As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be getting married to my beautiful finance on July 18, 2009. In order to get me thinking about the wedding, I’ve decided to write a weekly post on frugal wedding tips.
This first tip of the series is about having a cocktail style reception dinner. This is what we have decided to do for our wedding. Basically, this means that we are not planning to serve a full course meal. Instead, we plan to have a variety of food stations that offer different selections of food. This means guests will be able to travel around from station to station in order to get the food they like! This will also require allow them to mingle with all of the guests. Here is an example of our food selections:
Station One:
-Honey Chicken Spears
-Fried Mozzarella
-Korean Beef Skewers
Station Two:
-Assorted Wings
-Veggies
-Ranch and Blue Cheese
Station Three:
-Assorted tea sandwiches
Station Four:
-Jumbo wrapped shrimp
-Focaccia Pizza
Station Five:
-Fruit Wands (a variety of fruits)
-Assorted cheese cubes
-Chocolate fondue fountain
Station Six:
-Punch Table, Assorted Beverages
Station Seven:
-The Wedding Cake
The book that we got this tip out of is titled 1000 Best Wedding Bargains
When my fiance first suggested this to me, I thought about the money we would save. I think we can save quite a bit of money since we can cut back on some of the meats (which can be expensive if you have to buy on piece for each person). I also wondered if our guests would think that we were cheap for planning it this way. Then, I realized that most would think that it was unique and a great experience. Can you think of the last time you went to a wedding like this? I know I can’t!
Can you think of any other way this can save money or increase the enjoyability of your guests?
photo by: preciouskhyatt
I was lucky that my employer has a big room where we could have our wedding and reception (free). My boss decided about two weeks prior to the wedding to take over the food preparation. She also went around to everyone in the office and took a donation and paid for all the food! We had cold cuts, cheeses, various salads (that my boss made herself the day of the wedding – the foods of which she bought on sale!) and desserts. The food ended up costing $457 for 96 guests. Our wedding was under $3000 total cost, but with gifts of money, my boss taking care of the food we ended up paying under $100 out of our pocket. The $3000 included clothes for my husband, our two sons. Check my post linked above for the complete tally.
I forgot to say I think the idea of the roaming cocktail party reception sounds great! Just reading the list of foods makes me hungry!
We cannot wait for the yummy food!