out as a couple…had people say their congrats then we went back in for pictures
5. I have never had a walmart cake, but we had ours make at the local grocery store and it was great. $25 and plenty left over. they made it look wedding-ish too with little doves and bells.
6. just enjoy the day and have fun. as long as you are happy with your wedding then who cares what others think. my wedding was cheap, not formal at all and people said it was the most fun wedding they ever attended becuase they felt like they could kick back and have a good time without worrying about “ruining” the brides big day. good luck, congrats and all the best to you both
not sure about walmart cakes, they are pretty though
Do you have sams or coscto? They have great cakes and they are cheap
best wishes
wal-mart wedding cake. I got one as a wedding gift to my cousin. It was verry good and well decorated. Also cheap. I would recomend them. We will be using them for my moms wedding in July.
1. Generally, I don’t care for plastic table clothes. I think it’s more appropriate for barbeque’s & birthday parties. I have & will use plastic forks & knives for a wedding; but not plastic tableclothes.
2.To decorate the church; you can use an arch or use tule to swag between pews…
3. It’s not bad not to use one; but you do want to keep a log of your guest; so that you can send out thank you notes. It’ll be difficult to keep up with everyone that did or did not come.
4. Your coordinator should have your guest to leave the church; no one should stand around except for the people in the wedding party, parents, aunt & grandparents are the ones who should be in attendance. Your minister/pastor can make an announcement too after you say i do. Your hostess, host, ushers & coodinator should get the folks moving on to the location. Generally, people do know to do this…perhaps there is a holding room for you and the wedding party so that you won’t have folks waiting…unless you do want a receiving line. (which is done right after the ceremony so people can congratulate you) it just takes up so much time.
5. I had no idea Walmart did catering or baked cakes.
6. Utlize the internet; have fun; you can cut corners and save money; just do it with taste and class…
(1) I think that cloth table clothes look better. We were able to borrow some and my mom just had to launder them before she took them back. You might ask around. Some churches (and some individuals) have lots of things like that.
(2) I don’t think that pew bows are necessary. We rented a candleabra with greenry for the front of the chapel and got 2 sprays of roses from Albertson’s very inexpensively. You might like to add a little color to the front of the church.
(3) I don’t even know where our guest book is now. I don’t think that it is a big deal to not have one. You might do something in its place. For example, we had little pieces of paper with lines and asked guests to give us advice for our marriage.
(4) We did all out pictures before our ceremony. I thought that it was special to walk down the aisle the 1st time with just him and I in the chapel. We had 20-30 minutes of time alone before we started the pictures. It was very special.
(5) I don’t know about Wal-mart cakes but I have heard the Publix has wonderful cakes if they have them in your area.
1) I wouldn’t go with plastic tablecloths. I had a small wedding, too – 25 people – and I still went with cloth. It just looks nicer.
2) I don’t know about your church, but most of them have those lovely red carpets in the aisle. So I wouldn’t do an aisle runner. And as for pew ends, if you don’t like them, don’t do them. No one will notice. Churches are usually pretty enough on their own.
3) For a small wedding, a guest book is unnecessary. If you look at most guest books, you’ll find “room for 500 signatures!” Which means in the rare instance every single guest signs it, you’d still have 460 lines for signatures, which would look a little silly. You just plunked down $40+ for something you only used 8% of. Opt instead to have the photographer get group photos of the guests – those will mean more years from now than a mostly-empty book of signatures.
4) This is usually the purpose of the cocktail hour. Guest go and mingle while you get photos taken. Every wedding I’ve been to where there were separate locations for the ceremony and reception, the “toss” was done as the couple left the reception instead of the ceremony so that guests left the bridal aprty to get photos taekn in the church. Another option, if you want the toss after the ceremony, is have your transportation drive you around the block after the toss, giving your guests the time to head toward the reception, and then you come back for photos at the church. No awkwardness of seeing the bridal party walk back in the church after the rice is thrown. Again, the cocktail hour would then be initiated at the reception location.
5) Didn’t use Walmart, so I can’t vouch for them. But I recommend Publix – didn’t use them for my own wedding, but I’ve been to many weddings that did use them and they were wonderful.
6) Enjoy the day. Seriously. Don’t make it a cinematic production. You’re blessed to have a small guest list which makes it possible for you to personally enjoy all of your company. Don’t stress, thank every person individually for coming, and be happy. Best wishes.