Don’t want to pay $40, $50, $60 per plate for your reception guests? That’s what a reception hall will charge you most likely. The only problem is if you go with the reception hall then you have to use their caterers. It’s unlikely they’ll just let you use their space without using their caterers. Part of this has to do with outside caterers and insurance issues. The caterers that they use are certified and insured and have a working arrangement with the reception hall. If you use an outside caterer then the reception hall has to verify that they have liability insurance in case something happens to your guests because they can come back and sue the reception hall even though the food was prepared by the caterer.
So what’s your alternative? Most likely you’ll need to consider other venues where you can have your own food brought in. So let’s say you have this other venue, you still don’t want to pay the costs of labor and food that the caterer might charge. You do have other options though.
Consider having a BBQ reception. BBQ is a great choice for an audience of about 100 people or less and they don’t care about getting their hands dirty even though they’re dressed up! You have your meat options and you have your vegetarian options. I’m also sure you’ll have a couple of people who won’t mind putting up a couple of smokers and some gas grills and working on the food either before the wedding or in-between you and your new spouse taking pictures. Be sure to look for sales within a month of your wedding and find people that have a deep freezer available for your use. You’ll also need reliable transportation to get this food to your reception site. It may be valuable to have sides cooked a day or two beforehand if possible to avoid having all the food cooked on-site. You may want to cook the meat in advance and just have warmers available for your guests after the bride and groom have said I do.
Consider having a pizza reception. Pizza is the one food you can get a mass of and it will go a long way. I’d recommend this for an audience of 250 or less. This is where your retail pizza chains could really capitalize. You could order pizza from the same chain in different locations near you, or from various pizza chains if you want faster results. For an audience of 250, assuming 4 people can eat from one pizza, you’re probably looking at less than $5 per person, even if you include drinks and salad in that mix. Of course consider your guests by having meat and vegetable pizza options, also, spring for bottled water and juice options as opposed to having nothing but 2-liters of carbonated beverages.
Consider having a restaurant cater your food. I’d recommend this for a crowd of 100 or less. You could rent out a restaurant and go there for your reception if you wanted to save some money, or have the restaurant bring food to you. I’d do this option if you and your spouse had a favorite restaurant or if you had a specific theme – like Hawaiian or Thai or Greek, etc. This could also be a great way to let your guests know how you met by sharing with them the experience of the first restaurant you both ate at, or the restaurant you got engaged at, or the restaurant you first met.
Consider just having light appetizers. This is where you could really get away with murder… not literally, of course! With this option you could go to a Costco or Sam’s Club or whatever warehouse store is near you and go bonkers! Get a variety of appetizers and heat them up and serve them on platters. You would only need volunteers to be your waiters and waitresses, or worse case pay some people to do that for you. Less clean up, and less cooking effort; for about $1,000 you could have a memorable variety of foods to serve to your guests.
Consider having a dessert reception. I’d consider this for a really small intimate wedding gathering, say about 50-75 people. I say that because desserts can get rather costly, especially if they’re from upscale bakeries and/or pastry shops. I would recommend cheesecakes, gourmet candies, specialized cookies and muffins, chocolate fondue fountain with gourmet chocolate, decadent ice creams and cakes, and whatever else you can find. I’d recommend this option if you can put out about $1,500-$2,000 and really want to spend money on good desserts. No cheap stuff here, even though it’s very easy to do. Make sure your beverages compliment the quality of desserts that you’re having here. Sparkling ciders, tasty fruit beverages, premium bottled water... use your imagination with this one! This one is meant to be a fun, creative option.
