Last Saturday, I attended the wedding of my friend Riza. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception was great…that got me to wondering about the costs of getting married – the gowns and suits/barongs, the ‘eve of‘ hotel accommodations, the spa dates, the gym membership, the event organizer, the reception venue, the food, the invitations, the photographer, the flowers, the wedding favors, the sound system and whatever floats your fancy for your special day! It’s REALLY costly. Imagine if you had 300 guests and the buffet cost Php500/pax – that’s already Php150,000. Reception venues nowadays cost at least Php20,000 and that’s for only 100 guests.
Over lunch with Koi, I was playing with the concept of a Tea Reception.
Have the wedding ceremony at an odd hour like 2pm, and then have a Tea Party afterward (or a Coffee Party, whichever floats your boat). Serve coffee, tea, champagne, juice, cake, cookies muffins, butter, jam, savory breads, cold cuts, cheese…and you’re good to go! Have a great program, complete with the cursory wedding games and it’ll make for an interesting, memorable and cost-effective wedding reception!
Don’t forget to inform your guests before hand through the invites that that a ‘Afternoon Tea will follow at…’
If you find a comfortable garden or nature inspired venue that would be a big plus! (Please do inform your female guests though that the reception will be at a garden – stilettos are not advisable.)
Congratulations and best wishes to Kirby and Riza Baliang!
