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Many people cannot afford a lavish four-course sit down dinner or a full buffet feast for their wedding or event. In most cases, the food and beverages are the largest expenses of a wedding or party. You need to consider the time of the day of your reception or party. The time of your event plays an important role in the type of menu that you are planning. Your guests will expect different types and amounts of food depending on the time of the day of your affair.

General Meal Times:

Breakfast 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Brunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Lunch 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
High Tea/Snacks 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Dinner/Cocktails 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Passed or Stationary Hors d'oeuvres 8 p.m. and later
Dessert 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

If you cannot afford a fully catered event here are some low-cost party ideas. Do not forget to serve beverages and wedding cake if you are getting married. Even the simplest of foods can appear special when presented with flair. In addition, time of year and the corresponding temperatures should be a large factor in menu planning. Generally buffets are cheaper than sit-down meals because the caterer has to provide less waitstaff.

A Tea Reception

A tea reception is inexpensive and it should be held between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tea and coffee is served with a variety of "tea sandwiches" also known as "dainties". The crusts are cut off of these small sandwiches. Tarts, scones, and pastries may be served, as well. Make sure that you add "Tea Reception Following Ceremony" on your wedding invitations. For our take out menu: takeoutmenu@quicktell.com

A Salad Luncheon/Reception

A salad luncheon reception is wonderful if your wedding is late morning. In addition, this type of meal is cheaper than a sit-down meal or buffet. Offer a wide selection of salads such various pasta salads, potato, rice salads, Chinese salads, coleslaw, fruit salads, gelatins with fruit, and green salads. Provide a few salad dressings, fruits, and breads. Include "Salad Reception Following Ceremony" in your invitation. For our take out menu: takeoutmenu@quicktell.com

Hors d'oeuvres Reception or Deli/Party Trays Reception

This type of reception/event is appropriate between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. or after an evening wedding. Provide light finger foods such as chips and dips, fruit and vegetable platters, cheeses, and crackers. Write "Light Hors d'oeuvres Reception Following Ceremony" on the invitations. If you would like to include more substantial foods that are more filling include meat and cheese trays, shrimp cocktails, oysters, egg rolls, sausages, chicken wings, and tea sandwiches. Include "Hors d'oeuvres Reception Following Ceremony" if you are serving appetizers with meats. For our hors d'oeuvres menu: horsdoeuvres@quicktell.com

Hors d'oeuvres and Cocktail Reception

This type of reception or party is similar to the one above in regards to time and menus. However, you are serving hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages. Include "Hors d'oeuvres and Cocktail Reception Following Ceremony" on your invitations. Request your caterer to include bartending staff. For our hors d'oeuvres menu: horsdoeuvres@quicktell.com

Decadent Dessert Reception or Dessert Party

This type of reception is suitable between 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. or after an evening wedding. Serve an extensive assortment of rich desserts such as cheese cakes, tarts, tortes, cookies, pies, cakes, pastries, cobblers, biscotti, ice cream, sundaes, and candies. Serve coffee, tea, and other beverages. Add "Dessert Reception Following Ceremony" to your invitations. For our desserts menu: desserts@quicktell.com

A Simple Cake and Punch Reception

You can "Let them eat cake" as long as your event is not during a normal mealtime. Have a simple but elegant cake and punch reception. It must be planned for the mid morning, for the mid afternoon, or for after an evening wedding. In addition, you may include some candies, cookies, and nuts to the menu. Be certain to include "Cake and Punch Reception Following Ceremony". This will inform the guests ahead of time not to expect a full meal. For our wedding cakes menu: weddingcakes@quicktell.com

Other Cost Considerations Location/Rental Equipment

Does the site include tables or chairs or do you have to rent them? Do not forget that you many need to rent tents, linens, and kitchen facilities. You many cut costs by using paper and plastic goods instead of glassware, china plates, cloth napkins, and silverware.

Waitstaff/Duration of the Event

How long is the event? If the event runs over you may have to pay overtime charges. How long do you have the reception site/facilities for? Does the time of the rental of the site and the waitstaff include the time of the set-up and clean up? Ask you caterer to start cleaning up while your guests are still there. If you cannot afford waitstaff consider ordering drop-off food or self-serve buffet food. Or you can have your friends pick up some deli trays or take out food and set up the food with their assistance.

Bon Appetit!

Today bride's are busily buying books on wedding planning, talking with friends and family about planning their wedding, and/or paying someone to help them plan their wedding. However, that is great that you are taking the time to plan that special day, but did you consider that you need a coordinator? Most bride's get so busy in planning their wedding that they forget about the wedding coordination. Alot of bride's do not know that Wedding Planning and Wedding Coordination are two different services. Wedding Planning is the actual planning of the wedding. Choosing vendors, deciding on which musician to play at the ceremony, where to have the reception. etc. However, Wedding Coordination, is having a certified wedding coordinator (or director) at the rehearsal, wedding ceremony, and/or the wedding reception making sure that everything is going as the bride planned. Wedding Coordinator's are around to make sure that the wedding party is in the right place, vendors are doing as they were paid to do, and most of all that everyone is happy! So, when you are planning your wedding make sure that you do not get caught without a coordinator on your special day!

Did you know that out of the 2.4 million weddings that take place in the U.S. each year, 43 percent are second weddings?

Second weddings tend to be smaller than first weddings - and oftentimes, they're more personalized. Couples marrying for the second time are old enough to know exactly what they want. Many of them have done the big wedding thing, and prefer to celebrate with only close friends and family. Besides, they have different priorities. Many of them have careers, homes, kids, and they no longer feel pressured by their families - or society in general - to have a traditional wedding.

Although second weddings tend to be smaller than first weddings, that doesn't necessarily mean they are simple. Many encore brides and grooms pull out all the stops for their second I do's.

If you are planning a second wedding, here are some things to keep in mind:
If you want to wear a traditional white wedding gown, go for it. The 'no white' rule has been abolished.
Registering for gifts is perfectly acceptable. If you already have all the household items you need, consider setting up a honeymoon registry at www.thebigday.com
If you are divorced and want to have a church wedding, check with the cleric well before your wedding date to make sure the church permits second weddings. If you get turned away, try a nondenominational minister.
Consider a destination wedding. They are a popular option for second weddings.
If you have kids, involve them. This is a great way to prevent them from feeling alienated and to help them get excited about your nuptials.

How do you involve children? Here are just a few ideas:
Encourage kids to offer input on wedding-day decisions. This will make them feel part of the process. Ask for input on everything from the wedding day music to the favors.
If kids are artistic or into crafts, have them make favors, place cards, invitations or wedding programs. Also have kids help decorate the venue.
A young girl can serve as flower girl or ring bearer, while a young boy can serve as ring bearer.
Preteens could serve as junior bridesmaids or junior ushers. A teen or adult could serve as bridesmaid, groomsman, usher, maid of honor or best man.
Have a child give a reading or a speech if s/he desires If a child is musical have him or her perform during the ceremony or reception.
Don't force kids to take a role. Ask them if they would like to participate, and if so what they would like to do.

So you know whom, but now, where? The perfect location is of course relative to you and your betrothed. It all depends on personal opinion; beauty is after all in the eye of the beholder. One of the most popular choices (for those who have escaped the constraints of stick-in-the-mud relatives) is of course, the beach. Preferably at sunrise or sunset the exotic combination of lazily swaying palm trees and gentle waves lapping at a sandy shore is difficult to resist. It's certainly romantic, and brings with it many plusses. Holiday and travel companies know this all too well of course and use print and electronic media to remind us constantly. There is quite a competition on out there between the likes of California, Florida, Caribbean islands, South Seas, Mediterranean coast and Australia amongst others to tempt engaged couples to tie the knot on their particular tidal sands.

THE HIGH COUNTRY

But, horses for courses, and different people dance to other tunes. Mountains for example rank highly for their sheer, dramatic magnificence and have a calming presence and spiritual feeling all of their own. The tops, snowcapped of course, stark against a clear sky, sometimes seem to stand watchful over the wedding ceremony and hopefully grant some of their sense of permanence to the happy union of man and woman. Indeed, some take this further and climb the mountain to be wed, along with the out of breath clergy and few brave guests. For those who like this idea but not the effort involved, then a helicopter ride up to the ridge or summit is a pricier alternative. At 14,110 feet tall, Pikes Peak, 60 miles south of Denver, Colorado has for over a hundred years attracted nuptially inclined Americans and still does in considerable numbers today. For those with a bizarre streak to their character, the nearby Cheyenne Mountain Zoo promotes its 'Primate World' as an exciting and unusual venue for weddings. Catering can be provided for in-house apparently, which somewhat boggles the mind!

DOWN TO EARTH

In New Zealand the Christchurch Botanic Gardens offers its' wares as a possible choice, and it would certainly prove to be an interesting one. The many varied and unique flora of this isolated land creating wonderful opportunities for photographic backdrops on a not-to-be-forgotten special day. Mind you, locations can bring baggage with them, and the betrothed should sometimes beware of what is going on around and beyond their borders of bliss. Farmers have to farm and one unlucky wedding party's perfect place for a picnic-style wedding, in France, carefully chosen atop that grassy hill with the best country views became far from suitable when the wind switched and began blowing in the wrong direction as some tractors arrived and started muck-spreading a few miles away. All reality is an illusion says the Buddha, but he wasn't on that hill.

THIS OL' HOUSE

Architecture can attract, and castles, mansion-houses, and ancient ruined temples are tremendous venues for weddings, adding the color of history to the occasion, often-violent history at that, perhaps all too apt if the mothers of the bride and groom are still refusing to talk to each other. Many wear period designer wedding gowns. Pop queen Madonna is probably the most famous non-royal to give the stamp of approval to a castle for her December 2000 wedding to British movie-director Guy Ritchie. Skibo Castle at Dornoch, on the east coast of Scotland not far from Inverness was selected for the task. Perfect for them perhaps, but less so for the locals who had to put up with hordes of paparazzi descending onto their bleak but peaceful repose.

UP, UP, AND AWAY

That's the problem with perfect locations; they don't always go hand-in-hand with perfect situations. But since most, not all, but most, problems are caused by people then why not get them out of the equation. They can't stick their oar in if they're not there to watch in the first place. That's the logic behind a spate of recent skydiving and parachuting weddings. Thousands of feet in the air, more extreme than the mountaineers, complete space all around. Okay, so vows have to be shouted at the tops of voices, but truly the perfect place for dodging relatives who would only spoil it if they were there. Just send 'em the video! Hot air ballooning weddings offer the same get-away-from-it-all factor, but at infinitely more leisurely pace. The otherworldly feelings of this option are surely hard to beat, and you can do it almost anywhere on Earth. Instead of traveling to the ceremony, the ceremony will be traveling with you!

PACKED WITH PALS

At the other pole from the skydivers is an Indonesian wedding. There, everyone's invited, literally. Not only the ones the bride and groom know, either. For those invited directly can invite others themselves! Even if these newcomers don't even know who's getting married. It's not a problem, just come anyway! Hundreds turn up for the event, for the spectacular costumes and the hopefully free food and drink. For to stay away if asked is regarded as an insult that may have social or economic consequences. To Indonesians anywhere is the perfect location (so long as there's the room); it's what's happening there that makes the place, not vice versa.

ON THE EDGE

Westerners seem to believe in the maxim: Location! Location! Location! However, and what about a cliff top wedding? There is plenty of stunning coastline around to choose from, just don't stand too close to the edge. Unless it's to step aboard a cable car, that is. Yet another choice growing in popularity in the Swiss Alps, many authorities permit this in the off-season when there are no skiers to hold up.

GET WET

Cruise ships are an expensive and luxurious alternative, but remember everyone on board will find out and keep on want to congratulate you and wish you well. To escape from drowning in pleasantries, you'll have to go overboard, and why not! Diving weddings can be the route to the perfect location for some, whether coral reef, shipwreck, or even the Olympic sized swimming pool! Just don't forget to pack your bridal wear with your swimwear.

MAKING NOISE

But, if peace and quiet isn't your thing, Las Vegas could be good for you. Its got the glitz okay and the glamour, though perhaps weddings should not be associated with gambling. Or maybe it is the same thing after all? Fantastic manmade surroundings without unfortunate metaphors can be involved through a Disney wedding, childlike innocence is certainly more positive, but, many agree and your chosen spot in this magical kingdom may not always be available when you are.

MORE THOUGHTS

Still the endless possibilities line up. Olde Worlde charm can be brought to bear by the hiring of a country cottage, complete with essential herb garden. The desolate splendor of a desert campsite might be preferable. A wide lake perchance, on a steamboat. Or the pebbled shoreline of a smaller, limpid, mountain lake flanked with verdant-forested slopes, and a distant waterfall glimpsed through the soft hue of morning mist. There now, for me, that really would be the perfect wedding location.

Congratulations on your engagement, please don't wait, now its time to select the date for your Wedding Day. Here are a few tips for you from the Wedding Consultants at Marjeane's.

When selecting your date keep in mind you're going to have to co-ordinate the Church and the Caterer. We recommend at least one year in advance.

TIP: Select at least two dates with the Church and have your name penciled in, it gives you some lead way when visiting Caterers. When selecting your date remember the months of May, June, August, September, and October are the most popular.

Budget

Sit down with both sets of parents and decide on a budget and the number of guests to be invited.

TIP: Most Caterers require a 125 guest guarantee for a Saturday Night reception, so invite a little more. One rule of thumb is you will have a 10% to 15% decline in your guest list. Let your Caterer know the budget you have for your reception, so they can show your a package designed to best meet your needs and budget.

Deciding on Buffet, Dinner, Food Stations, Cocktail Party

Buffets and Food Stations are thought to be less expensive then a Sit Down Dinner but are not always. You are offering your guests a variety of entrees to have and an all you can eat situation, a good Caterer will use the same number of table staff plus Buffet or Station servers.

TIP: Decide carefully if you are considering a Buffet, it will take much longer to serve your guests then a sit down dinner and a Four Hour Reception may not afford enough time to enjoy yourself to the fullest.

Decorations

Unless you are renting a Hall and doing everything from scratch, the full Catering Facilities today are beautiful and only need the addition of Floral centerpieces to adorn the tables. Most Caterers offer a wide selection of Linen colors to choose from.

TIP: Although there can be a variety of linen colors to choose from, your color may not be among the choices, so be prepared to select a color that would compliment, or have your Caterer rent the color of your choice (this would be an additional charge) but you would be assured of getting the color that you want.

Photographers

Always ask to see their work, ask around, talk to some newlyweds and see who they selected and why, how did they work with them on their Wedding Day, did they allow them to get to the Wedding Reception on Time.

TIP: No matter who you select, sit down and think of the Photo shots you especially want taken and give that list to your photographer. The day of your wedding is so exciting and full, you may forget someone you especially what in the pictures but not to worry your photographer has your list and will see to it that all is done. Remember to count your Photographer in your guest list for Dinner, he has been with you all day and hasn't gotten a chance to eat.