It’s estimated that 50% of a wedding’s reception budget goes towards food. Put into context, that’s around $5,000. It’s no wonder that saving some extra cash on the food might be one of your top priorities. Here are a few tips to help you keep the expenses down while still giving your wedding guests a good time.

Use the Wedding Cake for Dessert

Most of your guests won’t mind if you don’t offer three or four different types of desserts. Depending on the size of the reception, the main wedding cake might be all you need.  Perhaps look into having different flavored cakes for different layers of the wedding cake for a bit of variety.  A wedding I went to recently had a three layered cake, White Chocolate Mud, Coconut Rum Chocolate Mud and a traditional fruit cake.  Serve with custard or ice cream – it was delicious – and frugal!

Just Serve Beer, Wine and Soft Drink

A lot of weddings these days have an open bar for guests, and spirits can really tally up the expenses. Ask the bartenders not to serve any spirits to avoid those guests that order rounds for everyone at their table, even if not everyone is going to drink them.  Or you could even have a dry wedding – for even more savings…..

Plan the reception between meal times

If your reception is at 6pm, you are going to have a lot of hungry guests expecting dinner. Not so much at 2 or 3pm. If you plan it right you can keep everybody happy with just a light meal, sometimes only dessert. It helps to make sure your invitations specify the type of meal you plan to serve.

Keep It Simple

There are mobile catering companies around now that can do roasts with all the trimmings and even dessert for a ridiculously cheap price.  They will even serve it for you!  I’ve seen some advertised as low as $10/head – so it’s worth looking into!

Serve food that’s in season

Locally grown, in season food is a lot lighter on the wallet, so instead of buying imported seafood, stick to food that is common around your area.

Hire students from culinary school

Students are often eager to get a job and willing to work for less than professional caterers, and the food is usually just as good. Find a local culinary school and inquire to see if they offer special catering services.

Serve Finger Food

Some weddings set up an open buffet where the guests can help themselves to everything they like. Passing around finger food or appetizers limits the amount that people eat, thereby decreasing your food budget.  Finger food can be classy and light on the hip pocket, think about rice paper rolls, mini quiches etc.  Delicious and filling!

Offer fewer menu options

At a sit down dinner with multiple dinner options, caterers will usually charge an overall rate that covers the most expensive choice on the menu. If you only have 2 options that are similarly priced, you can avoid spending a lot of money. You could also offer a buffet bar with pasta or something similarly economic.

Offer kids meals

What do you think kids would go for first – a filet mignon or chicken fingers? Giving the kids smaller meals is usually a less expensive option that caterers offer for big events. The kids will be happier, and so will your wallet.

Buy your own alcohol

Instead of relying on the catering service to provide all of the alcohol for your reception, which usually comes with a steep price markup, hit up a local grocer or liquor store to load up on alcohol at the normal shelf price. Many stores will take back unopened bottles, and you can always hold onto the partially finished ones for later.

Get brunch instead of dinner

No matter what hotel or venue you plan your reception at, brunch prices are usually much cheaper than their dinner prices. You can sometimes save more than 50% per person on the price of your meal.

These are just some ways to save money on a wedding – do you have more great ideas we can add?