Very Cheap Wedding Reception Ideas From The Dollar Store

If there is not much money in your budget for a reception, a cheap wedding reception is doable if you can get the help of your church family.

I have attended several wedding receptions where the church family pitched in and made food, either hot or cold for the reception. There was plenty of delicious food for all of the guests to enjoy because around 25 to 30 women fixed their specialty dishes, salads, breads, and desserts. Out of their willingness and generosity to help the bride and groom, the happy couples had beautiful wedding receptions that they will cherish their entire married lives.

Some of these same women also generously volunteered to serve the food, wash the dishes, and clean up after the reception. They were wonderful, caring ladies who wanted the bride and groom to have a memorable meal to share with their families and friends. You can't buy this kind of friendship. It comes naturally, from the heart. Usually, there are some wonderful ladies who are generous with their time and talents in most churches.

The easiest way to see if your church family would be willing to help you with your cheap wedding reception plans is to ask the woman who is normally in charge of the church kitchen during church fellowship meals.

Usually, there is one person who coordinates everything at church potlucks and other meals. Go to her, explain your situation and ask her if she thinks the church family might be able to help. She will know who makes what and may even volunteer to call and ask them all to help you out. Most of these ladies are happy to do it.

For some, the food they cook will be your wedding gift, which is just fine. Others will give you a gift as well as the food.

To save money, you may be able to use the table linens that the church has. If not, go to a dollar store and buy inexpensive vinyl tablecloths for a dollar each in one or two colors to match your wedding colors.

To make it a little easier on the people cleaning up, you can also pick up disposable dinner napkins, dinner plates, dessert napkins, dessert plates, and cups there to match. That way, no dishes have to be washed except for the empty serving dishes that the ladies at your church bring in. This really saves time and energy for the volunteer cleanup crew.

Some dollar stores also have plenty of cheap wedding reception decorations and items that you can use for wedding favors for your guests as well.

You can pick up candles to use as centerpieces for each table at dollar stores. Group three of them together in the middle of the table and sprinkle pretty confetti around them. Light the candles and you have pretty and inexpensive centerpieces.

A cheap wedding reception menu can include tuna and chicken salad sandwiches on a variety of breads, cut into squares or triangles so everyone can sample several types.

Also on the menu, you can have a veggie tray with ranch dip, chips, salsa, fruit cups, and deviled eggs.

Top it off with several desserts to choose from in addition to the wedding cake.

If you want to serve something more than just cake and punch, but you do not want to serve a full meal, serve hors d'oeuvres to your guests along with wedding cake. Make a variety of hors d'oeuvres for guests to eat until the cake is cut.

Just make sure that you have more than enough so no one feels slighted. Crackers topped with cheese, cream cheese, peanut butter mixed with honey, tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, and ham with cheese all make good hors d'oeuvres.

I once saw sardine pieces and cream cheese on crackers at a aparty and they were very good. Thin cucumber slices and cream cheese on crackers also work well. Mini bagels topped with cream cheese and mini pigs in a blanket are also popular.

Get creative and you can think of some good ideas of your own for an hors d'oeuvres reception.

Another idea for a cheap wedding reception menu is to serve mini pizza slices and mini pizza bagels along with a vegetable tray and fresh fruit slices.

Mini tostadas with refried beans, meat, sour cream, tomatoes, and grated cheese are also fun to eat.

Mini egg rolls and shrimp cocktails are two more good ideas to serve to your guests. They won't go home hungry and the cost of food won't break the bank.

Using cheap wedding accessories doesn't mean that you are a cheapskate. It means that you are smart and budget-minded. Whether you have a lot of money or just a little to spend on your wedding, you can work up an inexpensive budget and stick to it. That is the important part--sticking to the budget you have made.

As soon as you get engaged and set a wedding date, plan your wedding budget. Set specific dollar amounts to spend in each category. Once this is complete, start looking in discount stores.

You can find some amazing bargains in dollar stores. At the Dollar Tree store near my house, I have found many wedding items, and each one costs $1. Recently I found several styles of ring bearer pillows, decorated garters for the bride to wear, silk flowers to make bouquets and arrangements, vases, assorted shapes and colors of glass marbles for centerpieces, candles, and candle holders.

Other cheap wedding accessories I have found there include small wedding favors to fill such as mini organza bags, champagne glasses, and mini glass slippers and swans, netting, tiny brides and grooms, and bags of wedding rings with ribbons attached to them to decorate wedding favors. All for $1 each. With some creativity, you can create beautiful crafts and favors for your guests and decorate your tables inexpensively.

Go to the party aisle at any dollar store and you can find an assortment of colors in plastic tablecloths, paper plates, paper cups, and matching napkins.

If you shop early, you can find them in your wedding colors. This can save you a lot of money. Is it really worth all of the money you pay to have your names printed in gold or silver on the napkins that your guests will wipe their hands and faces on and then put in the trash? No, it is not. The napkins will end up in the trash either way. You really do not need those fancy printed napkins. China and crystal are not necessary for serving food to your wedding guests. Paper products will do nicely. There is usually an assortment of plastic forks, knives, and spoons at the dollar stores as well.

If there is a party store in your area, shop when they are having sales. You can find seasonal items, pretty centerpieces, tablecloths, plates, cups, napkins, serving trays and bowls, pretty confetti to sprinkle on the tables, balloons, and decorative party lights.

Don't spend a fortune to decorate for your wedding ceremony and reception. Cheap wedding decorations can be found in dollar stores, party stores, Wal-Mart, and craft stores on clearance.

There are dollar stores by different names all over San Antonio. I will bet there are dollar stores where you live as well. You can find vinyl tablecloths in pretty pastels and matching disposable plates, cups, and napkins for your reception, usually for $1 plus tax.

My favorite dollar store is Dollar Tree. We have those all over the city. They also have a selection of wedding favors, candles,soaps, miniature champagne cups, ring pillows, garters, wedding gift bags, wedding cards, wedding wrapping paper, metallic wrapping paper, shiny mini gift bags that are perfect for wedding favors, wedding streamers, tulle circles to make your own favors, confetti to sprinkle on tables, tinsel, figurines, and many other cheap wedding decorations.

Dollar Tree also has colored sand, seashells, river rocks, and glass marbles in various shapes and colors to put in the bottom of glass bowls for centerpieces. I have made lovely centerpieces out of these objects. They can be used in vases with silk flowers in vases as well as in the bottom of bowls of flower centerpieces, candle centerpieces, or in water with floating candle arrangements.

Shop the after-holiday sales to get some great buys on Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations.

Christmas lights can be used year-round. Buy the other decorations if you plan on getting married the following year close to those holidays. Disposable tableware and other decorations are usually heavily marked down once the holiday is over.

You can buy cheap wedding napkins at your local dollar store for a buck in lots of pretty colors. You can buy 12 dinner sized napkins for a dollar and buy 20 matching smaller cocktail/dessert napkins for a dollar as well. I have purchased them from Dollar Tree in several shades of blue, light pink, dark pink, yellow, green, orange, white, purple, and black.

If you really don't care about the color or if white napkins will do, just go to Wal-Mart and pick up 300 for less than $3.

Whatever you do, do not spend a lot of money for napkins that will wipe someone's mouth and hands or be used to clean up spilled punch. Napkins go in the trash can. They normally do not go home with your guests. So why waste money ordering beautiful napkins with your names and the date of your wedding printed on them in silver or gold? Unless you can get a fabulous buy on them, save your money for something more important.

I just Google engraved wedding napkins and you can get 50 dessert napkins for $12. Not really too bad, if 50 small napkins will do. Oh, I am sorry. They have a minimum of two packs so you must spend at least $24 for 100 napkins. For $13, you can get 50 luncheon sized napkins, which means $26 for the required minimum of 100. Don't forget tax and shipping and handling and hoping they spelled your names right and printed the dates right.

Always get at least four napkins, if not more, per guest. Like I mentioned above, somebody is going to knock over a drink and a guest will grab a whole handful of your napkins and sop up the spill. So if you didn't buy a bunch of extras, a whole lot of guests will not get napkins...This is not a good thing!

I would just go to Wal-Mart and buy a nice big pack of white ones as they will end up in the trash one way or another.