Wedding Food Ideas on a Budget

Wedding Food Ideas...

Question:
I’m trying to plan a 200-250 person wedding on a small budget and I’m running into a little bit of a problem with the cost of a dinner reception.
Would it be inappropriate to have an evening wedding, say 7:30, with hors d’oeuvres, deserts, and dancing to follow at 8:30?

 
Answer:
There’s no problem with having a reception with just hors d’oeuvres and desserts, but you won’t necessarily save much money that way. Preparing hundreds of little bite-size appetizers and displays of other cold food can be just as much work as a buffet dinner.
What you serve is usually determined by the time of the reception, and people will be hungry at 7:30, especially after sitting throught ceremony. This is dinner time and people need to be fed to be happy. If there is alcohol involved, it is even more important to feed people or you will have some seriously drunk guests to deal with.
Here are a few reception food options that can help you cut costs:

• Have a reception at a different time of day. You can do a simple brunch for a midday wedding or an afternoon tea with little sandwiches, scones, and cookies.
• Rather than a meal, have a dessert-only reception with candy bar displays, cupcakes, cookies and hot cocoa, make-your-own s’mores, etc. Again, be careful of the time of day. This works best with a very short reception since most people want some real food.
• Get friends and family to help with the food and do a lot of food that can be made in advance. I’m not crazy about this idea myself, but I have been to a couple events where this was done by close friends. Extremely difficult for the number of people you want to have.
• Keep the food very simple. The fancier you get, the higher the cost. Wraps, bagels, salads, and sandwich platters cost a lot less than filet mignon – obviously.
• Stick to wine and soft drinks. Hard liquor costs more.

If you are talking to any caterers, get their input on what they have done before and how to keep the cost within your budget. Of course, you can always cut your guest list down.  It all depends on your priorities. If it is most important to you that all your friends and family are there to celebrate, cut the per person price of food to make it work.
My final bit of advice  is to make it very clear on the invitation what type of reception you are having – brunch, luncheon, afternoon tea, nibbles and treats, or even a picnic or barbecue.
Remember, so long as people are fed decent food and are not hungry it doesn’t really matter that much what you do. In terms of food, the only real disaster is to run out of food, so make sure you have enough!

Delicious Wedding Food

Well, you could always opt for the traditional fare- chicken, fish, or steak if you’re having an afternoon reception. But since you’re wedding is at a somewhat untraditional time, why not take advantage!  I mean, who doesn’t love breakfast & brunch foods? I’m talking omelette stations, belgian waffles, fresh fruit, specialty coffees- yummy! Fresh lemonade, iced teas, or smoothies with great garnishes would be a fantastic complement. (How cute are those cinnamon rolls on a stick? YUM!)

Mmmm- krispy kreme!!! Those are favors pictured, but maybe you could have those sitting out before your morning ceremony for your guests to munch on while they wait. The ricotta doughnuts (bottom right corner) could be a DIY favor-they are pretty simple to make and delicious!
Other favor options include the  featured above- I LOVE this idea! Just think of the cute packaging you could have too! There’s also jam with scones. This would be such a memorable take-home from a morning wedding. I’ve also seen fresh, local fruit favors that would be fitting.

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Coffee is an integral part of any brunch and I think that the earlier your wedding is, the better the coffee should be (that’s coming from someone that likes coffee!).  If you’re not really into coffee- maybe you could just opt for regular coffee and accompaniments. Or, you could spice it up a little with details like these:

Wedding Foods

Sure, appetizers are usually small, but we love the growing trend of making food mini!  Using mini foods means that you can get a little bit more fancy if you’d like, since you will have much smaller portions- like these delicious lox and caviar forkfuls or a little caviar and crème fraiche atop a petit crepe.

You can also skip the seafood ice bar, since it is much harder to eat most seafood standing up and juggling a drink in your other hand, which will also help to save a pretty penny.  Instead you can incorporate things like shrimp in other ways in your foods instead of having a shrine to all seafood, or offer something served in an oyster or clam shell.
Mini is also fun to do with more casual foods like carnival treats, bbq favorites, or childhood indulgences.  It doesn’t matter if your event is black tie, if it’s petite, it will make a statement!  Consider Hubert Keller mini sliders, corn dogs on a stick, mini scoops of mac n’ cheese and all those other calorie king faves.  When serving these up, we’re in favor of the idea of everything being easily eaten from passed trays instead of piling mini food on a table for guests to pick at - and it keeps the flow of the party going.

Also keep in mind that you don’t want too many dips and toppings and garnishes for your guests to have to deal with themselves, just things they can elegantly pluck and consume politely.  Nothing is worse than a party dress with sauce stains down the front!
And don’t forget those end-of-party or late night snacks! Guests find it a huge treat to be served something as they leave as a last bite or something they can enjoy on the ride home.   This includes the drinks!  Why not serve a shot of espresso to get guests home with or instead of a toast with bubbly, a toast with a mini root beer float for the kid in all of us!  Mini doughnuts are a huge wedding trend these days, order up a donut cart to serve made to order mini treats after dinner is done.  (We prefer these by Dough-a-deer mini doughnuts since they are baked, not fried, so let's just call it the 'healthier dessert.")

Or if buffet is more your style, serve up an entire dessert table of mini cakes, cookies, and sweet little indulgences.  The collection of goodies makes for not only a delish treat but a great photo op too!  These sweets designed and cooked up by the crew at Fantasy Frostings.