Reception On A Small Budget

Unfortunately, I can`t help you out, but I can sympathize. I`m going through the same thing here in Miami right now looking at a March 13, 2004 wedding. I`m struggling to find anything affordable. Keep me posted as you get ideas though, and good luck!! =)

Can you have the reception in your back yard or something like that? I am not sure about all the rules on a beach, but is there a private beach that you could have the reception at?
Hmmm, just couple of ideas...

Do you know anyone that has a house on the beach, cause that way you could serve alcohol,its a private beach.

I did a quick search and there are tons of VFW and American Legion Posts in Clearwater. Most generally speaking (at least where I am from) you can have a reception at one of these places for half what you`d spend at a restaurant. Most will do all the cooking, etc for you. If you want to save even more money, find one that will let you use their kitchen and bring in your own food. You could still stick to your theme using appropriate decorations, centerpieces etc. My reception was at an American Legion and for a little over a hundred people, we only spent around $1000 for all the food and beverages (alcohol included).

Hi, Dawn --

Walter & I were on a small budget also, & had 80 guests. Our choice? A small, lovely ethnic restaurant willing to close its doors to the public for our event.

This Moroccan restaurant charged us $25/person for a 7-course meal. I imagine that you could find Asian or Mexican places offering similarly reasonable pricing.

How to introduce the beach theme into any restaurant would really depend upon the site`s own decor. We couldn`t have done so with ours, which was already richly decorated to resemble a lush tent. For us, the advantage was that we spent no money for decorations!

Best of luck,
Bon

Dawn-
I am not sure if there is a university in Clearwater, FL (I probably should know since my fiance`s grandparents live there!). If there is a campus, check with them. My reception is at a beautiful room at the UW-Madison student union--it only cost $50 to rent! Just an idea...good luck!

Dawn...
My fiance and I are also on a tight budget...we are getting married on Sept 19th, with only 50 guests. We live in CT right now and the cost of living here is absolutly way too high for us.... So rather than moving, I have done some research. Try local theatres (where they do broadway shows or independant play-wright `s productions) They can be quite lovely and rather inexpensive (assuming they are non-profit). Also, try state parks...there might be a small fee to reserve a shelter or something but it wont be as much as other places. As far as catering goes...buffet is much less expensive than sit down. If you want to kep the beach theme, and can`t find a venue on the beach, try little things like making gel-candles for table decorations that have some sand in the bottom and some little plastic fishes in them (your local craft store can help) or get some netting and some shells, starfish etc...and hang them in the netting. There is a lot that you can do on a tight budget to make a wedding look like it cost you 10,000 when in reality, it only cost aobut 3 or 4000. If you have any questions, drop me an email!
Best of Luck!
Kerrey