Kids only wedding reception dilema
stronglily
16 years ago
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plasticgarden
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agolabmomma
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Daughter's Wedding Reception- please help me!
Comments (13)Please don't take this the wrong way, but here is another very strong vote for having a caterer do this for you, even if it means much less expensive refreshments. It sounds like you don't have a whole lot of cooking experience (you wrote, "I don't know how to prepare anything"). With all respect, a wedding reception for 120 is NOT the time to learn -- even if it weren't your own daughter's wedding. This would be a daunting job even for those with lots of cooking and entertaining experience. I think even -- perhaps especially -- the most experienced would be inclined to get a caterer for a group this large, especially as mother of the bride. You will have so many other things you'll have to attend to, and even more than that that you don't want to miss. Do you really want to be refreshing the buffet when your daughter and son-in-law are having their first dance? If I were in your position, I would call a few caterers, tell them your budget -- and tell them it's FIRM -- and ask what they can do for that money. You may be very pleasantly surprised. If it's still out of range, consider ordering platters from a food store or inexpensive restaurant, and perhaps hiring a few servers/cleaners. You can supplement the latter and probably even the caterer option with some dishes you or friends and relatives make ahead and have the caterer serve along with his/her food. Your peace of mind, not having to worry about this in the months leading up to the wedding, is really important, too, along with being able to enjoy your guests on the big day. To me, that is worth some money. So if I were in your position, I'd cut way back on everything else if necessary: liquor (certainly a fountain is unnecessary), decorations, types of food, prom-y stuff like limos and favors, and even fancy wedding clothes if necessary. Being able to be a relaxed hostess who can enjoy her guests is more important, in my opinion, than fancy arrangements. Everyone is different, but that's just my experience. Congratulations to you all!...See MoreWedding Centerpieces for The Tightwad Wedding
Comments (59)Oh my, Allison I am sorry! I wondered how your DD2 became engaged and married so fast :-( I should have known you would at least have posted a dress issue or something on the conversations board with all that wedding talk! Very sorry for that misunderstanding. But initially the posts that crossed over to houzz were not dated, so I had no idea the thread was four years old. Now I see they are dated, although in the faintest possible ink color. (Houzz must have mostly 20 and 30 something users with better eyesight.) At any rate, the groom may not have been a keeper but the flowers were lovely!...See MoreOnly one not invited to wedding
Comments (10)There is a woman in our community who has been complaining and badmouthing us for not inviting her to our daughter's recent wedding. It wasn't a small wedding, but it wasn't huge, either, and it was mostly out of town family. As our son-in-law's family live overseas, none of their family friends could come, so our daughter asked us to keep our list as small as possible. There were maybe 20 local couples. But that meant that there were several more that we really would have liked to include, people who were right on that "rather awkward not to invite but I guess they will just have to understand" line. Like I think you are in your situation, Karen. But all of those others have been totally lovely about it. They congratulate us and say that they hear it was beautiful and fun, without any implication that they should've been included. In the very few instances where it would've been more awkward than not to avoid saying something like, "We really wish we could've invited more of our friends, but Daughter asked us not to as her in-laws' friends couldn't come" -- they don't even usually let us finish before assuring us, "Of course! Don't worry at all. Everyone has the same problem, so everyone understands." Anyone who has ever had to make a guest list really does understand that there are always going to be some you would love to invite, but you just can't. Except for this one immature woman. She has been giving me the cold shoulder publicly and even made a point of calling our best friends and complaining about it to them. Best Friend said, "They really had very few local guests," and Immature replied, "Bull! What about the Smiths?" BF, who was really getting angry about this, resisted the temptation to point out the the Smiths were not only among our closest friends, they had hosted a shower for Daughter in their home, and instead just said, "I didn't realize you were that close with the Gellchoms." We like Immature and her husband just fine, but we aren't especially close with them and Daughter certainly isn't. Other than 4 couples that Daughter specifically requested because she loves them, the only locals included were the officiants and people who hosted parties, housed out of town guests, made hospitality bags, baked, decorated, or helped in some other way. But although we like the Immatures enough that they were in that would-love-to-invite group, they neither offered to help nor are close with Daughter, so that was that. (They were invited to, and did attend, Son's wedding 3 years ago; you'd think that would tell them something!) The point here is that even though Immature thinks that EVERYONE but her was both invited and similarly situated to her, she's wrong. The criteria for the guest list seems as obvious to her as this one does to you, but you really don't know. I mean, it was the daughter's wedding, not hers; that bride, too, may well have said "Only the neighbors I have a relationship with" or something. And the even more important point is that even if she were correct, she is making a real fool of herself over it. You are entitled to your feelings, and you may in fact have been slighted -- how would I know? But I am confident that I am giving you good advice when I tell you to be a lady about it and not complain or criticize to anyone, because right or wrong, you will be the one who looks petty and childish....See MoreWhat should I wear to wedding reception? Not going to the wedding
Comments (19)Thanks everyone. Patti you may be right about the cream vs the white. I am a pale-skinned, freckled redhead and even though i do have a lot of white blouses, I really do not look good in white. And I love Steinmart! I think I will stop in there tomorrow and also there is a TJMAXX in the same shopping center. I am 60 yrs old, tall, but 30 pounds overweight (recently lost 35, 30 more to go) and busty, I was thinking a print might make me look fatter. I have a cute new top that is a leopard print, but wondered if it would be too much! My DD tells me I dress too much like an old lady, well I am one. Maybe I will pick up a couple tops and have a pre-party fashion show for DH and DD. I appreciate the great ideas!...See Moretegwyn
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