Weddings are a time of joy, but that joy can fade away pretty quickly once you get the bill for the festivities. Food and drink are an important part of any wedding reception, but this necessity can drive your bill up into the stratosphere if you're not careful. So if you're looking for ways to have your food without breaking the bank, then the following are a few tips you ought to know about.
The Early Bird Gets the Worm
In the United States, the most expensive meal of the day is often dinner, with its meat-heavy entrees and large portions – so having a morning or early afternoon reception and serving breakfast (or even brunch) is a quick way to slash your food budget in half. Eggs, French toast, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, hash browns, and even cereal are all cheap to buy or make, and they provide the backbone of a traditional breakfast.
While there are also higher priced items (bacon, sausage, Canadian bacon, or other breakfast meats) involved in breakfast, they're not the focus of the meal, which should enable you to feed your guests adequately without breaking the bank.
Don't Cake It On
Having a 7-tier cake sounds very impressive, but it's just not necessary and can be a huge strain on your wallet. If you're really tied to the traditional cake, consider opting for a small, 2-tier cake for you and your new spouse to cut into and a sheet cake or three in the back to be served to your guests.
If you're not all that tied to cake, the sky's the limit as for how much you can save on wedding desserts. Cupcakes, fruit, candy, fortune cookies – most options tend to be cheaper than a huge cake and can be tied into your wedding's theme as a cute bonus that will leave your guests talking about the hot cocoa bar or make-your-own rock candy station for years to come
Keep It (Somewhat) Dry
One of the biggest expenses when it comes to wedding food and drink is the alcohol – while beer is cheap enough for alcohol (and wine can be too, depending on the quality you buy), liquors can run up your total pretty fast, especially at an open bar.
To rein back the booze budget, consider opting for a cash bar, where guests pay for their own drinks, or limiting your alcohol selection to include only wine and beer. Not only will this keep the party from getting out of hand if a guest is accidentally over served, not purchasing liquor will keep your wallet much fatter. If even beer and wine send your budget over the red line, a dry wedding can be just as much fun (and far cheaper) as one with alcohol – and if you have your reception in the morning, the alcohol won't even be missed.
For more information, contact local professionals like Halls of St. George.
Share7 September 2016
I simply adore preparing meals for my family. However, due to work responsibilities, I don’t always have much time to cook dinner on weeknights. Thankfully, I’ve collected and developed a ton of easy, pasta recipes over the years. Delicious, filling pasta dishes only take minutes to cook. And, everyone in my family loves them. Some of my favorite Italian dishes to prepare on weeknights include chicken pasta, hamburger macaroni, tuna macaroni, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti with meatballs. On this blog, I hope you will discover the reasons pasta dishes are the perfect complements to your weeknight, menu plan. Enjoy!