Your wedding menu is a big part of your wedding, as everybody wants to enjoy the food as much as the rest of the day. It can also eat up a significant portion of your budget—no pun intended. Planning a wedding catering menu that’s budget-friendly and delicious is easy. Here’s how.
A Brunch Wedding
One of the simplest ways to save money is with a brunch reception. Don’t feel limited in terms of serving options. A brunch menu comes with plenty of creative meal ideas.
Offer fresh bagels and cream cheese varieties with freshly baked muffins, alongside fun dishes such as huevos rancheros, gourmet waffles, and smoothies. A brunch wedding is a lighter dining option, making it a unique and cost-effective alternative for any wedding catering menu.
Go Mini
Serving miniature dishes of crowd favourites makes planning the wedding catering menu a breeze, in addition to keeping costs low. Snack-size portions, such as mini grilled cheese bites and tiny crab cakes, come at a fraction of the price and still allow you to choose creative menu ideas.
Take the same route for your dessert, going bite-sized while presenting a little more variety. When it comes to cake versus cupcakes, there are many alternative wedding desserts to choose from that are delicious and budget-friendly. Less is more when serving dessert buffet-style.
Serve Surf AND Turf
Eliminating courses is a simple solution to cut costs, and you can do it while still presenting a bit of everything for you guests. Instead of offering guests a choice between three options, give them a bit of both, such as a plate that includes beef medallions and grilled shrimp.
The chef needs to cook far less food than had you offered all the options, which is especially convenient when guests change their mind at the last minute.
Consider Alternative Serving Styles
The type of meal served significantly impacts the overall budget. Designing the wedding catering menu today isn’t limited to the traditional sit-down dinner. Consider serving the meal family-style, which features the sit-down meal but adds an element of familiarity and intimacy.
Everyone is there to celebrate the big day—passing food around as one big family is a fitting alternative.
A Refined Bar Selection
A slight stigma remains around tab bars, making open bars a must for many brides and grooms. But there’s no need to have several different liquors on tap in addition to the beer and wine selection. Offer guests a refined drink list of select beers and wines with one or two bar rail options.
You don’t need to pay an exorbitant amount for top-shelf liquor, but guests who prefer a vodka-based drink over red wine will be happy to have that option.
Simple Yet Classy Apps
Cocktail hour doesn’t need to fill everyone up—especially when dinner is next. Offer a simple DIY antipasto dish. These dishes look good, taste delicious, and reduce serving costs when guests can help themselves.
Surround large bricks of cheese with meats, olives, plates, and forks for guests to nibble on before the main course. It’s easy to plate and it presents a light option that’s perfect for tiding guests over until dinner, without going overboard.
Talk to Your Caterer
You’ll be surprised at how much you can save by negotiating lower fees with your caterer. See if you can eliminate the plating, cake-cutting, and corkage fee. If the caterer isn’t willing to remove these costs completely, they may still lower them. Smaller fees add up. Saving money here still reduces your overall spending. Your caterer might come up with other cost-saving options for you as well.
You can find the best wedding caterer. They’ll work with you to design a wedding menu that’s delicious and fits your budget.
