Planning a wedding on a budget? We feel you. It's a pretty much undisputed fact that weddings aren't cheap. It'll cost a pretty significant chunk of change. After allocating funds for the venue, the entertainment and the décor, you can't forget about the other essentials: food and drinks. Unlike expenses related to extras, like decor, music and favors and things like that, food expenses are kind of a requirement.
Food plays a very important role for any event and of course it is expensive. But we need to feed our guests with the best without burning a hole in your pocket. Wedding catering costs will always be high especially if you have a big guest list. However, we have some great ideas for cutting wedding catering costs.
So finally, you can stop stressing over wedding catering costs! We have many options in a menu from drinks to appetizers, main course to desserts where we can play with it to manage the wedding catering budget. You can also decide the type of meal that you want to serve and even the way you serve it—as well as which specific ingredients you choose to dish up. There are plenty of ways where you can trim down the costs on food and drinks and yet have an amazing wedding affair.
Here are 5 most important ways for a budget-savvy bride to save money on a catering bill.
Let's be honest – so much food gets wasted on weddings. Most of the guests are eager to try every dish which is served but then don’t have the appetite for it. They end up wasting so much on their plate. Serve your guests with bite sized food which would result in a lot less wastage and would trim down the wedding catering cost. You could serve a variety of mini appetizers and desserts. For the main course you could serve them meal bowls which looks super cute.
Having server’s serve at your wedding is so comforting for the guests as well as the host. But do you know how much they charge per server? A hell lot, you could probably feed more guests with that amount. It's easy to get wrapped up in the glamor and decide it'd be a great touch to have beautifully dressed servers passing out the appetizers during the ceremony. But let’s get real, what really matters is that the food is presented well and is delish. So, to save a few bucks, choose not to have servers for the entire wedding.
You would like to give your guests the best menu and serve them global cuisines. The caterers can make anything available nowadays but going out of the comfort zone to serve what’s out of season will cost you. When food is out of season, it would cost more because of transportation charges. Rather serve what’s popular in the season and try your hands on different recipes. Many times, guests love the simple dishes that one tends to forget to include in the wedding menu. So, keep it simple and seasonal!
You do not need to serve 10 courses to your guests. Limit the number of courses to 3 or 4 because other courses are usually wasted. The important thing to keep in mind is that you serve the main courses like appetizers, curries and desserts. Limiting your courses will help you keep the wedding catering on a budget and manage unnecessary food wastage.
Your guests would love the plated prepared meals that are being served to them. But that would cost you so much. Why not think out of the box and go for grazing table. A “grazing table” is a table's cape filled with artfully arranged meats, fruits, cheese, dips, vegetables and flowers arranged along with utensils and cutlery. A grazing table is a total showstopper that will have your guests majorly impressed, and it costs way less than most plated meals. You can pick from a selection of dips, crackers, meats and cheeses, nuts, crudités, and much more.
Now you must be wondering why you did not think about the same before. Do not worry, we have got your back. Try out these tips the next time you have any event, we are sure it would bring a huge difference to your catering cost.
Why did you stop scrolling? We have a bonus tip for you.
The catering company would charge you for both food and linen. They use some very expensive china, high quality linen and silverware. You may provide your own cutlery and dining sets if you have a small gathering or you may also you some economical and eco-friendly cutlery. For larger gatherings you may rent out some good cutlery from local vendors.
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