Cake and Punch Wedding Reception: For Weddings on a Budget
Got a tight budget for your wedding? Or maybe you’re not into big weddings. If you want to keep it short and sweet - and affordable - a cake and punch wedding reception could be perfect for you.
Is a Cake and Punch Reception Tacky?
No. Just because you got married, you don’t owe everyone a free meal. You can celebrate your marriage any way you’d like. As long as you’re considerate of your wedding guests, you can plan any type of reception that fits your budget and your style.
The only rule: it absolutely must not be held at dinner time. If you invite people to a wedding at a meal time, you must feed them that meal. If you don’t, you’ll have a room full of hungry, annoyed people. When you’re offering only wedding cake, desserts or finger foods, make sure your reception is between meals.
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How Long Does a Cake and Punch Wedding Reception Last?
This wedding is short and sweet. Expect people to mingle and chat for an hour or two. Add another hour if you’re going to dance. But most people won’t stay as long as they would if there was a lunch or dinner.
Even if your cake and punch reception only lasts a few hours, there’s still time for most of the wedding traditions, as long as you stick to a timeline. You’ll have time to make an entrance, have a few toasts, then cut the wedding cake. If you’re into it, you can even toss the bouquet or garter and open the dance floor for an hour.
Timeline For a Short and Sweet Celebration
1:00 pm Wedding ceremony
2:00 pm Guests arrive at the reception area
2:10 pm Couple’s grand entrance and first dance
2:20 pm Toasts to the couple
2:30 pm Cutting the wedding cake
2:45 pm Bouquet and/or garter toss
3:00 pm Open dance floor
4:00 pm Last dance and couple’s exit
Perfect Venues to Look For
If your wedding ceremony is at a church, temple or place of worship, check if there’s an attached hall. A hall is usually the perfect spot for cake and punch receptions. It’ll be right next door, so you won’t need to travel to get to the party. Church halls host lots of weddings and they’ll have everything you need. There’ll be tables and chairs, plus a kitchen area where you can store perishables, mix your beverages or make coffee and tea.
If you’re not having your wedding ceremony at a place of worship, try to find a spot that can accommodate both your ceremony and reception. Since it’s so short, you don’t want your guests to spend a lot of time traveling. Look for alternative wedding venues like local parks, gardens or historic homes with rooms you can rent for the day.
Choosing Your Decorations
With a cake and punch reception, you’ve got lots of options for decorating. Consider the time of year and your wedding venue. Then think about wedding colors or themes that would match your personal style. You might like a vintage wedding style, a classic spring wedding, an elegant look or a cozy fall feeling.
Charming Vintage Style Afternoon Social
If you like the vintage style, this wedding reception is a perfect fit. You can lean into the look and consider short, swingy wedding dresses, accessorized with a bridal birdcage veil. Add some wedding invitations, decorations and favors in the same style.
Offer your guests a beautiful wedding cake with buttercream icing and some ice cold punch to wash it down. Make sure to serve your drinks in big bowls with matching cups. You can borrow these from your grandmother or check your local thrift shops. If you can’t find a complete set, buy a punch bowl and some pretty disposable cups.
Sample Menu:
Wedding cake
Cupcakes
Cookie table
Punch
Desserts Only Celebration
If vintage weddings aren’t your style, you can plan a desserts only wedding reception. This is perfect for a spring or summer wedding. Traditional wedding dresses would be perfect. Consider wearing A line, fit and flare or mermaid dresses.
Keep your food and wedding decorations light and bright. You could choose a pastel color, a neutral color, a pattern or florals that you love. Skip the punch bowl and serve your refreshments in pretty glass pitchers or dispensers. If your room or hall rental doesn’t include dishes, choose some disposables that match your weddings theme.
Sample Menu:
Wedding Cake
Cupcakes
Fruit tarts
Punch
Coffee and tea
Custom Balloon Garland DIY Wedding Kit - Choose Your Own Colors and Confetti. By: AllEventsPrints
Pink Floral Wedding Welcome Sign - DIY Printable. By: CharmingEndeavors
Elegant Cake and Champagne Weddings
If you’re planning your wedding at a stylish location, you can give your wedding an elegant theme. For an elegant wedding you can wear any style of dresses, from silk slip dresses to slim mermaid gowns or fit and flare dresses.
You can make wedding receptions feel stylish by sticking with chic decor and food. Choose black and white, gold, rose gold or silver for your cake and wedding decorations for an elegant feel.
Sample Menu:
Wedding cake
Mini cheesecakes
Petit fours
Macarons
Truffles
Champagne
Custom Wedding Cake Topper - Mr and Mrs. By: RavishingDesignCo
Gold Script Welcome to Our Wedding Sign - Downloadable Template. By: WhiteOrchidsPaperie
Warm and Modern Coffee and Cake Party
If you’re planning a winter or fall wedding, make your guests feel cozy and welcome with a coffee and cake reception. Choose a wedding dress you feel comfortable in, whether it’s a traditional gown or a short, pretty dress. Add a warm shawl or cover up to complete your bridal look.
Treat your guests to a coffee bar or a hot chocolate bar. You can set out coffee makers and urns or crock pots filled with hot chocolate. Then add fun toppings and let your guests help themselves.
Coffee bar toppings could include flavored creamers, flavored syrup, cinnamon sticks, whipped cream, cocoa powder, nutmeg and pumpkin spice mix.
Hot chocolate bar toppings could include marshmallows, whipped cream, candy canes, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, cocoa powder, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Sample Menu:
Wedding cake
Cinnamon apple tarts
Pumpkin spice donuts
Ginger cookies
Coffee, hot chocolate and tea
Coffee Wedding Invitations - Digital Templates. By: Sapphiredigitalworks
Coffee Cups Sets With Customized Labels. By: LabelsRus
Hot Chocolate Bar Printable Kit - Sign Labels and Cup Tags For Weddings. By: TwingenuityGraphics
Winter Wedding Shawl - Bridal Cape. By: MODACrochet
See more invitations, favors and accessories for a short and sweet wedding on my Etsy Favorites List: Cake & Punch Wedding Reception
Tips For Saving Money
Since the dance floor is only open for an hour, you won’t need to hire a DJ. If your wedding venue has a speaker system, you might be able to plug your phone right into it and run your own playlist.
If you’re on a super tight budget, you can DIY your wedding cakes, desserts and finger foods.
Keep the wedding cake small. You can order a small traditional one, just for cutting. Then add less expensive sheet cakes to cut up and serve.
If you’re not into it, it’s ok to skip cakes altogether! If you still want a cute photo op, consider feeding each other a wedding cupcake, a wedding donut or a wedding tart instead.
Instead of champagne, buy sparkling wine or Prosecco for your toast. Bottles of the same quality sparkling wine are about a fifth of the price of a bottle of champagne.
Invitation Wording For Your Guests
People are happy to go to a non traditional wedding - as long as they know what to expect. You can help people come prepared by giving them all the information on your invitations. Most inexpensive wedding invitations are a single card with the ceremony details front and center. Then the reception information will be listed underneath. Some invitation suites include an extra card for the reception details.
Once you’ve chosen your invitations, follow the template and fill in your names, the date and time, plus the name and address of your wedding venue. In the area for reception information, you want to let your guests know what you’ll be serving. You don’t need to list your menu, you just need to make sure they understand that there won’t be a full meal.
Some invitation wording you can use:
Cake and punch reception to follow
Light refreshments to follow
Please join us for coffee and cake
Please join us for a champagne toast and light refreshments
Dessert reception to immediately follow
Wedding Planning Book
Planning your wedding on a tight budget? If you need to save money, you should start with your biggest expenses: your venue and your menu. Most of your budget will be spent on these 2 big ticket items. Saving money here could save your entire budget. By choosing an inexpensive venue and making creative decisions about your wedding food, you could save a ton of cash.
Not sure where to start? Find out how in the ebook Affordable Wedding Venues and Menus. It includes tons of checklists, how-to’s and wedding planning tips:
