Reception

We've spent the past several days doing some serious wedding plan, and TBF and I have come to some major decisions. The big one is that we've decided to get married in Austin instead of Estes Park, CO. We love Estes Park. And the Stanley Hotel is absolutely gorgeous (did you know it's where Kubrick shot the exterior shots of the original Shining?). But anyway, we decided that Colorado is just too far away, too hard to plan the whole thing from Texas, too much traveling for our guests, plus it is just going to be too cold in April (blizzard this weekend - like a foot of snow - not good weather for a wedding and loads of travel).

So Austin it is. And I am thrilled! You may remember that this is where we got engaged in January.

Now we are trying to find the ideal reception location. There are some gorgeous old mansions that are really beautiful and unique. I've requested information and we're taking a trip up there in two weeks to check out the locations in person.

TBF talked to his best man today (who got married in Dallas almost 2 years ago). He recommended that we think about skipping the sit down dinner, and instead just go for a cocktail reception with lots of finger foods. He said the buffet was the biggest waste of money at their wedding, and they would definitely spend that money elsewhere (or save it!) if they could do it again.

Thinking about it now ... I've never been to a wedding where I raved about the meal afterwards. They've all been pretty good, but when you start thinking about $30-75 per person, well, that had better be a damn good cow!

Have you ever been to a cocktail reception and complained quietly that you didn,’t get a meal? Does it seem chintzy to skip the meal? Would it make a difference if you knew the couple was paying for the wedding themselves? Oh, and there will be an open bar, so we aren't completely screwing our guests. Yeah, priorities, I don't know. Lots of drinks, lots of hor'dourves. Thoughts?