Economic Wedding Ideas

When you have guests at your wedding you probably realize that you are in effect hosting a party for them, and as with any party or gathering that you’re responsible for you want to provide refreshments for your guests in some way.

Catering your reception can be one of the largest expenses for your wedding.  No doubt when you go out to eat you are sometimes surprised by how a dinner for two can really add up; imagine taking a hundred of your guests out to dinner with you!  That’s pretty much what is going on when you cater your wedding reception.

Whatever your wedding is like there are ways to save on the catering and food menu.  Here are some simple suggestions to think about.

Trim Down the Menu

Maybe you imagine a full meal for your guests including appetizers, several dinner choices, a full dessert cart, and so on.

Trimming down the menu may be the first thing you need to do in order to save money on your wedding overall.  It’s very tempting to get caught up in what your caterer can offer you by way of appetizers and desserts and side dishes and want just about anything and everything you see.  Most people are happy with just a simple meal and some dessert, so you can probably forego appetizers altogether or choose something very simple such as vegetables and dip or even a selection of cheeses.  One or two side dishes and perhaps one or two dessert items are also typically just as good.

Remember, this is your wedding and you are paying the bill and it’s the caterer’s job to try to talk you into buying as much as they can convince you to buy, but you need to make the final decision in the end.

Adjust the Time of the Reception

Having a reception around dinnertime is the standard option for many but brides today are finding that if they adjust the time of the reception then their guests won’t even expect a full meal.  Here are some common ways to do this:

• Have your ceremony at mid-morning and serve a lunch afterward; this can be a selection of finger sandwiches, simple chicken dishes, or pasta.

• An evening ceremony can be followed by a cocktail reception with appetizers and desserts only.

• An early afternoon ceremony can mean a light dinner as the meal might take place much earlier than people expect and soon after their own lunch.

Many brides are finding that by moving the timing of the ceremony and reception to later in the day or earlier they can save not just on the menu but on the venue rental and virtually everything else as well.
Adjust the Length of the Reception
It was once the norm to have a dinner reception at around six o’clock and to have it last for an entire evening.  This means more time for the deejay and of course more refreshments as people will want something to drink and to nibble on as the evening progresses.

If you adjust the time of day when your reception takes place you can also adjust the length of your reception as well.  This means that stating specifically on the invitation when it will start and when it will end as well.  If you have a morning ceremony followed by a lunch, simply state that the reception is from 1:00 to 3:00; this way no one will expect another meal as the day goes on.

Have Affordable Options

We all have our favorite gourmet treats or meals that we love and often think that a wedding is the time to indulge in these favorites.  But trying to serve lobster or prime rib to a hundred or more friends is just going to get your budget into trouble.  There are even more moderately priced options that when multiplied by the number of guests you have will cause a problem as well.

Affordable dinner options of course will probably include chicken, fish, and pasta choices.  You can also have items such as stuffed peppers or hot wrapped sandwiches.  Casual weddings can mean a Mexican buffet where guests assemble their own fajitas and tacos or have a pasta buffet with a variety of pastas and sauces.  A sliced ham is good as well as a main course and usually much more affordable than roast beef.

If you are going to have appetizers then affordable options will mean vegetables and dip (such as ranch dressing), a cheese and olive selection, stuffed mushrooms, chips and salsa, or fruit.  You can even have hot items that are less expensive such as mini pizza rolls or bite-size bagels.  Even bite-size hamburgers are great for the casual wedding!

Cut Down on the Alcohol

Having a cash bar is an option for some but many couples want to provide some drinks for their guests.  If you want to serve alcohol but aren’t sure how to do so affordably, here are some quick suggestions.

Have a very limited selection of what drinks are offered so that you don’t need a full bar.  Small item lists can be printed up easily and set around the bar or included in the menu for the evening.  If you choose a simple selection of wine and beer and perhaps a few mixed drinks then you only need to purchase a limited selection of alcohol.

Close the bar early.  This is not done not only to save money but for safety’s sake as well.  When you have an open bar it’s too easy for people to lose track of how much they’re drinking and of course everyone needs to drive home afterwards.  Close the bar at least an hour before your reception ends, and have plenty of soda, tea and coffee on hand.

You can also typically choose more affordable brands of alcohol as well; there’s often a huge difference in price between even the simplest items.  This doesn’t mean that you want to water down your alcohol or choose the absolute cheapest, but you don’t need to go overboard and choose the most expensive brands either.

Some couples are even opting to forego alcohol altogether, whether this is for budget reasons or because there are drinking problems in the family or just for the safety and comfort of all their guests.  If this is something you’re considering, remember again that this is your wedding and you are responsible for the decisions you make.  If you want to forego alcohol altogether then that is certainly your option.

Cut Out the Servers

If you have a seated dinner then you need wait staff to deliver the food to your guests.  Typically a buffet style dinner means less people helping in the kitchen as you only need a few attendants at the buffet table.  You can also have the caterers prepare the food and drop it off at the reception location and ask some friends or relatives to help get things set up on the buffet table and to keep track of replenishing dishes and so on.

Desserts and the Cake

Usually weddings have some desserts available other than just the wedding cake as not everyone likes cake and usually you want something available for them.  But going overboard with the desserts is another area where it gets very dangerous for couples.  It’s all too easy to give in to temptation and have a huge dessert table as of course all the desserts your caterer offers usually look at good as they taste!

There are some ways to cut back on the expense of the desserts and the cake itself.  One obvious way of course is to trim down the options you choose.  Have only a few simple choices such as lemon pie and even pudding.  Anything that isn’t too fancy when served is usually easiest for a wedding so individual tarts are a nice treat.

Usually desserts can be made by friends and family as well.  You might have some aunts or a grandmother that would absolutely love to make up some things for you, so of course it doesn’t hurt to ask or to just put out some feelers to see how people would feel about pitching in a simple pie or additional cake.  The nice thing about desserts is that they can often be made well ahead of time and frozen so there’s no rush to try to fix everything the day before the wedding.

Saving on the cake.

Cupcake trees or towers are often just as beautiful as a traditional cake but at a fraction of the cost.

A wedding cake is for some one of the most important parts of a reception.  Walking into a dining hall and seeing that grand creation decorated so beautifully with the pretty little bride and groom at the top is something that many brides look forward to for months and maybe even years.

But unfortunately the wedding cake can sometimes cost as much as the entire catering bill.  Of course anyone that puts the many man hours needed into creating such a masterpiece deserves to be paid appropriately but this is cold comfort to the bride and groom that are feeling the pinch of a tight budget.

So how to save on the wedding cake?  There are some more affordable options and choices you have.

For one thing you might need to adjust your expectations when it comes to the cake.  While it’s great that the wedding cake industry now affords brides unlimited options when it comes to a cake’s size and decorations, this too has created in many brides the desire to have a cake just like the ones they see in those magazines and at celebrity weddings.  Ask yourself if it’s really necessary to have a cake that towers over everything else at your reception and becomes the center of attention when everyone walks in.  Discuss with your caterer or baker some more affordable options when it comes to flavors, fillings, and decorations.  Don’t hesitate to get direct and bold with them; as with your caterer, it’s their job to try to sell you the biggest and best and you need to take the initiative to talk them down.

You can also forego a huge wedding cake that serves everyone altogether and instead opt for a small cake that you and your groom cut at the reception and then serve sheet cake made with the same flavor and icing.  Many caterers offer to do this for brides; they have the sheet cake in the kitchen where the guests can’t see and simply put the slices on plates after the other cake it cut and serve those.  Guests are typically unaware that they’re eating cake other than the decorated one they just saw.

And who says you need a cake at all?  Many brides today are opting for things such as cupcake towers or a selection of regular round cakes that are nicely decorated but of course not nearly as expensive as a true wedding cake.  These options are not only more affordable but they actually add a very personal, unique and fun touch to your reception as well.  This too means that you can make the cake yourself or have a friend make it for you.

Another great reason to consider cupcake towers or trees or to have smaller cakes is that your caterer often charges a fee to slice your large wedding cake for you!  By having something that is ready to serve or by having smaller cakes that you can slice or have a friend slice means you’ll be saving more money on this fee as well.