Guest List - Oh, The Drama! (vent) - CHIRAWAN's Blue Wedding by Color Blog

This was the subject that I refused to discuss with my mother last jan. because I have such a big family. I ended up taking her advice anyway and asking family to bring food. Also, I lucked out with my brother-in-law paying for the hall, but still, it was only 175. Try finding venues that allow "outside" food. It's really hard, but I think it's worth it in the long run.

PS...if that's what you call a vent, vent anytime to me! Mine are much longer and more dramatic!

Think about doing a buffet style reception. You have more than a year to save, cut back on the things you don't need, do a lot of things yourself, it can be done. I don't know your budget but I've seen people in here and theknot pull it off for very little and it still looked amazingly gorgeous. At the end of the day the only thing that is important is you getting married to the man you love.
Good Luck.

Even buffets... if i choose a place that requires a licensed caterer (which most do!) we're talking at least $25 a head! YOWZA!!!!

Are there any state owned parks , homes ect.?? Usually you can use those for a cpl hundred bucks. And, you can usually bring in your own food too. I hope that helps.

Hey I noticed your colors are Blue and Yellow....let's share ideas!

Food takes up a large portion of the budget, you could always have a cocktail reception, or a dessert reception to cut down on cost. You could just have your family members make homemade cookies and stuff.
Doesn't work for everyone, but its an idea. :)

I feel you on the big family. We both have big families. 44 family invites on my side, 64 on his. Trying to find an affordable venue was difficult. Finances was a big reason for our long engagement.
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#1 question, do you allow outside catering? (For Dallas, that eliminated 75% of the venues.) You and bridemaids/women of the fam can share a bottle of wine while baking cookies and cutting the crusts off of finger sandwhiches. We did that for my sister's wedding and it was actually a fun night.

Wow, that's acutally not that big of a wedding. I have 175-200 and I think it's crazy! You really have a lot of options though because it is actually a smaller wedding. What I would love to do with my day is have a little cake and champaigne reception with a few other desserts. I don't think that will happen with my wedding, but it could with yours. It is a lot cheaper too. Otherwise go with something nontraditional, like little catered sub sandwiches and some H'ours dourves and some cake. There's plenty of options. The idea of a potluck could be something to try too. It's a good way to blend the families, and plates can have labels telling about the recipie and where it came from.

I totally hear you sista! Im struggling with the guest list as well. If I just invite immediate family and scrapping all the kids on just MY side of the family we are looking at over 100 ppl, and his family is twice as large as mine.
Whatever you do, dont cheap out on the food!
When it comes down to it, only invite those that REALLY do matter to you and your fam, not who somewhat matter. I was surprised how drasticlly that butchered my list.