Wedding SO confused about party...any suggestions?

[StarvingMusician]

I have a few questions that people on here could probably help me with. I''ve googled all of these things, but I haven''t found much, and I know there are helpful people on here with experience!

My boyfriend and I are planning on eloping, and having a party with just immediate family and our mutual group of friends who we spend all of our time with. We are probably looking at 40 people tops--that is if everyone in our group of friends brings a date, and our siblings bring their boyfriends/girlfriends. Realistically, we are probably looking at 30, but we are budgeting for 40.

First question--There will be other drinks available, but about how many people do you think a standard bottle of champagne would serve, reasonably? We don''t want to look stingy, and our friends are not big drinkers, but we don''t want to order way too much. We are planning on serving Cava (it''s a spanish sparkling wine, it''s big with our group of friends), so it''s quite a bit cheaper than champagne so we''d like to be safe. Does anyone have advice on this?

Second Question--We are going to have cupcakes with our last initial on them. What''s a good rule of thumb? Is making one cupcake per person with a few extra a good number? If they are arranged on tiers, will this be pretty/cute? Has anyone else done cupcakes?

Third question--We would not like any gifts. we were thinking of putting on the invitations "Please no gifts...your Presence is Present enough!" Is this acceptable? We just don''t want anyone to feel obligated, and we don''t want to look like we are just asking for gifts by having this party.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

[swingirl]

The whole gift thing has come up many times before and everyone has a opinion on what is polite. It is an awkward subject to even mention gifts on an invitation since the gift should be the guest''s choice. And no matter what you request won''t someone bring one anyway because that is what they''ve been taught is the appropriate thing to do? I was always taught to bring the host a gift. Then one person brings a gift and everyone else feels like a duffus for not.

It''s hard to require people to do the impolite thing. You might want to say, "We request no gifts..." making it a request of your preference but not a command. and with a small group of close friends and family they probably will understand your intent.

I would think 2 cupcakes at least. A cake recipe that makes 12 slices of cake will make 24 cupcakes. Very cute idea with the initial.

 

[doodle]

first, on the alcohol, *try* to find a place that will let you return any unopened bottles--some will, many won''t. i think a bottle of champagne holds 6 glasses, but my math could be fuzzy.

i think arranging cupcakes on tiers would be cute; i think it''s buttercup80 who is doing this for her wedding and has posted some pretty pictures recently. as for amount, i''m unsure, but hey, cupcakes aren''t too expensive, and if you have extras, you could probably donate the leftovers to a food shelter or hospital and they''d serve ''em up.

on your last question, GOD HELP YOU with this one because it may take over your entire thread, haha!!!! in MY opinion, registry or gift related information should never ever be put on the invitation, but having friends or family pass the information through word of mouth is acceptable, and with you having a smaller group of people, it''d probably be pretty easy. if someone brings a gift anyway, chances are pretty good it''s because they wanted to, not because they felt obligated, and the people you''re inviting are your nearest and dearest, so i''m sure they know you well enough to know that you''re not hosting this party just to score toasters!

hope this helped, and if not, i guess i''m fired!

 

[lliang_chi]

A standard bottle of champage (750mL) should pour 5-6 glasses, depending on how generous the pour. If you have extra bottles, why don''t you keep them and you can pop them open to celebrate later on in the year? I''m a big fan of bubbly, and have been known to pop a bottle "because it''s Friday."

I agree with doodle about the word of mouth method no gifts. People would appreciate it.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

1. Number of bottles of champaigne for 40 guests: We had 36 guests (including ourselves) and I think we had 8 or 10 bottles of champaign along with a fully stocked bar. The champaign went FAST--faster than any other drink (and we requested no toasts, so it wasn't even used for toasts!) We had A LOT of liquor left over, but not a single bottle of champaign. I was glad I put a bottle of champaign in everybody's welcome bag, we needed an extra bottle or two.

2. Cupcakes: If you are only serving one flavor, then I think about 1.5 cupcakes per guest or so should be fine. If you're doing two different flavors, people almost always want one of each. Cupcakes are just too fun and easy to eat, people tend to eat more than if they were having a slice of cake.

3. No gifts: We didn't want gifts, either, but didn't really want to put that on the invitations, especially since there were so few guests and it was easy to spread via word of mouth. The response we got was NOT as expected. People told us that if we didn't register, they would write us checks. We countered by saying that we simply wouldn't cash them. People got upset. It was tense there for a bit, but we compromised and registered for a few inexpensive items. Many just bought us stuff off the registery. Turns out people want to give gifts at weddings, so you might want to figure something out.