Beverage as decor

Pretty thirst quenchers.

Photo from the Knot

Photo from Style Me Pretty

Photo via Martha Stewart Weddings

Hot Chocolate

Hot Chocolate or a cake topped version of hot chocolate is a perfect addition to a fall wedding. You could offer dark or milk chocolate options.

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness...

Photo by Anna Wolf via 100 Layer Cake 

Check out the biscuit bar from this southern style wedding shoot. I'm a sucker for these salty treats and their jam, jelly and honey toppings. 

This would be a fun addition to a menu or perhaps instead of cake. 

Candy bar in black and yellow

Photo via Style Me Pretty

Reminds me of the city. 

Thinking outside the box.

Russel and Hazel Wedding organizer via Brooklyn Bride

Planning a wedding on a tight budget means giving up some things and/or thinking outside the box to make it happen. My three most expensive areas are food, reception site and rentals. Below are some tips from my own search.

1- You've probably already seen my posts on food but consider:

• Self-catering with the help of family, friends and some volunteers
• Hiring a local culinary student and college student/charity or church group to service
• Hiring a local gourmet grocery store to prep, cook and deliver food
• Any combination of the above (I'll probably employ all 3)

2- Reception site.

• Look into all the public places in the area. Just when I thought I had looked at everything, I came across ten more. Check out state parks, museums, theatres, historical sites, gardens, environmental sites, religious and YMCA camps, lodges, firehouses, church halls, barns, warehouses, and local restaurants. Don't rule anything out based on a stereotype. I have a lot of friends who chose sites with negative stereotypes but they weren't your typical site and they made the spaces beautiful!
• Check your state and city visitor bureau's and google things to do in the area. You'll discover lots of places you've never heard about.
• Don't be afraid to ask. If you know someone with beautiful property or drive by a charming old barn everyday then take a chance and ask! I learned pretty quickly that any space thats not often or has never been used for a wedding is much less expensive than the wedding ready sites.
• Try to find a venue that will let you choose your caterer and will let you provide your own alcohol because it will save you TONS of money and give you more control over times and the menu. Bonus if you can find a spot with an industrial kitchen (if you're having a large wedding)

3-Rentals. In case you're not fortunate enough to secure a reception site that provides everything:

• Compare prices from all area rental places. 
• Look into borrowing or renting some things, like linens from a church or other rental company, perhaps in another state, if a close family member or friend could bring it to you. 
• Don't rent from a caterer! They usually mark up the prices. Look for the local rental company that they use.
• Check out thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets for linens, dishes, silverware, glasses, wedding decorations, etc.

Culinary arts

I talked to a friend this week-end who managed a $5000 wedding for 250 people in Washington D.C.! How you ask? That was my first question. Among the things she shared was this little nugget of wisdom: contact your local culinary art school and ask if there are some students who might be willing to cater your wedding. They get the benefit of experience and the freedom to develop your menu. You get the benefit of much cheaper help than a standard wedding caterer but even better than that, as young enthusiastic foodies, these chefs will take great care to put together a delicious menu. Make sure you meet a few times before the big day to make sure that all is well, that you offer reasonable pay and that you make your expectations clear. This bride purchased her ingredients in bulk a few days in advance for about $900. 


Also, she had a church women's group assist the students and serve. And actually you could ask any group to help serve and clean up at your reception. In return you could make a designated donation to their group. Perhaps for a cause that's important to you and your honey.

Just another way to have a fabulous dinner without the outrageous price tag. 

Le cafe'

Photo via Prettychicky.com

Early in the morning and late at night, is there anything better than a steaming cup of quality coffee? It's not for everyone but if you're a coffee person then you know what I mean. I was really looking forward to my cup o' joe this morning and it got me thinking that a coffee bar would be a great addition to a reception or perhaps a tea station if that's more your style. 

Photo from Martha Stewart Weddings

The spread.

Photo from Honey Sweet Love

I was recently reminded how much presentation and packaging can do to improve the simplest things. If you're sticking to a simple menu and want to add some distinction to the table then put some thought into how you want to display the goods. 

Picture from Be The Foodie

Perfect pairing

Photo via Martha Stewart weddings

How about a wine and cheese pairing reception? Hmm, yes please. Especially if the spread looks anything like this!

The three photos above are from Sunday Suppers.

A catering compromise

Original plan- 175 guests, serve a meal (preferably dinner).


Plan A- hire a cater. The first few quotes I received for food, service, beverage (excluding alcohol), and rentals were in the $14,000 range which was way too high. They scoffed at my hopeful requests for $15 per person (which I thought and still think is high) and even after brokering some great deals, it was still too high.


The wedding industry offers this advice:
1.) cut your guest list
2.) have the wedding at an inconvenient time or place to discourage attendance
3.) exclude children
4.) serve only dessert or appetizers


I was chuckling a little as I read this advice. I mean really, this is great advice if you're comfortable cutting family and friends so you can have a nicer dinner, cake or venue but in our case, we started with our guest list as the priority. Everything else takes a backseat to our guests because my great aunt, cousins, and mom's best friend are more important than more stylish linens. Option No.4 is a good option and I have many friends who've done it but I've found that appetizers often cost about as much as a full meal so I ruled that out. Also, we really wanted to serve a meal since so many of our guests will be from out of town.


With all of this in mind, I set off determined to find an affordable way to host all of our nearest and dearest in the least complicated way.

As far as I could tell the only other option was to cater ourselves and we could definitely do it but  I decided to look into some more options- why does it have to be all catering or none? 


Plan B was to go back to my top two caterers with a "what if I..." list that included:

• provided my own beverages (buy in bulk)
• provided my own clean-up staff (paying your own staff is hundreds less than paying catering staff)
• provided my own rentals (rent everything for less from the local warehouse that all the caterers use)
• simplified the bar to eliminate a need for bartenders (wine at the tables, 2 serve yourself cocktails, lots of beer options in metal tubs filled with ice)
• simplified the menu (not your typical fancy entrees, cut the extras)

Removing these charges from the catering estimates certainly made the price come down (Note: if catering estimates come in just a few thousand above your budget then try this) but it still wasn't low enough for us. 

The thought of catering the wedding ourselves is very intimidating. It's mainly the thought of trying to cook or heat anything on the wedding day that made me nervous. So we could either serve cold food only or heat just one thing. Also, fridge space would be an issue so we'd need to figure that out. Trying to answer these concerns brought me to plan C.


Plan C- I went to a local gourmet grocery store for an estimate on two entrees for delivery on wedding day. The price was shockingly affordable. They offered an amazing menu (that far surpassed the standard catering menu) and the estimate was thousands less. In fact, the estimate for two entrees came in around $1200 and if you cut the meat option then it'd be even less. This looks like the best option, it's still a lot of work because we'd be catering ourselves but for an extra couple hundred we've eliminated the hassle of creating, preparing, and cooking the main entrees. 


If you're planning to cater your own wedding consider ordering some of the food from a gourmet store for delivery or take-out. It's not as expensive as you might think and it's one less thing that you'd need to prepare.