Get Organized
Before you can actually start putting your celebrity-style wedding reception together, you need to get yourself organized. Think about what you want. At this stage, don’t worry about how much things will cost. When you get to the shopping stage you will be able to determine what is feasible or not. The main items you should include on your list are wedding venue, decorations, food and drink, placecards, centerpieces, and music. Need a Plan? Download your free Wedding Planning Guide here!

Enlist the Troops
If you want to save money on your wedding reception-skip hiring a professional. These individuals are typically highly skilled in what they do and their fees prove it! Your best bet is to find people who are willing to help you for free. You shouldn’t have look further than your family and friends. Enlist the services of as many people as you can. This includes children. Children can be especially helpful with repetitive crafts, so include them in your wedding reception plans. Don’t wait until the last minute to solicit assistance. Let people know way in advance that you will need them to help you with your wedding reception.

Time to Shop
With your list of wedding reception ideas in hand, it is time to start shopping. The venue for your wedding reception will probably be the most expensive part of the reception. Cheap alternatives that don’t look cheap include restaurants and church halls. If you choose to have your wedding reception at a restaurant, make sure that you can use your own flatware, plates, and glasses. You can purchase elegant versions of these at discount shops for less than $100, depending on the number of guests you invite. Simplify food at your wedding reception by having three choices from which your guests can choose when they RSVP to your invitation. Caters charge less when you order by the plate. As an added touch you can place a delicious assortment of divinity on each table. For your centerpieces and decorations, hobby shops offer the best prices. You can find design ideas that you can create you and your troops can create for very little. Placecards aren’t a necessity, but if you have assigned people at tables, placecards will help people to find their table. You can create your own wedding reception placecards by purchasing an inexpensive greeting card software program and elegant paper. You will need an inkjet printer to print the cards. Unless you know someone who will offer you a cheap price for wedding reception music, skip the DJ and the live band. Creating a few CDs of various popular love songs is a less expensive choice. Go Here to get more ideas!

Reward the Troops
A wedding dinner with the wedding party (bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, parents) just before the wedding ceremony is traditional. It is a good idea to either invite your wedding reception helpers to this dinner or to a separate fun event. At this event you should show your appreciation for helping make your wedding reception the best ever!

If you feel like sharing the joy of your wedding day, giving to those less affortunate might be a great option. While you could just make a donation to any charity close to your heart, you might also give in the name of your guests.

There are organisations like Practical Presents that let you chose the good cause you would like to contribute to. The choices range from financing a flock of goats or chicken to buying a well for a village comunity or planting trees.

How do you present these unique wedding favors to your guests? There are various possibilities. The easiest one: just prepare a little card for each guest (they might even double as place cards) explaining the good cause you contributed to in their name. Or you might prepare something a little more elaborate: if you bought some chicken, get a little flower pot and sow some catgrass. Once it has grown (make sure you get the timing right!), place a little plastic hen (from dollar- or toy stores) on the grass. Prepare a little card wich says „there is a chicken with your name“ – on the backside explain i one short sencence where your money went. Sounds too complicated? Just substitute the flowerpot and the catgrass with a little square of articial lawn. Instead of a plastic hen you could also use a quial egg – make little holes at either end and blow out what is inside and just use the shell.

This is just one idea – depending on what good cause you contributed to, you will have to get creative!

Don´t get me wrong – this is by no means a cheap wedding favor. But a very original one, and a favor your guests will remember for years to come. And on top of it you might even change the lifes of people for the better – they will be remembering your wedding day, even if they won´t know whom gave this gift to them – and why…

How about giving each guest a picture of themselves as a wedding favor? Discuss this idea with your photographer: if he takes a photo of every guest or couple as they enter the reception venue and brings along a portable printer plus an appropriate amount of photo cards, it shouldn´t be a problem for him to provide you with a photo for everybody before the end of the evening. If you want to take this idea even further, you might get personalized photo-frames with the date and your names on them and instruct the photographer (or better an assistant – otherwise you won´t get any pictures of your reception) to stick the photos in the frames.

As part of the entertainment the photographer could even provide a slideshow presentation of the protraits taken – I am sure everybody will be thrilled about the opportunity to get a professional photo of themselves all dressed up for your wedding!