Many of us are having to tighten our belts these days and cheap wedding receptions are becoming more common. The reception is one of the most costly elements of the wedding and a good place to save. Short of cutting the number of guests, what can you do?

The venue can be expensive. Why not see if a local club or organization has a meeting hall for hire. Or hold the event at home or at a friends.
Make it 'pot luck'. Ask the guests to bring a dish instead of a wedding gift.
Bake your own cake or buy from a supermarket and get it decorated by a friend.
You can easily get good ideas for decorations that you and your helpers can make.
Get on your computer and make your own compilation CDs.

Don't think 'Cheap Wedding Reception', think party. This type of event can be much less formal and more easy going. It can be a fun and memorable occasion that doesn't break the bank. Just think what you could do with the cash that you save.

 
 

The wedding centrepiece

One of the main focal points at a wedding reception is the magnificent tiered cake and the cutting of the cake is of the must have photographs of the day. But if you are planning your wedding on a budget, the traditional pound cake can make quite a hole in it.

Money saving alternatives

If you opted for an alternative, you would not be the first. It is becoming more common now to use different types of cake for the upper layers. This can even be an advantage, as the traditional fruit cake is too rich for some people.

If you decide to take this approach, the trick is to not go for anything too exotic. Chocolate chip is a fairly safe bet, or you could alternate chocolate and vanilla. If plan on following the tradition of eating the top layer on your first anniversary, it will need to be something that will keep.

Where to buy

To reduce the cost of your wedding cake, you need to shop around and look beyond the traditional bakeries. Supermarkets are doing some very good quality cakes these days and they can be excellent value. Sample one and you may be surprised.

If you know someone who is good cake decorating, you could buy a plain cake and have them do it for you. They might even do it as a wedding gift. There are plenty of opportunities to have a delicious and low budget wedding cake.