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Small Reception

Online Users: 1,121 guest(s), 0 user(s). Replies: 8

Dec09Bride Posts : 2 Registered: 12/13/08
Small Reception
Posted: Dec 13, 2008 11:30 PM

What do you do at a small reception of 70 people. Considering with that small of a guest list, I have to invite mostly family and few if any friends. This is because my dad is 1 of 8 children, so by the time we have aunts, uncles, cousins, etc, thats more than half the guest list. Most are not dancers, so...what should we do instead?

reception , december_2009 , upstate , small
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Nalamienea Posts : 2,930 Registered: 6/13/08
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 14, 2008 8:19 AM Go to message in response to: Dec09Bride

This is totally up to you and is a huge chance to inject personality in to your wedding! You could do a setup with games and cards, kind of like a casino. Use poker chips instead of cash though, to avoid any runins with gambling laws. lol I've seen some really elegant pictures of reception picnic style at a local park, where the kids could play on the swing sets and the parents mull around and talk or visit. What about picking an activity that the two of you like, like bowling or making pottery, and taking the whole reception to an on-location type of event. Have your reception at a beach if possible, where people can barbeque, swim or lounge about. Time to think outside of the box! hehe :)

Me, I had a very small reception and decided that it would pretty much be dinner and socializing, because I knew that our small group wouldn't be dancers. The problem with that (for other people, maybe..) is that after the cake was served people pretty much started filing out. :) I was fine with that though becuase for me, the wedding was only one component of a weekend of socializing.



IMG_7875.jpg picture by sarahandchris2008

10/26/08 

reception , virginia , october_2008 , december_2009 , upstate , small
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auntofthebride Posts : 9,357 Registered: 4/2/06
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 14, 2008 10:52 AM Go to message in response to: Dec09Bride

Dear Dec09,

In addition to the suggestions the PP made, all excellent, I'll add Board Games! Get some board games, and set them up. If all the people there are family, they will already know each other, and they can catch up on family business over Clue and Monopoly.

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Nalamienea Posts : 2,930 Registered: 6/13/08
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 14, 2008 12:00 PM Go to message in response to: auntofthebride

oo! Twister would be fun in a wedding dress! hehe

I loved Trouble too as a kid! hehe


IMG_7875.jpg picture by sarahandchris2008

10/26/08 

virginia , october_2008
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MagicalMomentsP... Posts : 742 Registered: 3/6/06
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 14, 2008 1:56 PM Go to message in response to: Dec09Bride

At my wedding, my wife and I, hosted a casino night. Each guest was automatically given 1 ticket for the drawing to be held at the end of the evening. This way, even if they lost all their chips they still had a chance for a special gift. When the casino closed, the guests turned in their chips at a rate of 100 chips per ticket. Finally, we had a drawing for various gifts we purchased. Some were related to us, some to where we met and some were related to the our home towns. The last gift in the drawing was a "surprise gift" and was a complete setup. I had the winning ticket and walked out of the reception with my wife. It was a lot of fun and even though we've been married 11 years, people are still talking about our wedding!

Howard Kier, Certified Professional Wedding Photographer

Magical Moments Photography


PS. I lived in Kingston, NY for 8 years. Still miss the area.

reception , december_2009 , upstate , small
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LilTuffGirl Posts : 301 Registered: 11/4/08
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 14, 2008 4:08 PM Go to message in response to: MagicalMomentsP...

Thats really cute :)

I'm having an even smaller wedding than you! lol I'd like to have my first dance and dance with my dad but the FH keeps saying no one is going to dance and it'll be pointless so i'm not going to have all that.
I'm another one of those who is just going to have the dinner/soical time and thats the end of it all. I don't have much of a family so it doesn't bother me much. 98% of the guest list is all my FH's side... and most of them are being invited just so there isn't any upset people.

reception , december_2009 , upstate , august_2009 , small , west_virginia
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HappyGirl13 Posts : 1,300 Registered: 4/21/08
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 14, 2008 6:16 PM Go to message in response to: LilTuffGirl

Awww! LilTuffgirl, you could still have a first dance and dance with your dad even if there's no dancing! Maybe you could have an iPod or stereo set up outside if there's no sound system at your venue just for that purpose. One of my friends had a wedding with no dancing or dance floor (it was at a bocce ball court, actually) , but there was a sound system set up with background music playing during the reception, and everyone still stopped what they were doing to watch the bride and groom do their first dance! It was cute.

Sorry, OP, just had to add in my 2 cents on the PP.

reception , december_2009 , upstate , march_2008 , southern_california , august_2009 , small , west_virginia
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CheetahAngel Posts : 2,017 Registered: 11/29/08
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 15, 2008 7:57 AM Go to message in response to: Dec09Bride

Good question since I am also only going to have about 50 guests. I don't think I will hire a DJ since my FH and I don't like to dance. I just don't want the reception to be boring you know? I think games could be a good idea if people don't mind playing games lol.

reception , december_2009 , connecticut , october_2010 , upstate , small
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MrsPJM3 Posts : 129 Registered: 9/23/08
Re: Small Reception
Posted: Dec 15, 2008 10:47 AM Go to message in response to: CheetahAngel

We are also having a small wedding mostly family. However fh and I want to have our first dance I also would like to dance with my sons. We will be using an ipod because of cost and there really won't be much dancing mostly just background music. We are not having a sit down formal dinner. Just finger foods and visiting. Our wedding location is about 3 hours from our hometown so most of our family and friends will be wanting to leave to get on the road. Love the game idea though fh's family are huge gamers that would be great and I might have a few on hand just in case.

 

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reception , louisiana , july_2009 , december_2009 , connecticut , october_2010 , upstate , small
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