I am planning a June 2006 wedding. My fiancé is from Mass. and I am from CT. We have agreed to have the wedding in CT. We are adamant that the reception be held outdoors at a public park and we would like it to be held at night because we feel that more people have fun dancing and drinking at night, but we cannot afford a sit down dinner, especially with the price of setting up tents and renting all the necessary lighting, tables and chairs, etc. We were thinking of having an “adult only” cocktail reception with tons of hoe d'oeuvres in order to save on the price of food, but since we will have so many out-of-town guests, we feel it may be rude to not serve them dinner. My family has suggested a more casual reception-perhaps a barbeque or pig roast- which my fiancé would love and would be cheaper. However, I feel that a barbeque is too informal for a wedding reception and I would like people dressed up formally. My wedding party is small-with 2 adults and 4 children. A justice of the peace will most likely perform the ceremony. I need to know if it is in bad taste to incorporate the “rehearsal” dinner with an informal evening barbeque with all the music and dancing and partying the night before the actually wedding, and then a tea or dessert reception following the actual ceremony the next day. This smaller reception would allow me to set up an elegant affair during the day but still allow a big party at night as well. We would then allow children to attend. Any thoughts on this would be a lot of help.
Dear Bride, Number one, make sure that you can have a reception in a park in CT. If you plan to have sparkling wine for toasts during the actual reception, you will need to know if they allow alcohol. Many cities are now outlawing alcohol in any public locations. Number two, the second plan sounds better because you shouldn't have children in your wedding party if the reception is all adult. It is either all children or no children. It wouldn't be fair to send part of your bridal party home after the wedding. And, you never state, "all adults" or "adult only" on invitations--very tacky. Finally, you may have a rehearsal dinner that is a party with the bbq and dancing. This should be a rehearsal dinner, though, with all of the toasts and the bridal party, not a pre-wedding reception. Your guests who are not invited to the party may feel slighted. Also, if you are having a bash with alcohol, it would be better to plan the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner a week before your wedding, not the night before. You will want to be rested and not hung-over for your wedding. Sincerely, Rebecca Black, Etiquette Now
reception ideas
