To Have or Not To Have.. A Brunch Wedding

The Pros and Cons of and Evening vs a Brunch Wedding Reception

Someone on Facebook had commented that they would LOVE to know our opinion on having a brunch wedding versus an evening affair. The answer is super simple – BOTH are amazing options! Tony and I actually got married on December 3, 2016 and we hosted a brunch wedding! Not only will I be show casing our wedding in this post, but I would love to sit down and share with you why we feel brunch weddings have a super special place in our hearts as well as winter weddings in general.

Lighting

Tony and I are wedding photographers, so lighting is a PRETTY big deal to us. Aside from marrying each other, our second biggest priority on our wedding day was making sure that our photos had EVERY opportunity to be lit with natural light, including our reception. We chose a gorgeous venue on the water called Silver Swan Bayside which was ALL glass walls so that the reception space was constantly flooded with light.

Breakfast Foods.. Duh.

EVERYONE still talks about our wedding food to this day! They all say how much fun it was to be eating bacon, pancakes, gourmet creme brûlée french toast… the list goes on and on. Brunch wedding food dishes are just delicious and stand out from everyone’s usually evening dinner. However, we did not skimp on the bar. We wanted our guests to be able to have whatever drink that they wanted, including Bloody Mary’s, mimosas, bellinis, as well as beer, wine, and other premium liquor.

Days are Shorter in the Winter

I LOVE the winter time. I wanted furs and snow and LORD JESUS, I DID NOT WANT TO SWEAT ON MY WEDDING DAY. Yes, us ladies had to start hair and makeup at 5AM in order for me to be ready for Tony and I’s first look at 9AM, but by 11:30AM we were married and eating our AMAZING brunch spread by noon. Our reception ended at 4:00 and the sun set at 4:30. Tony and I also ended up getting a full night’s sleep before we left for our Italian honeymoon the next day so we were happily married and well rested before a full day of travel. Which brings me to my next point…

The Night Is Young!

After we cleared out our reception at 4:00, everyone headed back to the hotel and my Matron of Honor held a pizza party for our wedding party! Even after THAT, people who are marathon drinkers who still had energy went out of the hotel to the bars in Annapolis! It was literally a party that never ended starting at 5AM and some friends didn’t make it back to their hotel room til 3AM. Almost 24 hours of wedding celebration never hurt anyone.

Price Difference

Because we had our wedding in the morning AND in the off season, we received some amazing price discounts. Our brunch spread was more inexpensive than a steak dinner, and our ceremony fee was waived, saving us almost $4000!! JUST because of the time of day and year that we got married! Long story short – brunch weddings are the bomb!