Wedding receptions often require advance bookings, especially if they fall on an auspicious day. For some very auspicious days, popular hotels and restaurants might even be booked up one to two years in advance! Couples often get disappointed when they can’t get a dinner on the date of their choice but instead of being disappointed, why not consider having a wedding lunch reception instead?
Contrary to common misconceptions that a wedding lunch is less glamorous or less romantic than a wedding dinner, here’s three great cost saving reasons why you should throw your wedding party during the day instead of night!
Save on Wedding Catering and Alcohol Expenses
Wedding lunches usually cost less than wedding dinners and a hundred dollars shaved off from each table menu can add to quite a bit of savings for the bridal couple! Guests also tend to drink less alcohol in the afternoons which means some savings on the amount of alcohol you need to provide and a lot less rowdy and drunk guests to deal with!
Find out more how a wedding lunch can help you trim your wedding budget!
Save on Wedding Make-Up
Having a wedding reception lunch means that you only have to do your make-up and hairdo once in the morning. Just a quick touch-up will be necessary! This effectively halves your make-up costs which can be quite a substantial saving! Plus it might make it easier for you to find make-up artists as most artists tend to be booked for night functions. With some clever negotiation with them, you can save on your wedding make-up costs in your wedding budget!
Save on Wedding Photography
Another big chunk of wedding expenses you can save on is your wedding photographer! Hiring a photographer for half a day will definitely cost less than a full day event. Often, photographers get exhausted during a night wedding reception running around the whole day with minimum rest and food. While good and experienced photographers try to ensure they carry energy bars to keep their energy levels up, inexperienced photographers might be too tired and compromise on their photos a little during the dinner. Having a wedding lunch will keep everyone fresh and in top performance while helping you save on expensive photography expenses in your wedding budget.
So, when planning your wedding reception and budget, do keep a wedding lunch in mind! You can make it as romantic and beautiful as a night function and I’ll be sharing how in future posts! 
Happy planning!
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You hit practically every valid reason for having a traditional wedding/reception. It wasn’t that long ago when the wedding ceremony would be held @ 11AM with reception to follow and run 4-5 hours getting out by 5PM latest. The substantial savings are as follows (based on my brother’s wedding for 220 people):
Church:
Morning – $450
Afternoon/Evening – $600
Catering:
Lunch – $7/person
Dinner – $11.50/person
Bar (partial open bar/2 tickets per adult):
Lunch – $3/drink
Dinner – $5/drink
Photographer + Videographer:
Afternoon: $5,000
Evening: $8,000
Makeup:
Morning/Afternoon: $350
Evening: $600
How do I know the prices? I helped planned it and I was taking the prices off my spreadsheet since it transpired recently.
Needless to say, fantastic to have put this up! It’s definitely a worthwhile resource!