Alternative Celebrations - Cake and Punch: Surviving Wedding Planning
What’s a wedding without a cake?
If you’re like me (and you should be, because I’m awesome, or at the very least you should hire me as your Boston wedding photographer), then it’s hard to picture any celebration without cake. Whether it’s a birthday, retirement, anniversary or a Tuesday, there’s no sentiment that can’t be best expressed through interpretive icing.
The cake and punch reception understands this and it’s a great way to scale back your wedding while still giving your guests a little treat. At the most basic, the cake and punch reception is exactly what it says on the tin: after the ceremony, you invite your guests back to enjoy some light refreshments and some cake (cutting optional). You spend an hour or two socializing with everyone before everyone disperses for dinner and you can go off and enjoy the honeymoon.
One of the primary differences between the cake and punch reception and the cocktail reception is timing. A cake and punch reception will typically follow an early afternoon ceremony between mealtimes so it’s not a faux pas to not provide a full meal for your guests. Cake and punch receptions are also useful if you’re considering a religious wedding and want to avoid a gap in your schedule from when the ceremony is finished and when a more traditional reception venue might open its doors, which is very common in New England for Catholic weddings (hence the term “catholic gap”). Cake and punch receptions were very common in post-war America (a surprising amount of what we consider to be how weddings have always been is all of recent vintage). Cake and punch weddings are also easier to make family and child friendly.
Cake and punch also doesn’t have to be quite so literal. You can swap those elements out for any light refreshments or desserts (or even add more drinks and desserts onto the menu) to match the mood. Cupcakes and champagne? Pie and porters? You can also choose how much you want to go back to basics with this style of reception? Maybe you’d still like some music and dancing. A photo-booth can still be a lot of fun. Did you know that wedding bounce houses are a thing now? Don’t let scaling back keep your Boston wedding from being extra in at least a few ways.
Potential Pitfalls: Couples are often worried that their simpler receptions won’t be “as fun” as a more traditional event, but generally a short reception will breeze right past. As with a garden party wedding, it’s also common to provide lawn games and other diversions for people that might not be as interested in socializing. Even at more traditional weddings in New England, cornhole boards and other games are a popular way to divert guests.
Matching Themes: Embrace the retro aesthetic of the cake and punch reception with a bit of that 50’s or 60’s flair. Any fun or colorful themes can also be great for cake and punch (Alice in Wonderland is remarkably flexible for alternate receptions). But the cake and punch reception is all about going back down to the basics, so don’t worry about a theme not connecting with you and just focus on getting some great snacks and showing your guests a good time.
Ryan Richardson is a wedding and engagement photographer serving Boston and beyond; including Cape Cod Weddings, New England Weddings, Massachusetts Weddings and Rhode Island Weddings.