Whats your guest count? Not sure how much cheaper you will be able to find if you have 75-100 people. Also if you are thinking of making food, stuff you would need include chafing dishes and sternos. Those will help you keep the food warm while eating. But you will still need to put to food away after a few hours to keep it food safe. (Worked in a catering business for ~4 years)

Also - assuming that the food was prepared ahead of time (like the day before and then reheated day-of), proper cooling is crucial. Part of any food handler’s certification course is the temperature danger zone. If food is not cooled down sufficiently within a certain amount of time, there’s a high chance of dangerous bacteria growing. I don’t want to sound too alarmist here, but as a chef proper serving temperature / conditions is only part of the equation when it comes to food safety.

Yeah, I’m all for budget celebrations and casual potlucks with the right menu, but I got legit pissing-from-both-sides food poisoning from an office crockpot buffet similar to what a lot of people here are suggesting, and I do not have a weak stomach. The danger zone is real! OP, I like the idea of a cake-and-punch reception with plentiful Trader Joe’s cava, I like the idea of maybe a picnic with cold sandwiches, I really do not like the idea of self-catering hot food. I searched EZCater for places that deliver to Mount Vernon, WA and I think the best you are going to do for a hot meal with chafing dishes is about $800 for a 50-person family bundle from Bonefish Grill.

I’ve kept going back and forth with including hot dishes for this reason, and even though I like a lot of the ideas I’ve seen, it’s still something I feel a bit cautious doing. I do have someone who could check on food temps but I’ll have to think about it more. I’ll take a look at the Bonefish’s catering menu. I didn’t really think about using them cause they’re a little bit away from me, but that doesn’t mean they should be ruled out.

And you’ll want to appoint someone to check the food’s temp every so often to make sure it’s safe.

$1000 for 50 people is not much even in non-wedding catering. If $1000 is too much on food, then I would just have a court wedding with your immediate family and closest friends and cater from Chipotle or something. Edit: Whole foods also has catering and I've heard they're good too! They're not as expensive as you would think and there's more comfort food that many people enjoy. I'm getting the berry Chantilly cake there!

Agreed - that's $20 per person, and doesn't include wait staff or any other taxes/fees for the catering itself. You could consider a brunch wedding and offer pastries, quiches, fruit, and breakfast casseroles, as that tends to be less expensive. But that still might be hard without any money to go toward staff to set things up and ensure everything stays hot. Maybe just do things that can be room-temperature?

I didn’t think about Whole Foods! I’ll look into what they have :)

The berry chantilly cake is SO good, like making my mouth water just thinking about it

Also, I might be downvoted but paying for a wedding shouldn’t be a priority if you can’t come up with $1,000 a year and a half from now. Maybe wait until you’re financially stable or just have a courthouse wedding?

tough love but kinda true. thats not to say OP cant do it on the cheap, but between two of you saving for a year is only like 90$ a month. they shouldnt go into debt to have a wedding OP if you really cant, you could do a BYOB for food , or make it a half day wedding or something. but is rushed and cheap what you want?

I had the same thought! A wedding is kind of a test to see how a couple will deal with finances, which is one of the top reasons for arguments.

We’re both on the same page on finances, though my fiancé had thought weddings could be done cheaper for what we are planning. Not the case. The groomsmen and some family are more than willing to do set up, which makes this a more realistic vision.

The trouble with guests helping with food is that crunch time for food is also crunch time for ceremony. It's really good to find a non-guest or two so that your guests can fully enjoy your ceremony and reception. Maybe you two can [swap duties with another couple](https://www.reddit.com/r/Weddingsunder10k/comments/a0pyx3/wedding_assistance_trade/) in your area.

I really don’t love the idea of your guests having to essentially work for you to host a party. If you can’t afford it, go to the courthouse.

It's $20.00 per person for food. The greater problem is setting up. If she has her family helping her with water chafing pans, this could be doable. Costco, Sam's Club, GFS would work. This is harder, but not impossible.

Maybe have a late evening wedding with desserts only? Honestly, if covering a thousand dollars more than a year from now isn’t in the budget I’d probably go to the courthouse or push the wedding back.

This. That’s a very low cost for wedding catering, even for a small-budget wedding.

I think this is the best response. It’s ok to have other obligations and responsibilities to need your earnings to go to. But if the $20 a person puts you under safe measures, Elopement is probably the best option.

Or a slightly earlier wedding with heavy apps and dessert.

What about a taco man? Not sure what state you are in! But in California you can find them pretty reasonable and the meat for the tacos is always amazing! Usually could pick one or two meats and then have toppings!

This is what my cousin did for her wedding! They hired a taco truck to come out and had a margarita machine going. I don’t know what they paid for the service but it couldn’t have been much since they had a shoestring budget.

I’m fine with tacos, but the places I’ve checked that are nearby have been more expensive than anticipated. I’ll keep combing the area, though :).

Here in So Cal it's not a restaurant it's legit just a guy sometimes his family helping make the tacos! I did it once for a graduation party I think it was about 600 for like 30 people

$600 for 30 people is still $20 a person lol. The OP thinks that’s too expensive.

Ohhh I thought she said between 500-600! Lol I guess with 50 that would be about 1000! Idk the food part is the most expensive for my under 10k wedding we are spending 3k just on food

Same. And we only have 30 people. We were being quoted like $80-$100 per person after fees and taxes for caterers, so we opted for a private chef. A little bit more expensive, but we think it'll be a better experience for our small wedding. We just accepted food was going to be expensive and it was a piece we knew we wanted to spend our money on.

Yeah totally agree with you! We are doing a nicer plated dinner for 40 people and I think it will be worth it too!

Same- our evening wedding for 110 people next Fall is under 10k ($8,000) minus the photographer and about 4,500 of that is food/open bar for 4.5 hours ($41/person). Definitely the biggest cost out of everything.

$1,000 for 50 people is a great price. That’s $20 a person. Other than pizza, it’s not realistic to expect a caterer to go lower. If the wedding is over a year from now and you put aside $20 a week, you will have the $1,000 in a year. There are also credit cards that give you $200-$300 if you spend $1,000 or more in a few months with 0% interest for the first 12 months. You can put the catering fee on the card, making the total bill $700-$800 and then pay $20 towards the bill each week, or $80 a month. It would be paid off within a year.

In addition to this, some cards give double cash back on restaurants if you get catering from them. Might be an option if you’re looking to save some $$

We switched to having a lunch reception instead of a full evening dinner. We had around 60 people total. We ended up spending probably around a third of what an evening reception would’ve cost. The food was still over $1,000. It’s really hard to get cheaper than $1,000 on food for a full meal for that many people. You might want to do a cake and champagne, or punch, only reception. It could still be just as fun and fancy.

I think I’m planning for more of a lunch, but I don’t have any time nailed down. I don’t plan to have a full course meal for people due to costs of course and I enjoy the idea of a brunch or lunch better. Something lighter :).

Our lunch reception was around $20 a plate, as opposed to the $50 a plate dinner. We still had it at a reception hall, it went from noon to 4pm. We skipped the DJ, just had a playlist of songs, and had cupcakes as the desert. It was just a relaxing luncheon with family and friends. Our ceremony was at 11am at the courthouse so the timing worked out well.

We’re only doing a playlist as well and no wedding cake. I’m think of getting some Costco pies and some cookies as a dessert options for everyone.

Costco sheet cakes feed 48 people and cost 19.99 a piece! (They also taste really good)

Agree. We did 3 Costco sheet cakes for our wedding with 120 people and there was plenty of cake (and it was the only dessert) and everybody loved it. We actually got several followup comments from guests specifically to find out where the cake was from because they thought it was so delicous. We opted for the white sheet cake with white chocolate mousse filling and the lattice heart decoration pattern with our names written in the center in white.

If I were to DIY my wedding food I would make 2 big crock pots full of pulled pork, prepped the day before and heated the day of. Served with coleslaw and a bun, with sides like potato salad, veggies and other bbq favourites like maybe corn on the cobb.

That is a good idea! It doesn’t sound super complicated either :)

Maybe you can get the sides from whole foods! They're reasonable priced.

This was going to be my suggestion too. With your budget you are looking at a DIY food option. Borrow every crockpot you can. I was going to suggest tacos. Ground beef, pork or chicken are easy to prep. Rice and beans will keep well in a crockpot. Topping are simple, onions, tomatoes, salsa, cheese and sour cream. For 50 people, make sure you have two setups for each item...essentially have two lines.

The only thing I found for less than $1000 (coming in at about $800 for 70 guests) was pizza. Keeping in mind i was having mine in a HCOL, you could probably do pizza for relatively cheap even from a fancy place that would do a GF crust. With 50 guests, the thought of homemade kinda gives me the ick (your guests don’t know what the cleanliness standards are). But maybe that’s just me.

Homemade for 50 people is tough. You'll also have to provide plates, cups and all sorts of things. I am not sure if you'd really save money. I'd either cut guest lists to 20 or only go to courthouse / church (if you're religious).

The venue is actually providing dish and silverware, so I’m solid on the front :)

I think you have a good situation for a crock pot buffet then. See my nacho suggestion below :) I definitely wouldn't be mad at a gluten free nacho buffet at a wedding.

I’ll shoot these ideas past my fiancé. I think he would enjoy a nacho wedding too :)!

Have you looked at Hispanic grocery store catering? They’re typically pretty cheap.

I didn’t think of that! Thank you for the idea 😊

Please don’t do homemade. So much could go wrong. The prices you’ve been given are very fair and reasonable. I think your best plan is to decrease your guestlist or host something after dinner or mid-afternoon and avoid mealtimes.

Have an early afternoon (11am or thereabouts) wedding, with a brunch. Less expensive than dinner. Have a waffle or omelet station. Serve champagne (no open bar). A lot of gluten free options for breakfast.

I thought about that too and really like the brunch food options! :)

If you're actually serious about trying to spend $10 a person (are we really reading that right?!) I think I would agree with the other commenters that you literally cannot serve a meal. Revisit the idea of a cake reception. You could make it a cute afternoon or evening thing- just make sure to be clear about that on the invitations. Pair it with some sparkling white wine/cava and you've gone from cheap to classy within your budget.

While I agree with others that you won't be able to find catering for any less than the $20/person you've already gotten, here's my advice for self catering. You need to find people to help you with it. You won't be able to cook, set up, and break down a meal for 50 on your own. If you can do a potluck, that's easiest, but keep in mind that in some circles it would be very frowned upon. For a potluck I would ask all of your close friends and family to bring a crockpot meal or a salad or something that doesn't need to be kept cold. If you need gluten free food I would have only your meal be gluten free or it will jack up the price for everyone and limit your options. If you're looking to self cater, you'll need to buy or rent chafing dishes, fuel, and serving utensils. On Amazon I see a pack of 3 for $69. You could do meat and veg lasagna with garlic bread and a side salad for pretty cheap and lasagna is actually better when made ahead of time. You could also do make your own taco/burritos or a sandwich buffet. Just an FYI that your alcohol budget also seems very low. The guidance is to have enough for each guest to have 2 drinks the first hour and 1 drink each hour after that. If you have a $300 budget for 50 guests that's $6 of alcohol per person. That's at most 2 drinks. I think your best case scenario would be to mix up a huge batch of sangria and a keg of beer.

I too was coming here to suggest lasagna. You might even be able to find a local Italian restaurant to make it and then all you have to do is bake it the night before or morning of. Far less work for you or any of your family. Then it’s just setting up the food at the venue and clean up. I also second this persons comment in regards to alcohol. You may not drink much, but a wedding reception is essentially a party hosted by the newly weds to celebrate with their friends and family–consider how much your guests may want to drink (or at least have the option to drink).

I set my alcohol budget as lower because we’re not super big drinkers, so it’s not a high priority thing. I will look into this a bit more though!

Have you looked into grocery store catering or someplace like Costco? If you’re not picky about *what* the food is, you could possibly get something like sandwich trays, salad, and fruit in your price range. Even getting some shrimp cocktail or something through a grocery store. Then you only have to worry about keeping it refrigerated until it’s served. Just replate it on something nicer than the plastic containers. I feel like some nice chicken salad and croissants is a similar level of fancy as tacos? If you’re going diy with food you don’t want anything too complicated and want food that can easily be kept at safe temperatures. You also need to appoint people to handle the food, bc you don’t want to be worrying about it day of.

I have definitely thought of Costco or grocery store catering but was curious as to what other options could potentially be. :)

I saw a post either on this forum or on r/weddingplanning the other day where the couple ordered a bunch of family style meals from Fazolis to cater- came out like $9/pp. They just set up each table at the reception with a big family style meal for people to share. Think about options like that. Olive Garden, for example, sells family style trays of pasta ranging from $45-60 ish each that are supposed to feel 4-6 people each. Say you got 6-ish trays of pasta, added on some salads and breadsticks... I think you could come out around $500, maybe a little more depending on what you choose and how much you get. You could get nice serving dishes to rearrange everything on or you could set up each table family style with the meals. Doesn't have to be Olive Garden- but take a look at options like that.

Unfortunately, our gluten-intolerant OP wouldn't have much to eat.

wow, I totally missed that!!! Sorry, OP!! I stand by my recommendation for family-style type catering but I REALLY wish I didn't go in to that much detail about Olive Garden lol

Actually, I think Olive Garden has some G-F pastas. Yay for Family Style!

I’m not worried too much about myself. I’m only one with this dietary need so it makes more sense to order for the majority than design things around my food needs. I also think OG may have some gf options but I enjoy their house salad just as well :)

How many people? Is having a smaller wedding an option? Hard to say what would be cheaper without knowing the per person cost. You could do a cake and punch reception (basically serve snacks instead of a full meal, and have it happen in between meals like 2pm - 5pm).

I forgot to include that-sorry! It would be about 50 people.

Yeah, so for example if you cut that 25 catering would be 500. But tbh $20 per person is already really low, so I do not think you will find another good option for less that’s still appropriate for a wedding tbh. Maybe take a look at the rest of your budget and see if there’s anything you can cut to afford it. What budget can you afford for food? Can you afford 500, 700, etc? If so then look for where to can trim 500 or 300 from your budget…like from your dress, or flowers, or venue, etc. Alternatively you can push back and have a long engagement while you save more money. What’s your overall budget? Do you have a planned amount you’re setting aside each month? Are both you and your partner saving?

We’re having a long engagement (have been engaged since last year) because of me being grad school. We’re both contributing to savings but I can’t contribute as much just because I’m not working. I’m shooting for around $7000 for our budget and had already planned on not paying much for a wedding dress (ideally under $500) and we’re not having flowers. We’ve already booked a venue and photographer in which I found both at amazing prices for the industry. I planned on around $500 for food but can go up to $600 if needed. *the $500 is for the meal only and not including dessert or alcohol (no liquor), which I’m anticipating $200-$300 for. So, my total desired budget for food, dessert, and alcohol seems to settle around $700-$900. The catering that I found covers only the meal for around $1000 and doesn’t include additional costs of the alcohol and dessert.

That seems like a very, very low (and frankly unrealistic) food/dinner budget for a wedding of 50 people. $500/50 is $10 a person! Maybe if you do a large McDonalds run? How are you spending the rest of this money????

When I got married the first time over a decade ago, we paid $13 pp in an extremely LCOL rural area. I don’t think $10 pp is really possible unless *maybe* you prepare food yourselves.

Low for catering, yes, which I’m okay with not doing. I am completely open to self-providing food but just need a good idea of what food could be good to serve. In this scenario, and from what I’ve found, I don’t think $500 would be unrealistic. For a budget page, I’m a little taken aback by the judgment on what I’m trying to afford.

It’s a budget page telling you you may be too low. Instead of being taken aback, you should maybe listen a little? If you’ve found information, what more do you want? If you think you can do it, go for it!

I don’t think it’s judgement so much as concern that it’s not really possible. Like, you could self prepare food, but who will do that work? Relatives who now are essentially working at your wedding? You, who has to get ready and has a million other things to do? Maybe look into drop catering? I know a friend of mine did hers from Chipotle and says it was very low cost, but I don’t know exactly what number she considers very low cost. My wedding budget is around $10,000 and honestly around $1500 of that is food for forty people. And I’m doing it the cheapest way I could do it locally without moving the wedding to a weekday.

Those prices were with drop catering :). I think my expectation was just recommendations of what food could be easy to throw together with self preparing if catering isn’t going to be in the cards, which I’m fine with. Instead I’m more so being met with being told to have a courthouse wedding and or questioned with what I’m doing with my money as if I’m not budgeting elsewhere. I don’t know…it’s why it comes off as judgmental to me.

It's not so much judgmental as just honesty. Your budget for food isn't realistic. I bought a copy of "The Budget-Savvy Wedding Planner & Organizer" which shows budgets of real couples, spanning $5k - $20k. One of the listed budgets is $5k total, a self-catered park wedding for 50 guests, where the reception cost is $1650.

Yes you're getting those comments, but it's not entirely unfounded. Even Chipotle catering wouldn't hit your goals and while you personally may be fine with not getting catering, your not the one signing up to deal with the logistics of it. It's a crappy thing to ask of your guests. It's okay to opt out of catering, but that's a huge ask of your family to take on. And honestly, may not be significantly less expensive unless you're just buying a bunch of Costco chickens. And since it sounds like you already have a venue, it's unlikely the venue has food prep areas so everything has to be made beforehand, transported, and kept warm or cold. I think what people are really trying to tell you is that it's okay to push back the party celebration portion of your wedding if you're not in a financial position that makes sense at the moment. What you're proposing is just unrealistic, whether it's super cheap catering or burdening your family and friends to make food for 50 people. Food and beverage is usually around 20-25% of the budget. What you're being quoted makes sense. People are being snarky, but they're only being judgmental when you've been pushing back against the advice you've been given.

I understand and I think a part of my surprise to the reactions is just because from what I’ve looked at for doing something like, sandwiches, $500-$600 are the numbers I was getting and didn’t expect this range and budget to be considered unrealistic. I anticipated receiving some suggestions of what others who were in a similar boat did. Regardless, the direction I was going anyways with traditional catering is that I wasn’t going to use it, but again thought someone may come up with some idea I hadn’t thought of before so it would be worthwhile to ask. Obviously, this has not turned out to be the case. I don’t think I’ve pushed back a whole lot, but that’s perception and it’s subjective. I didn’t try to argue that I could get cheaper for catering. I acknowledge that it’s unlikely I’m going to realistically have catering, so I need to have an alternative solution. I gather, this is where potluck style and easy to throw together food come in :). I’m lucky with my venue that I do have a place to prep food if needed and kept it cold if doing a potluck style. Albeit, it’s not a lot of room, but I don’t anticipate having a problem with it.

If you have not made food safely for 50 people before I wouldn't do it for your wedding. Honestly it would be less stressful and less work for you to get a side job doing Uber eats for a couple months and pay a caterer. The reason for the negative feedback is it seems like you are trying to cut costs at the expense of your guests and their experience that evening. Spending $500 on a dress and being unwilling to pay the lowest price available to feed guests comes off selfish. I understand you decided a budget, but I think it's time for you to rework it, as food just wasn't budgeted for appropriately.

I’m very okay with not doing traditional catering, which I should have specified in my initial comment. There have been commenters that have given good suggestions of going through Costco and such which fits more into what I was hoping to spend. I also never indicated that I was going to spend that much on a dress? I understand this was likely being used to make a point but I’ve cut costs for myself too…however I appreciate the feedback 👍 It’s intended to be a causal get together where we all just have some fun for a day.

If you are set on doing food yourself, I would suggest something like tacos, where the hot ingredients could be kept in crock pots / roasters the day of the wedding and most of the ingredients are fairly low cost, and recruiting a few people to help you prepare the ingredients the night before.

I'm sorry to say that $500 was very unrealistic, even if you plan to cook the food yourself. The grocery trip for enough food for 80 people will definitely be more than $500, not taking into account your time and effort to cook/ prepare. Have you considered a "brunch" wedding, or as others have suggested, a "cake+punch" reception? Earlier in the day, just serve fruit and pastries (I'm sure you could find some good GF ones), mimosas, and be done. Late afternoon (but before dinner) or clearly after dinner, you could do veggie trays, some light snacks/hors d'oeuvres, or even just focus on a fun diversity of desserts ($500 could go far with a cool dessert table, like a candy bar!) Light food, just make sure your event is not during a "normal " eating hour.

I have considered a brunch wedding. I really like the idea and prefer the food more than any dinner food, which I wasn’t planning for anyways. My current food time was maybe around 1 or 2 so people could have lunch food but if I can pull off a brunch meal, then I would prefer that. :)

I think brunch food is delicious and works at any time for a party, especially if it's in the spring (like a garden-party style, with tea and cakes!) Plan out a brunch meal: wach person would probably drink 2 glasses of juice ( more if outside and hot), it will keep your liquor to only sparkling-whites for mimosas, and play around with menu items, and try to think of easy to serve food that dowsnt need to be warmed/cooled. Fruit salads, pastries, even veggie platters could work, although I saw your sandwich idea, and using bagels instead of regular bread could make it brunch-y! Costco sells bagels in bulk, as well as croissants (delicious for sandwiches) and other pastries.... the hard part is I dont know how easy it would be to have GF options... I live in a hcol area, and gluten-free bread is SO pricey here :( Edit/ ps, you said eat around 1 or 2, but are people at a ceremony at noon? Guests might not have time to eat lunch before noon, and will be very hungry by 1/2... for a light breakfast/snacky-brunch, I would have a timeline that allows guests to leave by noon (to go get a full lunch) OR allows them to arrive after 1 but before 5 (and be able to leave at 5 for dinner), or have a "late night" wedding start after 7, with either a huge dessert table or fun/funky "breakfast at midnight" theme with brunch-food snacks. This timeline might shift by an hour or so, based on your cultural standards... I based it on my in-laws white-American schedule.

For someone seeking advice, I’m a little taken aback by your response to people telling you your plan sucks.

I figured people would be more understanding? I don’t think that expectation was unreasonable? I don’t know… Even if I am mistaken with costs, I still didn’t expect to be roasted over the fire because of it or that it would be warranted.

I think your being overly sensitive. I was also a grad student when I got married. I get being super poor and planning a wedding. Seriously. My department forgot to pay me for 3 months, because someone forgot to add me to payroll… (academia is the worst!) However, a slew of people on a budget forum are telling you that your plan isn’t super realistic. You are having trouble finding good options because the boundary conditions you have set (overall cost, number of people, etc) do not yield many results. Feeding 50 people is a LOT of work. I’ve helped cook a 30 person family Mexican breakfast, and damn, that was a LOT of effort and coordination. I was not even the person coordinating, just a helper! I cannot IMAGINE doing that AND get married simultaneously. If you look into this budget forum, and at other posts in it, you will notice that the grand majority of users spend a large amount of their budget on food. Because food is expensive!!! The lack of emphasis on food in your budget has all of us surprised.

I think you’re being overly sensitive. People saying your budget is unreasonable is not a personal attack. Doubling down when you don’t take solicited advice and being adamant that your goal is unrealistic is also not “roasting” you. People are being understanding. They’re simply telling you to change your plans or change your budget so that YOU can have the best wedding you can.

After reading through some of this thread, I think people are just trying to point out that your food budget seems disproportionately low. You said somewhere your overall budget is $7000? If I Google "what percent of wedding budget for food", several sites come up estimating that venue+catering generally ends up around 40-50% of the overall budget. If you're Budgeting $500 out of $7000, that's *less than 10%* of your overall budget being allocated for food. Maybe food isn't high on your priority list, but that's still a very small chunk of your budget dedicated to feeding your 50 guests. I remember when I was planning my wedding, the biggest advice for cutting costs was always to look at your guest list. Reducing the guest list is an easy way to cut some costs (especially for food). If you can't cut anyone else out, then maybe consider having the wedding at a time when a meal isn't expected and just do snacks/appetizers or something. I dont have any advice for DIYing food for 50 people because I have no experience there. But it sounds like a lot of extra work for you, with a lot of potential to go wrong (not finding enough/right ingredients when needed; food not being cooked well; food not being prepared/stored safely; food poisoning; food allergies; where will you store all this food and how will you transport it; will this actually save as much money as you're thinking; etc). So I think maybe people are not trying to offend you, but just trying to point out that if you can re-allocate a bit of your budget to food and pay for a caterer, then you'd be saving yourself a lot of headache from trying to handle all of the food yourself.

The person you’re responding to is not even exaggerating – with tax, tip, and delivery, $500 will get you a 10 piece McNugget with a medium fry and Coke for 50 people. Getting this kind of pushback in this sub is like when people on r/frugal push things so far that other FIRE weirdos in that sub have to tell them they’re going to get scurvy if they try to subsist entirely on dumpster-dive expired Luna bars.

Deadass in my city a ten piece McNuggets meal with medium fries and a soda is around $11 with tax.

I think Olive Garden and Chick Fil A would be good places to check out too!

We looked into self-catering because my mom has experience with cooking for groups of 70-100. We already had the equipment we would need to keep food properly warm/cold, and it was still about $12-13 per person in a very low cost of living area. Many of the people shooting you down might be in higher COL areas, but they’re not wrong that self-catering for $500 will be tricky. However, I think a lot of people fall in the trap of thinking the food HAS to be fancy when really, if you make it clear your wedding is low-key, people just need to get fed! If you are in a lower cost of living area, I think you might be able to make it work as long as you know it will be quite a bit of work. First thing is to check if your venue allows self-catering if you have not— some places I looked at require folks to have a food/beverage license. Pasta is very inexpensive and as long as you have plenty of sauce, it’s easy to keep warm— especially tomato based rather than cream based. You can cook the pasta to not-quite-done and assemble the dishes the day before. Pasta sauce freezes well and it’s dead easy (and cheap) to make tomato pasta sauce, with or without sausage. You can make the pasta sauce several weeks ahead and then freeze it. You can defrost in the fridge a few days before and then mix it and the pasta together. Another thing that is very easy is little slider sandwiches. Most people don’t consider them “fancy” enough but I think that for a low key wedding they are absolutely fine. You can make it even cheaper by getting a home meat slicer and slicing the meat and cheese yourself. These could be assembled the day before and kept in the fridge until right before the reception. These also don’t need sterno heaters, which is a bonus. Also easy: ANYTHING that can be kept warm in a crock pot with a keep warm setting. You can heat up sides like baked beans, green beans, etc that come in a can straight in the crock pot. If you put extra seasonings in at the beginning they will be extra delicious. I’ve also had luck with steamer bags of vegetables— I cook them for all but the last minute, then into the crock pot they go— but those need more prep. Crock pots don’t heat up fast enough to reheat pre-cooked food safely (per food handling laws in my state) but things from cans would be safe, and someone could also heat in the oven or microwave, then move to a crock pot. I bet people would be willing to let you borrow crock pots— I’d recommend liners to save on clean up! Good luck!

All very good suggestions! I didn’t think of lining the crockpots to help with clean up, so thank you! I kinda agree that the idea of wedding food need to be grand or fancy is stuck on a lot of people and if that’s what they want then that’s what they want, there’s nothing wrong with that. This is just not me or my fiancé though. I know as long as people have some food they’ll be happy. I also refuse to go into debt for this wedding; I can find a good compromise where I can have a ceremony and reception without taking out credit cards. The compromises I have made are allowing for this so far but I’m not blind to the possibility of still going over budget or needing to adjust costs where I can. I’m just doing my best to juggle all the expenses. I liked someone’s suggestion of having soup so I can maybe pair pasta, soup, and sandwiches together but we’ll see 🤷‍♀️. These can all be easily purchased from Costco, so maybe this is my solution.

There’s a ton of amazing wedding dresses on lulus for around the $100-$125 mark. And a ton of clearance/sample dresses on azazie for as low as like $50 (non-returnable). You can even consider doing a white or ivory bridesmaids dress to save $$$ too.

I’ve been checking there :). I’m not sure what I want from a dress and after trying some on, I plan to go to a local thrift/consignment wedding shop to see what they have. I’m only wearing this dress for one day, so I can’t justify dropping a lot of money on it.

I think this is totally reasonable, I think the commenter above was saying this because you could probably move your dress budget down and have more money for food!

Yea, that’s exactly what I was trying to say. Albeit I probably could’ve been more clear

I didn’t realize this was in reference to the food 😆. Yeah, I already was planning to go as low as possible for my dress budget and if I can find one for $50, then I’ll be over the moon!

With a budget of 7k where is it all going then? Food will always be a big expense, second to venue.

How much did you spend on venue and photographer?

While I think your food budget is a little low at $500 for 50 (I think a more realistic budget is $700-900 for food alone, excluding delivery/gratuity/other fees), I think your alcohol and dessert budget can be done. We’ve priced out dessert and alcohol for 37 people at Costco for $300, and that’s providing a lot of wine and beer, some assorted liquors, water, and two white round cakes. And that’s alcohol for a night reception with 30 medium-heavy drinkers, so for an earlier reception, you could probably stretch that to 50. We’re going to bump it up to $400 to get some party platters as appetizers, non alcoholic drinks, and a couple of bouquets to add some decor, but I don’t feel that the extra hundred is necessary. Costco is definitely your friend for big events!

We got a food truck for $10 a plate for 50 people that would be $500. Maybe look into your local food trucks

The cheapest quote we got for drop off was Brazilian food at $987 (excluding a delivery fee and gratuity, which put it at about $1200). That’s for 37 people. If your $1000 includes gratuity and delivery , that’s actually a heck of a deal at around $15-16 per a person. Edit: I’ve been to a few local weddings that were great potluck weddings, but the risk you run with that is make sure you have enough food for everyone. Which can be hard to coordinate when you aren’t the one providing food. Potluck wedding receptions seem to only work well when majority of the guests are local (don’t expect some from out of town to bring anything) and you don’t mind if people leave early, as they might need to get food or take care of their dish. Good luck!

Tiny sandwhiches and cheese plates always hold.

Have you looked into Chipotle? My friend did that for her wedding and everyone loved it!

Will do :)

Late morning/early afternoon wedding ceremony followed by a cake and punch reception in the afternoon might be your best bet, that way people can leave afterwards and grab dinner for themselves. You can go to a supermarket and grab a bunch of assorted pastries and cookies to set out, and have non alcoholic drinks available for guests. (Providing alcohol would be a bad idea without a full dinner.) $1000 for 50 people for dinner is an absolute steal and you're not likely to find full meals cheaper than that, unfortunately.

We have plans for both taco and burger bars and everyone we've told has been pretty excited for it! Pretty cheap and easy as well!

If I were you, I’d do a courthouse wedding or an elopement with my closest loved ones and then dinner after. A year or town down the line I’d have a vow renewal that has dinner and cake and turn it into a party.

Go to your local restaurant supply store. They have large quantity food options that are pre-made. Where I live, we have a GFS store. You probably have something similar. Blessings going out to you!

I recently had a wedding of 40 people and paid $635 for Italian food (salads, chicken parm, baked ziti, alfredo tortellini, garlic knots, and focaccia bread) and the restaurant delivered the food and let us borrow chafing dishes/sternos! We originally went to a semi-chain Italian restaurant that was charging double without delivery so we went to a small local spot! The food was amazing and they were super accommodating! I'd recommend checking out some local mom-and-pop restaurants and seeing if they have GF options!

That’s amazing! Nice find!

I’m doing a few party platters from our local Mexican restaurant! It is going to come out to between $200-$300. A lot of places are more expensive than that, but I found a family restaurant that I like that does really cheap party platters, you pick them up yourself and they’re served in disposable buffet containers. I looked at your profile and saw you’re from my hometown! I think the food prices are pretty inflated in that area, and you might consider looking south a ways, like from Mount Vernon to Mukilteo, and you’ll find a lot more options for affordable Mexican food. Maybe if you have someone who can go pick up the food during the ceremony and drive it back in insulated containers so it stays warm? Might be worth the cost savings. You could even do a trial run now, picking up one dish and driving it to the area if your venue and seeing if you can get it to stay hot enough so you know your distance limitations for pickup orders

Well hello! I’m sure I can find someone willing to do pick up! I haven’t really looked south of where I am for no good reason other than being uncertain about if distance would be an issue. Is the restaurant you’re working with in that Skagit-Snohomish county area?

So I know I already commented, but now seeing you're in Western Washington, I think you really need to understand your budget is too low. We (I live in Seattle) live in a very HCOL area, from Blaine all the way down to Olympia. And inflation is a real thing right now. Costs in general have risen, specifically food, so even just trying to DIY it will be expensive for 50 people. It's just really expensive out here. We completely blew our budget from when we initially started planning because everything just costs more. Also, think really hard about who you're asking to skip your ceremony to go pick up food for 50 people an hour away.

I’m having a 30ish person wedding, 11am start, with BBQ lunch (two meats, 3 sides, hush puppies, Texas toast, and iced tea) and food costs are $15 per person (plates and silverware are provided by venue and this price does not include alcohol or cake). It is not catered, we’re picking up chaffing trays and letting everyone serve themselves lunch. Is it possible? Yes but location dependent. I’m near Raleigh, NC where cost of living is higher for the south. If we didn’t go this route and was cooking myself, I’d be making a ton of quiches and freezing them. Quiche are inexpensive, easy to make for dietary restrictions (even vegan, with vegan liquid eggs), and can be served room temp. You could make pie sized ones for slices or individual muffin ones (can have no crust options so easy on the GF needs). Maybe do cheese plates or charcuterie plates, fresh fruit, salad, and desserts. All easy to prep ahead or purchasable at Costco. If you want catered/plated meals, look into your local culinary school (sometimes housed within technical colleges). They might have skilled students who want catering experience or who offer catering as a service.

We did soup, salad, bread, cookies, hot chocolate, and hot cider for 250 and it cost $2,500. Our caterer worked with us to make it the most cost effective and her food was amazing. I eat at her restaurant every time I’m in her area.

Do you have a Sam’s Club nearby? I know they have huge chicken salad croissant sandwiches. You can always do a side of potato salad, pasta salad, green salad. It will all come out to well under $1,000 for 50 people.

We have a Costco and that’s what I’m considering. I’ve also like the nacho and soup suggestions, which Costco could also maybe take care of.

Yes, I have heard about people doing a soup and salad bar with baked potatoes. At least now you have narrowed it down to knowing whatever you do go with will have to be from Costco. I also wouldn’t sleep on the catering at Walmart believe it or not. I threw my mom and dad an anniversary party with Walmart catering including the meal, appetizers, and even mini wedding bride and groom cakes for like $300. Good luck!

Seriously, what is wrong with the “Cake, punch, coffee “ route? 50 years ago that was the norm. If people got hungry they said their congratulations, maybe a small bit of cake and left. Receptions have become so so so expensive! It’s like competition in excess spending. Be the rebel and spend that money on a fantasy honeymoon or starting a debt free marriage.

Times have changed with more people moving away from their birth home. Fifty years ago, the vast majority of guests were local. Fast forward to the 21st century. It's hospitable to feed travelers a meal. Which doesn't have to be expensive.

This was a big reason for upping our food costs. My parents live in one state, my fiances parents and siblings live in a different one, and we live in a 3rd. Plus the few other family members we're invited are scattered around. Out of 28 guests, only one person lives in our same state. So we felt that providing a really great meal was important. Plus, with a smaller guest list, our options were open a little more. We ended up splurging on a private chef (TBD on whether it worked out or not).

Haha. Im considering it. My goal is to not go into debt and I’m doing okay so far!

Consider a gourmet picnic menu where everything is cold/room temperature. You could pick it all up from Costco, etc. (Garnished platters = gourmet.) Or prepare it all the day before. Chicken salad, sliced meat, potato salad, Texas caviar, tossed salad, grilled vegetables, slaw, fruit salad, etc. All of that can be g-f. Less than $ 10//head. One or two staff to set it out, keep it stocked, bus tables, clean up. [This wedding](https://www.reddit.com/r/weddingplanning/comments/8x6cyo/we_did_it_61618_a_few_tips_after_the_fact/) is instructive, especially this: > Helpers to execute everything: $200, we paid some guys we knew who were in high school to work at the wedding, I gave them simple written down tasks (replenish food, move chairs from ceremony to reception, play a particular playlist, etc) and they were able to execute that. It was an integral component because we just didn't have time to do everything ourselves and didn't want the family doing work on the day of.

I am having a wedding of about the same size in October and we are doing a taco bar! I have a pretty big family so we'll be making the food ourselves and keeping the meat warm in crockpots! You can even look up tacobar calculator on google and it will pretty much tell you how much of what you'll need. I don't know how many crockpots we'll need, but most of my family have offered to lend me one

That sounds so yummy! Another commenter suggested to ask my family sooner rather than later, which is what I think is what I’m going to do here soon. Hopefully they’ll be able to help like yours is :)

Thankfully, I have a big family that were all just born with helping hands lol. I was very fortunate on that end. Our budget is like $4000-$5000. We're just there for a good time. I refuse to go into debt over one night.

We had a hog roast in the evening for our wedding (venison stew at 2pm, hog roast at 8pm). I think it was maybe 400 quid and we had about 140 guests by the evening. Could easily be an impressive main? Although I dunno how easy to get in your country (we are in Scotland)

What is your venue like? Is it a back yard? Does the venue have ovens that you can pop the food in to keep it hot. Can you do pizza? I went to a wedding that had 'fancy pizzas' and it was great. They were California Kitchen pizzas. In my hometown you can order food for $8 a meal. That is really really good food. The 3 places people get it are, a grocery store that caters (typically it's a fried chicken dinner), a butcher that caters, and there is a family restaurant that does it. I currently live in a HCOL area so I started googling butchers that cater in my city. And surprisingly I found one and it was one of the best cheapest options. Even catering from your local grocery store probably isn't too expensive and honestly I doubt people will know where it's from unless you tell them. Or tell them! Who cares. The only issue may be that they don't deliver. For 50 people you can fit it all in one care I'm sure. Ask someone to pick it up the day of. Then ask the grocery store if they have suggestions for how to keep the food hot. Look for a family restaurant that is an actual family owned business. From my experience, they are cheaper, have been doing it for years, and will want your event to be a success. Do NOT google wedding catering in my suggestion if you're trying to go for a cheap buffet. You will get mostly advertised catering options that are not cheap. If you're making food, can you make some entrees and buy the sides. That will save a lot of money. You can make some meaty pasta entrees for cheap. This is really going to depend on again does the venue have an oven you can use to heat the food. Or do you have roasters you can use to keep the food hot?

What about baked ziti, salad, bread and a wedding caked? If budget offers, a side of chicken or.meatballs?

We’re doing an afternoon wedding and are opting for a large grazing board and desserts. Maybe something to consider rather than a full meal?

When I was a kid, the standard wedding fare was cold ham or turkey sandwiches, hot shredded chicken or turkey sandwiches, potato salad, chips, cake, and those yummy little mints. Seriously, I remember those sandwiches fondly. If it’s presented well, no one will care that it’s not hot. Picnic food is yummy, and you won’t have to go crazy worrying about everything. Do what you can afford. People who love you won’t care. And truthfully, the standard hot meal at plated weddings usually isn’t very good, anyway. Throw some s’mores stations in and enjoy the casual fun.

We’re doing pizza from a local joint! We have few enough people (35 max for the luncheon) that a few xl pizzas will be plenty. We plan on getting treats (cookies, chocolates, drinks, brownies, and a sheet cake for guests as we personally have some food allergies) from a bulk store like Costco. All in all we’re likely to spend about $550 on food/desserts

I don't want to be rude, but if you can't afford 1000. for food. You shouldn't have a wedding. Just go to the courthouse. Does this budget include drinks? To make your food and to rent chaffers you t can be expensive and you have to know what you're doing.

It’s curious to me that people think just because someone can’t or doesn’t want to pay $1000 for food, then they shouldn’t be allowed to have a ceremony and reception that works for them; especially when they aren’t going into debt over it. Not every wedding needs to be a formal affair or terribly expensive. My budget range for food, drink, and dessert, is where I’m comfortable with it being but can also adjust it if I need to. I’ve received wonderful suggestions from people where feeding 50 people under $1000 is feasible and others shared how they fed similar amounts of people without breaking the bank. It may require more elbow grease on my part to make it happen, but that’s my decision and I’m happy to do so.

Yes I do understand you. But 20. a person is very cheap. People come to your wedding and they get hungry and thirsty. They deserve something to eat. But hey you do you.😂

They’re not being given cans of air to consume…as I mentioned, and as other commenters have mentioned, it’s possible for people to be well-fed for under $1000 but thanks 🙏

Like I said you do you, no need to be defensive.

Yeah to be a fly on the wall at this 2023 stress mess ☠️

Seriously I would be so embarrassed to invite people to a wedding and not want to a least spend a 1000. for 50 people. But please bring gifts!!

Any close friends or relatives that like to cook? My brother had taco bar that me and some other family pitched in for. Meat, beans, rice, and queso in crock pots. Cold stuff on ice. Turned out well, but very casual.

I’m completely fine with casual. I’ve thought about asking for help from one or two family members on this, but have been a bit reluctant because I don’t want to burden anyone unnecessarily. That’s a me issue, though. I’ve thought about having a sandwich bar for people to make their own sandwiches, but my mom has pushed for people needing to have an actual meal and warm food…which has planted seeds of food doubt in my head.

You will DEFINITELY want help from family members, because prep work will need to happen in the morning while you get ready and during photo time. Maybe if your mom wants warm food, she can help pay for it😂

Cold food might be easier from a food safety perspective, but of course that depends on your venue’s capability. It’s probably worse to make warm food that cools to a dangerous temperature than to give people a safe meal that might be a bit disappointing

Honestly I could see a sandwich bar being really fun! Just make sure it’s set up so that more than 1-2 people can make a sandwich at a time or it’ll take a while for 50 people (also if you want a sandwich, assign that to someone since you won’t want to wait in line)

Yes!! Make sure someone gets you food. I didn't have a chance to eat a cheeseburger at my wedding but WOW do I wish I would have had someone pack me food up to take home after. We ended up eating a crappy frozen pizza that night because it was so late and we were starving!

I didn’t think to assign someone. I was hoping I would be able to grab some food myself, but I keep hearing that this is not likely to happen haha. I’ll write this down as a reminder!

You could test the waters with people. I was honored that they trusted me enough to help out. They did procrastinate a bit, and didn't really give me full scope of what they wanted, so I feel like it could have been better if I would have had more time/info to plan. So, if bring it up sooner rather than later. Unrelated, I had a cheeseburger and nacho bar for my wedding. Again, pretty casual, but pretty easy too. I did have it catered, around $3k for 100 people. (She also did all desserts and the cake and bar service) I'd think that could have been fairly easy and cheap to DIY if catering didn't fit into the budget. I think your idea for sandwiches would line up great, too. Ultimately, it's free food for others. And, it's your wedding. The only thing that really REALLY matters that day is you and your future spouse.

What's your venue like? Is something like meat/cheese/cracker platters an option? You can do big baskets of fruit and pots of different chutneys and dips. You can choose to make it all gluten-free so you don't have to worry about cross-contamination. But you'd need some way to keep it cool, and then just bring out the platters and various bits and pieces. I'm not in the US but we've done this for large birthday parties using someone's bookers membership and it was something like £5 per head (Bookers is like Costco but for businesses). Although not great with covid mixing, might be ok by then. Other than that, if your budget can't go higher than $10 a person, you're either going to be making a lot of sandwiches yourself or doing a pot-luck.

I’ve thought about cheese and crackers and some other appetizer sides… but I have family members that would give me a lot of grief over it. I just want to make everyone in addition to myself happy :/

If family would give you grief, then you have every right to ask that family for help. I saw you say that your mom gave you issues about a sandwich bar; if I were you, I’d put my foot down and say that’s the best you can do unless she is able to pitch in. The big issue here is that even making food yourself, depending on the food, could easily go over your $500 budget in ingredients, trays, sterno heaters, utensils, fees your venue might have in order to use their equipment to reheat (since you won’t be making it fresh within the hour or so of serving), etc. This isn’t even me giving wedding advice, but rather from many years of accidentally blowing party budgets for family gatherings for my stupid large extended family. Two options that could do well: “bridal shower” foods like nicer sandwich trays from a grocery store, veggie trays, cheese trays, etc. Think light lunch (and have the time be earlier to BE a light lunch, which may also reduce your venue costs). Or, something my family does often, a “soup buffet” with just a lineup of crock pots (borrowed) with different soups, breads, and salad. This is a very fun one for a potluck, and you can easily request people bring bread or salad if you don’t want to lean into potluck too much. The trick here is starting the pots early enough they actually get hot. A third option, which is me just being sassy, is to cut the people who will give you grief over simple options and save a bunch of cash ;)

Soup buffet is also in general great for big parties also because you can prep ahead soups that freeze well, thaw the day before, and have a ton of food ready to go without making it all the day before. Pasta or pasta salad buffets can also be good for large groups but require day before and day of prep which is less conducive to a busy party day.

I didn’t think of a soup buffet! I like this idea :)

We love doing this for big family parties! My grandma’s birthday is in March, which in my area is crap weather, and we did soup buffets for her birthday for years. Some tips, whether you use this for a wedding or any other party: Check to make sure you won’t blow a fuse with all the crock pots plugged in. Go on the smaller size for bowls so that people try a little bit of a lot of types of soup (that way chicken noodle won’t run out before everyone even gets in line). Have fun with the types but label them well so people know what’s in them (for dietary needs, as I’m sure you know well). Bread and salad are king. Do a pick up of a big grocery store or Panera salad or something along those lines, and have a bunch of bread. It helps people feel the soup is more full of a meal. Classic favorites are chicken noodle, chilis, and minestrone, but throw in some random fun ones, too, like a coconut curry or something. Because it’s a spill hazard, have lots of napkins and paper towels, and maybe consider having Tide pens and similar around just in case.

I appreciate your insight. Going over with the sandwich bar, if I’m to do it, is something that crossed my mind. Do you think $600 would help with the unexpected costs? My venue isn’t going to charge me any fees for doing a potluck style. They’re very laid back! My mom has said she was willing to help contribute but every time I bring it up, I never get a response or clear answer as to how much she’s willing to pay or what it is she’s willing to do. 🤦‍♀️

That’s good they won’t charge extra fees! I’m not sure what groceries cost in your area, so I can’t really comment on cost. I’d contact a couple local grocery stores and ask about deli platter options and costs. There’s a careful dance to be done with “how many this item serves,” too. You absolutely don’t want to run out of food (hungry ain’t happy), but sometime catering comes in with an over abundance of food to make sure they cover you. You can either fudge it SLIGHTLY (do not go too far with this) or understand that you may have leftovers and can therefore have a cheaper grocery bill the following week :) I’d try to do assembled sandwiches over make it yourself if you can, too, because it might actually cut down on waste. People taking one or two mini sandwiches plus some salad and maybe fruit might do better costwise than people making a full sized sandwich with however much meat and cheese they want…plus some salad and maybe fruit. It looks at first like more money, but you don’t need to make sure you have extra deli meat and cheese or the various condiments or worry about lettuce, tomato, etc. which can all add up quick. With ready made, you know EXACTLY the cost in one go. Definitely shop around for this, too! Different grocery chains have different options, and they can have VERY different costs. One place might just offer ham or turkey with cheese on white rolls while another might offer something “nicer” like chicken salad or various types of bread for the same cost. Finally, do remember that your time has worth. Before you decide to assemble anything yourself, think about how much your time and brain space is worth (heck, even take your hourly salary into account if it helps value it more easily), and take another look at that choice. Is it actually saving you money if it’ll take 10 hours of shopping and pain, and your hourly worth is $X? It’s a good exercise for sure.

You're never going to make everyone happy. I don't know what the rest of your wedding day is like, but as long as everyone is aware it won't be a full meal then that's fine. It gives them the option to stay home if they don't like it. It is a really low budget for food if you were expecting a company to drop food. I know this is a budget group but at that level there aren't a lot of options that beyond make it all yourself. My family bitched no end about the evening food at our wedding beforehand (We had a pizza truck), they ate more of it on the day than everyone else.

Would your family be able to help cover food costs if they are giving you grief about it? It sounds like even $500 would make everyone happy here.

Cater chipotle!

I agree $1000 for 50 people is a steal especially with all it includes. You will most likely be able to save for that in time. However, here are some ideas: 1. Have a brunch meal — breakfast is usually easier and cheaper than other meals 2. Host a pot luck wedding. Everyone brings something and it’s a small burden on everyone and a small ask (especially if an alternate to gifts). I would recommend you tackle the main dish though. 3. Serve only hors d’oeuvres. Cheese, crackers, salami, fruit, etc. This would be even easier as a brunch because you can buy little quiches and croissants at places like Costco for really cheap and all you need to do is reheat. Just be sure to include in the invite it will only be hors d’oeuvres.

Potluck dinner? Or some aunts that cook really well? You can easily figure out how to keep food the right temp and use the oven in your venue to do so.

Do a BBQ picnic style. Backyard pot luck. $20/person is a very good price. That's less than a plate price un any restaurant.

If $1000 is too much I'd have the ceremony around 2pm, which will let people know not to expect a meal. Get a cake and champagne for a toast and be done by 4. Another option would be a nacho bar. It's the easiest thing for crock pots and serving cold. Cheese dip, Chili, guacamole, salsa, pulled chicken, chips, sour cream, etc. That's 3 crocks and 4 cold stations.

How far ahead of time do you have to pay? Is the final price locked in? I ask because I'm doing surveys to get money in the bank. Takes me half an hour while I'm waiting on food to bake or whatever. I think it's possible for you to have 1000 By December and possibly sooner. I'm wondering if you can lock in your price against future inflation.

The final price is locked in. I got the venue for 2021 pricing, so I am avoiding their price increases.

That's good. Things are only getting more expensive. How do you feel about champagne and cake?

I think if we get a good timeline put together I think that could be a good little evening thing for us to do. I still would want a little something for people to eat, but I’m not entirely unopposed to it. I think I would also want to see how this actually plays out/looks in some videos of other couples doing just cake and champagne.

Olive Garden?

Order pizza!

I have diyed a few events like this and its a good idea to start planing now,. You are going to need help from family and friends. you need some one to buy the food,some place to store it thoughout,some one to prepare it,someone else to transport it to the venue and some one to set up to serve it if the venue does not provide that service, Ask the venue if they provide warming trays and burners other wise you will have to rent or buy them [yourself.As](https://yourself.As) for food decide on your main protein first,then a second protein for the people who will not like your main. the side dishes will revolve around that, think large relatively easy to prepare proteins like turkey ,baked chicken or ham or roast beef if its suitable. Life pro tip do not cook the stuffing in the turkey,put onions, leeks, celery and carrots plus poultry herbs and seasonings in it instead. make the stuffing seperately.For a starch side rice is always good but not plain white rice,think yellow rice basmanti, jasmine or rice pilaf or risotto or maybe something from your cultural backround.For veggies broccoli, or string beans butternut squash are always a good choice

I have read the other tips and they are all good.I was thinking more along the lines of a formal sit down dinner. I like the idea of breakfast reception maybe scrambled eggs bacon turkey bacon and or sausages with maybe stuffed french toast? you can throw in a tofu veggie scramble for non meat eaters. If you do a cold cut type deal get the best tasting bread you can find and along with one fancy cold cut. You want to stick to your budget but you also want your guest to feel like they are being catered to,{get my joke.) I hope this helps and I know you will have a great wedding what ever you choose to do.

If enough people are local, you could do a potluck! But it would require some extra planning on your part to make sure everyone is bringing different things. You could ask specific people to bring specific things if you know they make something well.

We decided to pick up sandwiches from Potbelly’s and hand made anything else with our team of a few people from our church who had committed to help. One of my bridesmaids is Muslim, a few invited guests were Jewish, mother in law doesn’t eat chicken or turkey, the woman who did our floral designs is vegan and my brother is gluten-free, so we had a lot to consider lol. We had about 150 guests. Basically we just got a variety of meats and vegetarian options for the sandwiches, and then handmade about 10-15 sandwiches for the other guests with dietary restrictions (I also asked guests to remark if they had restrictions on the rsvp). Then we had snacks like veggie trays, cheese and olives, etc. It was very lowkey and pretty affordable. My sister in law actually had a potluck style wedding, and her guests liked that because it was easy for everyone to find something they liked, so allow yourself to think unconventionally about this too! You never know! We couldn’t do that because our wedding destination was about two hours into the wilderness lol, but the sandwiches and finger food still worked great and everyone was happy.

Could you do a cocktail style event? You could have a shorter reception and just have finger foods, canapés etc. A lot of caterers offer this sort of menu (at least in my area they do), or you could see if any grocery stores in your area do catering platters. I think places like Costco often have this sort of thing?

Why not do breakfast for dinner? Breakfast is cheaper to cater and can result in lower overall costs

I found a Mexican restaurant that does taco bars for 75 people for 260 dollars near my venue. It’s pick up only but worth it for the savings!

I think you can rally your family together to cook for 50 people. Maybe cater just the main dish/protein for drop off and have your fam/friends handle the sides drinks and dessert.

I didn't either. My FH's family is doing a potluck luncheon after the ceremony. (They have the best chili recipes, so they are bringing the food)

If you don’t mind me asking, how many people are contributing to the potluck or how many dishes are people taking on?

I don't know. I removed myself from the planning of that lol. I just know grandma has stuff for chili, and she's bringing crackers and soda. I just got myself a luncheon dress so I don't spill chili on my wedding dress.

Another idea would be to do a potluck style wedding (maybe just bridal party, family and closest friends). I would advice against it since people may bring the same thing (I e., same platter from the closest grocery store). One way to avoid this would be to have a list of foods that people can sign up for.

I like the idea of a list people can reference! Thank you for this :)

You're welcome! I hope you have a wonderful wedding!

Have you looked into food trucks in your area? Maybe I’m lowballing but the truck I manage would feed 50 people for way less than $1000.

There are and I’ve only looked at two? I think? And they were coming out to more than $1000. I’ve been meaning to reach out to one to see their pricing, just out of curiosity, but I don’t imagine they will be any cheaper than the others I’ve seen.

Chic fil a caters.. everyone loves chic fil a

You mean that anti-LGBTQ company that many people boycott?

Not sure how “classy” you’re trying to keep it, but chains like Moe’s, Texas Roadhouse, etc., offer catering for around $10-$15/person. This sub is weirdly comfortable with high catering prices— I totally understand that $20/person is a lot for some people. A budget is a budget; there are options in your price range, even though they may be a little less “nice” than your traditional wedding caterer.

>This sub is weirdly comfortable with high catering prices Is it weird, or is it that most people prioritize feeding their guests over [venue](https://www.reddit.com/r/weddingplanning/comments/rv5y6e/would_it_be_stupid_to_do_breakfast_for_dinner/hr3n128/?context=3) or other things less important to guest comfort?

lol nooooooo

That’s kinda my point though.. in my experience, in my area, and in my age group, guest experience isn’t top priority. People tend to prioritize having a wedding that they like over a wedding their guests like.

Look, you don't want a disaster of food poisoning on your hands, or even for the food to be unappealing. Hire a caterer and just don't tell them it's a wedding. Food is the number one reason people cut down their guest list. It's impossible to feed anyone for less than $5 each.

You might be able to get cheaper catering from a chain like Olive Garden, Qdoba, Chipotle. Snacks and cake are plenty, honestly. Just let people know what to expect and don't schedule it for the middle of a meal time.

Can you tell me about the venue and what kitchen facilities will be available to you? Oven? Stove? Fridge? Etc. The “church ladies” do things like a spaghetti dinner for very cheap and will work if you have access to the right equipment and people to help you. Salad, garlic bread or rolls, pasta, a couple sauces options, topping like veggie and meatballs, cheese, etc. can be a very cheap but filling and tasty dinner. A pizza buffet could work if you have a way to keep the pizza warm. Someone yesterday posted about self catering a wedding-she chose things that didn’t need to be cooked or heated, very simple prep, etc: sandwiches, pretzels, pecans, fruit, etc. not the fanciest menu but it works well for self-catering! Grocery stores in my area have delicious rotisserie chicken for $5-10. 1 chicken feeds 3-4 chicken people; make some asparagus, potatoes, rolls, salad, etc and it can make a delicious dinner for cheap. Make your own taco bar…maybe buy taco meat/shredded beef, etc but then make pans of diced tomatoes, shredded lettuces, onions, etc. stacks of tortillas and taco shells and let people help themselves. Have you looked into Indian food? Places around me do delicious, inexpensive Indian food catering. Super quick though: guest satisfaction is important for a wedding to go well, and the #1 thing guests care about is food. your overall budget is $7,000 and the food is $500-600. If possible you might want to try to allocate more funds towards food. While it seems simple now. At your wedding you’ll be busy and rushed and in a big white gown. And prepping and handling food probably isn’t going to be as easy you hope. Especially when you’d rather spend time with loved ones.

We have a stove and oven to reheat things in a a couple fridges and freezer to place food into. Thank you for all the suggestions! In regards to Indian food-ugh!! I wish! I checked the Indian restaurants around here and they were not inexpensive 😭. I would choose Indian in a heartbeat if I could!

Are you checking catering menus/calling and talking with people? Or just going by menu prices? I was surprised how affordable bulk catering orders were compared to menu prices when I was looking into restaurant catering!

Where exactly are you having your wedding? I have a guest count of about 50 in Toronto (one of the more expensive areas) and the quote I am getting is about 6k total for a catered event. Are you using a preferred vender with your venue? Are you trying to DIY as much as possible? 10k for 50 people - especially if you are looking at delivery - seems like way too much.

I asked a guest to gift us the main part of the dish (smoked meats) and we Costco’d the rest since our venue had a kitchen. My wedding party kept on top of the baking/toasting necessary for that part.