Author Bobette Kyle
Your food and drink—and how you choose to present them—go a long way in reflecting the “personality” of your wedding (a big party or more quiet, social, and intimate). As with so many decisions in life, there is no secret formula to finding the right answer. Your circumstances and preferences dictate. If you take a “you, me, or us” mentality with the food and beverages, however, you can discover cost-saving solutions you may not have previously considered.
For each dish, station, drink, or course, there are basically three ways to go when it comes to who will prepare it:
(a) A caterer, bartender, or other hired pro
(b) You and your friends and family helpers
(c) All of you—meaning you will take care of part of it, and a professional will prepare the rest
In this first of a two-part series, I’ll look at some ways to save on catering. I’ll detail ideas for the second and third option in part 2.
Full-Service Catering
When your meal is catered, chances are you will be charged by the plate or guest. This means that, to stay within a specific catering budget, you can go with lower-cost choices or more premium food for fewer guests. There’s also the option of providing some or all of it yourself, which means your cost will be only for the food and drink itself plus any plating, corking, or serving fees a caterer or facility may add on for using outside food or beverages.
This is a traditional approach to wedding food: you meet with the venue’s in-house chef or an outside caterer, go over the menu options she offers, perhaps have a tasting, and make your selections. Except for providing headcounts and paying on time, it’s pretty much hands off from there. Tips for getting the best value for your budget include:
• If you are having children at the reception, make sure to ask about kids’ prices. Do children under a certain age eat free? What is the reduced price for children within a certain age range?
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• Be sure you know how the caterer determines final cost. If it’s by number of people at the reception, keep a careful count, and follow up on RSVPs ahead of time so you know how many will actually make it to the reception. You want enough food, but you don’t want to pay for people who didn’t show.
• Discuss buffet versus served, sit-down meal costs. Contrary to what you may have read, there is no hard-and-fast rule about which is more economical. It depends on the dishes, number of courses, and other factors.
• Adjust ingredients if there’s a dish you particularly like but it’s out of your price range. Discuss what you like so much about it, and see if there’s a way to alter it to fit within your budget (using the sauce or seasonings on a different meat or on pasta instead, for example).
• Allow enough money for the chef’s specialty or other higher-end items by cutting down on courses. This allows you to afford a shorter, but more premium, meal.
• If your wedding is small and intimate, consider a restaurant for your reception with a sit-down dinner served in courses. With few guests, your overall budget can survive the higher per-person cost. Plus, the restaurant will handle everything related to table settings, food, and service. And, depending on the restaurant, decorating needs may be minimal.
• Hire a food truck. Food trucks, which pull up and offer specialty foods to guests straight from the vehicle, are another idea. Depending on where you live, you may be able to have grilled cheese, tacos, lobster, hot dogs, pizza, waffles, burgers, or just about any ethnic food. If you think you’d like to go this route but don’t know anything about trucks in your area, type your town’s name (or a nearby larger city), followed by food truck, into any search engine to begin researching.
This post is based on an excerpt from the Dream Wedding on a Dime; 7 Secrets for the Budget-Savvy Bride ebook by Bobette Kyle.
Stay Tuned for Part 2
Categories: Budget Saving, Wedding Catering, Wedding Tips, Wedding Trends
Tagged: 7 Ways to Save on Wedding Catering, affordable wedding, budget saavy bride, budget wedding, frugal bride, save on your wedding, wedmepretty.com
Date: January 22, 2014
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