Choose a less labor-intensive cake. Buttercream frosting will cost you less than rolled fondant. Keep to a classic, elegant look for your wedding cake by leaving out elaborate sugarpaste ornamentation, and save hundreds of dollars.
Some meats are pricier at certain times of the year. Let your caterer know that you’ll consider those that will be available at a good price when your wedding takes place.
Adding one simple but exotic dessert probably won’t break the bank. A sorbet in an unexpected flavor like coconut can be energizing late in the evening.
Featuring a gourmet salad of spring greens, rather than the usual Caesar, will prime guests to be wowed by entrée options that follow, even if they’re less expensive.
Dress up your signature drinks with fun garnishes, suggests Miller. Ask the bar manager to provide curled lemon and lime peels, orange slices or mini fruit kebabs on toothpicks to coordinate with your wedding colors. These garnishes are often free, and because they add to the festive look, everyone thinks you’ve spent more than you really have.
In cool weather, serve mini cups of clam chowder (again, you’re serving seafood at a minimal price), lobster bisque, acorn squash, or any other flavors that are easy on the wallet.
Just because you’re on a budget doesn’t mean your crudités have to show it. Instead of carrot sticks and cucumber rounds, choose artichoke hearts, broccoli flowers, radishes cut in heart shapes or other creative choices, with flavored dipping sauces.
Negotiate either to lower or eliminate the wedding cake-cutting fee from your overall package (this is a charge for servers to cut and plate each slice of cake and can run you $1.50 to $2 per slice).
You won’t need a pasta station if you’re having pasta later on as a side dish. You’ll save big, and you’ll be doing guests a favor by helping them leave room for dinner!
Or keep the salad and combine it with an appetizer. A salad with two grilled shrimp is a budget success because the chef can buy less for both courses.
Skip the big cubed-cheese platter. It’s often the least popular item at a wedding cocktail hour, because most guests have had cheese platters at office parties and family get-togethers. No one will miss it.
Miller says, “Forget a top-dollar filet! Less costly braised boneless short ribs are a wonderful choice, served plated or at food stations.” Ask your wedding caterer to show you price options for different cuts of lamb and pork as well as beef.
Serve macaroni and cheese in martini glasses, mini grilled cheese bites made in sandwich presses and tiny crab cakes with tartar sauce. These perennial crowd-pleasers come at about one-third the cost of traditional cocktail party fare.
Skip the raw bar— though trendy, it's one of the most exorbitant kinds of stations. Instead, Miller suggests a hand-passed hors d’oeuvre, like tequila-cured salmon served in martini glasses.
Dessert drinks are a break for your budget, so consider chocolate or coffee floats with fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings, served in sugar-rimmed glasses, instead of a costly international coffee bar with liquor-infused drinks.
Photo Credit: Josh Lynn Photography
At the Bar
Skip the champagne for your wedding toast. Guests can toast you with the drinks they have in hand. Or look into serving easily available sparkling wines from France (cremant), Spain (cava) or Italy (prosecco) instead.
“Put out big bowls of colorful, lush salads with grilled vegetables, which allows you to show generosity without spending a whole lot,” says Shai Tertner, award-winning chef at Shiraz in New York City. Tertner suggests adding punch to your presentation by using colorful bowls, giant woks and other unusual platters.
Comparison shop for seafood. For example, calamari and mussels are often half the price of shrimp cocktail and scampi. Ask your wedding caterer for a list of less costly seafood appetizers.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Crow
Cakes & Desserts
Forgo the Viennese dessert table, which may cost up to $15 a guest. Chriswell believes that most guests won’t miss it at all. Your site’s package may include a wedding cake plus one additional dessert (say, chocolate-covered strawberries), and many couples say this is a great choice.
A five-tier tower is nice, but a smaller three-tier one is even nicer because it will take a smaller bite out of your budget. Have a sheet cake in the same flavors waiting in the kitchen for the staff to cut and serve.
Hand pass pricier appetizers, like shrimp, scallops or other seafood items, rather than setting them out for guests to serve themselves. Caterers say guests consume 40 percent fewer pieces this way.
Try a pierogi bar. Offer these potato-stuffed dough bites with choices of cheddar cheese, goat cheese or spinach, and a dipping sauce like sour cream or mustard.
Go bite-size with desserts, like tiny chocolate-covered cheesecakes. By controlling portions, you’re saving one-third the price of a full dessert buffet.
Do you really need a chocolate fountain and flaming bananas? There’s no need to pay extra for “entertainment” desserts (your guests will have plenty of fun anyway).
Offer theme stations, such as a fajita station or Thai station. “The Asian station, where it’s more about the display, is very popular now,” Tertner says. “We set out large woks or serve food in take-out containers that coordinate with the wedding’s theme or colors. We also create pyramids of basmati and jasmine rice, lots of egg noodles and a range of condiments. These ingredients are not costly, but it looks as though you’ve invested a lot.”
Use unique plates. Leila Miller, award-winning event planner at Feastivities Catering in Philadelphia, says, “People eat with their eyes first, so focus on the presentation. Serving trays that are a bit different, like small tapas-style plates, can add a twist to the fare without adding to your bill.”
Instead of offering a choice of three entrées, design a platter with beef medallions and grilled shrimp or crab cakes. You’ll use far less food than if you had to plan for a large quantity of all three entrées to have on hand should guests change their minds.
Serve a delicious vegetarian entrée. Even nonvegetarians may appreciate this choice simply because it’s different from what’s usually on offer at weddings.
You don’t need to have a carving station. Prime rib, ham and pork loin are too heavy and filling, not to mention quite pricey, for the cocktail hour, says Bill Chriswell, catering director at The Park Savoy in Florham Park, New Jersey.
No one will need a five-course feast after cocktails—three will do just fine. If you offered salads at the cocktail party, eliminate the salad at dinner (double savings!).
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