Reception with over 40 guest??

[RoxanneL]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had over 40 ppl at there wedding and if so if they had to have a private reception. I'm getting married in March2012 and dont know where to have my reception since i have more then 40 guest coming. Any suggestions?

[jmastr05]

Hi Roxanne. I'm not sure if you have already moved ahead with your plans, since it's been 3 months since this post. In case you haven't...

 

I had 49 people at my reception (47 guests + bride + groom). We did have a private reception. However we didn't have a private welcome dinner the night before for the same number of people. I chose to have my wedding at the Divi family of resorts in Aruba.

 

The welcome dinner was at the Red Parrot restaurant at the Divi Aruba All-Inclusive. The nice thing about this is that the restaurant is part of the all-inclusive package. Nearly all of our guests stayed at the resort as part of the all-inclusive, and, therefore, we didn't need to pay for them. Those of our guests that stayed at their time shares (at different resorts) cost us $40/person for the welcome dinner.

 

The reception was across the street at the Divi Village Golf and Beach Resort. The reception location (by the pool) was a 1-2 minute walk away from where we had the ceremony on the beach. We did have to pay for each guests at the reception, but the cost was reasonable.

 

Let me know if you'd like any additional information!

[cbandemer]

I dont get how they can charge you for a private reception when everyone who is attending basically has already paid for the all inclusive at any resort. I guess they're just trying to make more money. I have a large group of 100+ so I totally understand where you are coming from on trying to pick a location and understand why they make it soo much more difficult for us. If I get any information I will make sure to forward it on to you.

 

Originally Posted by RoxanneL 

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had over 40 ppl at there wedding and if so if they had to have a private reception. I'm getting married in March2012 and dont know where to have my reception since i have more then 40 guest coming. Any suggestions?

 

[jmastr05]

In my case, we actually had the reception across the street at a sister-resort that was NOT all-inlcusive. However, a friend of mine had her wedding ceremony and reception at an all-inclusive resort in Cabo, and she had t pay for the food at the reception, but not the alcohol. I guess they figure the bar is what it is. However the resort wouldn't have been serving the food that my friend chose for her menu; that was done especially for her.

 

But saving on the alcohol should be significant. I think the alcohol part of my bill was equal to the food part.

 

Originally Posted by cbandemer 

I dont get how they can charge you for a private reception when everyone who is attending basically has already paid for the all inclusive at any resort. I guess they're just trying to make more money. I have a large group of 100+ so I totally understand where you are coming from on trying to pick a location and understand why they make it soo much more difficult for us. If I get any information I will make sure to forward it on to you.

 

 

 

[ssapper]

We are expecting around 100 people at our reception (we've already got 50 booked not including us) and are doing a private reception. My understanding is that they charge you per person not for food/alcohol but for the logistics ( private area.. tables.. chairs... private servers/bartenders etc) which makes sense. its a lot of work to set up a private dinner! Just make sure that whichever hotel/venue you chose has the ability to cater to a larger destination wedding If you're looking at Mexico I'd recommend the Dreams Hotels (were getting married at dreams riviera cancun) and ive had a friend get married at dreams PV both of which can hold larger weddings.

[cbandemer]

Yes I understand paying for the setup but to charge for something that is included is a little ridiculous I think. We are also having a 100+ people at the Dreams Riviera Cancun and doing a private dinner. Have you done a site inspection? Which area did you pick for your group? Also are you doing a welcome dinner or anything like that? We're doing the ultimate package since it seems like the best price and includes everything we would need.
 

Originally Posted by ssapper 

We are expecting around 100 people at our reception (we've already got 50 booked not including us) and are doing a private reception. My understanding is that they charge you per person not for food/alcohol but for the logistics ( private area.. tables.. chairs... private servers/bartenders etc) which makes sense. its a lot of work to set up a private dinner! Just make sure that whichever hotel/venue you chose has the ability to cater to a larger destination wedding If you're looking at Mexico I'd recommend the Dreams Hotels (were getting married at dreams riviera cancun) and ive had a friend get married at dreams PV both of which can hold larger weddings.

 

[ssapper]

yah its a bit ridiculous that they charge so much per person over the 20 but i get that they still need to make money... We didn't do a site inspection because a few of our closest friends family were at the resort earlier this year. We've picked the pool deck assuming we have less than 150.. if we go over that then we'll move the reception to the beach. were not sure on the welcome dinner yet... it depends on how many people actually go... we may just organize a meet and greet at the lobby bar or something...
 

Originally Posted by cbandemer 

Yes I understand paying for the setup but to charge for something that is included is a little ridiculous I think. We are also having a 100+ people at the Dreams Riviera Cancun and doing a private dinner. Have you done a site inspection? Which area did you pick for your group? Also are you doing a welcome dinner or anything like that? We're doing the ultimate package since it seems like the best price and includes everything we would need.