<p>Ema, we had bagels, OJ, eggs, fruit and leftover wedding cupcakes for the brunch at our house the day after S1’s wedding. We didn’t have a big crowd; some were off to visit museums, some had flights to catch back to CA. We hung out on the back porch and had a lovely afternoon. We fed people on paper plates at the house all week (rented china for the wedding though). </p>
<p>Most parties I attend use paper plates if there are more than 20 people present–just makes life easier. One family I know does use real plates and flatware always, even when they have up ton50-75 for holiday gatherings. Brunch at a home can be fairly inexpensive, thanks to Sam’s Club, Costco, and similar. You can have assorted sand which fixings and fruit and some scrambled eggs and paste rise with beverages. </p>
<p>I think my sister could probably serve 150, but that would mean using all her china, her everyday settings and some people wouldn’t get cocktail forks.
I think if I was forced to serve that many & I couldn’t rent, I would just use disposable. But soy based recyclable flatware of course!</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone mentioned this, but for our wedding instead of wedding cake, we ordered cheesecakes (of various flavors) from the independent bakery. They decorated them, some with flowers, some with berries. And they gave us the stands for free (we had to put a deposit to make sure we return the stands).</p>
<p>It was much cheaper to go with cheesecakes than to order a wedding cake. And they were a huge hit! We bought more than was actually needed and people had more than one piece. </p>
<p>They also looked good in pictures.</p>
<p>We had a friend make our cake (she had made wedding cakes for others as well). She put fresh roses on it, tiers, the works. I think we paid her a nominal $100 or so. We also had sheets of plain sheet cake that we ordered at a good price for anyone who was still hungry after eating 7 courses. </p>
<p>The cheesecake from a local bakery is a great idea as well. </p>
<p>We had a friend (who had auditioned for the MET) sing at our service and my best friend played on the piano for part of the service. </p>
<p>We got a bargain intro airfare to NY for our honeymoon and got a week of lodging and use of car for two weeks from one of H’s friends and another week of lodging from my brother’s friend. We also stayed a few days with my best friend at the end of our honeymoon. </p>
<p>HImom…just have to,ask…you had a seven course dinner for 800 plus people at your wedding? Really?</p>
<p>We stayed as H’s family cottage for our honeymoon. It was free, beyond the cost of getting there. It also meant a lot to him. I would have been happy to go on a youth hostel trip to Europe. Let’s face it: in this day and age, most couples are not having their first sexual experience on their honeymoon!</p>
<p>* Let’s face it: in this day and age, most couples are not having their first sexual experience on their honeymoon!*</p>
<p>They weren’t 50 years ago either.
;)</p>
<p>Thumper - that must have been one heck of a luau! 
(I tried to send you a PM but could not due to CC issues. I swear I am not an ignorant jerk who does not reply to pms! ).</p>
<p>We had 750 at our wedding (over 250 of the invitees were unavailable), and yes, it was a delicious seven course Chinese gourmet dinner. H and I ate and danced to the DJ. Had a wonderful time at our wedding!</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure how we got from saving money on a wedding to a 7 course meal with 750+ people. </p>
<p>Ah, CC wedding threads 
</p>
<p>The receiving line must have been a killer. :-h
( Emily Post says a large wedding is over 75 guests. She would know)</p>
<p>Wow, HIMom, even if it was a luau or dim sum instead of a 7-course dinner served on fancy china,it was still a ton of work to put it all together! I’m impressed!</p>
<p>The best way to save money on the wedding is to marry the right partner, only have ONE wedding and NO divorce. That will save you a huge amount and lots of stress too. </p>
<p>Folks on this thread have had lots of wonderful ideas on economizing. Our wedding was our one big blowout party and made our families very happy. To all of us, it was priceless. We are still married now, 27+ years later and none of us has regrets. </p>
<p>By the way, if one or more of the parents of bride and groom are infirm and need to sit during receiving line, you can arrange to have elegant seats for those individuals. Everything can work if that’s what the couple and family want. For some, it’s only about the bride and groom. For us, it was about us and our families. </p>
<p>My neighbor is off this weekend to another family wedding. He has 33 2nd cousins ( is that right? The children if his 1st cousins? He was calling them his nieces & nephews but that didnt sound right)</p>
<p>I dont have * any* cousins, because my mom was an only child & my father only had two half sisters, neither had children.
Hs dad was also an only child and his moms family is the main reason why we began celebrating Christmas 700 miles away.</p>
<p>So even though my mothers parents were still alive when H & I were married almost 33 yrs ago, it was still a small wedding, about 35 people.</p>
<p>I now have a craving for dim sum, followed by cheesecake.
I cant even remember the last time I had cheesecake, but it sure sounds good!!
:x </p>
<p>^ First cousin once removed. </p>
<p>You live near cobrat?</p>
<p>Not necessary. He has cousins everywhere. :)</p>
<p>spewing my tea!!!</p>
<p>Second cousins are the children of your parents’ cousins. First cousins once removed are removed one generation from you. So your parent’s first cousins are your first cousins once removed.</p>
<p>We save on our honeymoon - a friend of ours needed to get his VW camper from LA to SF. We obliged. We stayed with friends some of the time and in the camper at other times and ended up wine tasting in Sonoma before we dropped the van off. Still have very fond memories of that trip!</p>