Is BUFFET style the way to go for a WEDDING RECEPTION ON A BUDGET? Any ideas for what to serve??

Question

Just curious if there are any other options besides buffet. Sounds like a good idea, just want to know what other people have had luck with! What would you serve on a buffet at an outdoor summer reception??

:)

Thanks!

Answer 1

You have many choices when it comes to having your reception outdoors. It really depends on how many people you are going to have, and what time of day it will be.

You can have a Brunch reception, which can include fruits, bagels, and things like that. Those are cheaper usually when coming from a caterer. There will be less waitstaff needed, so you can save money that way.

You can have a garden party, serve sandwiches, fruits, salads, and mainly cold foods. If you get a very nice tray, you can get some meat and cheese from the store and make yourself up some nice meat cheese trays. (may be cheaper this way)

If you are thinking about later afternoon, maybe a big BBQ would be nice. Either you can provide the foods or have it potluck style. Get your meat from a local wholesaler, you will save oodles of money.

Evening receptions cost more money, either indoors or out. Dinner food by nature is just more costly, no matter how you cut it. I say skip the lobster and settle for lower budget meat like chicken. Skipping seafood is a tremendous saving in itself, because many people become gluttons and will eat your pricey hor' deourves.

if you are still interested in a buffet style reception, that is ok too. I would say, instead of letting the guests serve themselves, hire a few people to act as waitresses (make up premade menus with food choices and place on the tables) and have their plates made for them. have carts to transport the food on, so to avoid spilled plates.

Either way you have your reception, just make sure it fits your personality and your wishes!

Good luck with the party!

Answer 2

Sometimes. If you want the real variety than a Buffet is a good idea. However, price wise, a 3 course plated dinner comes in at a couple of dollars cheaper than a buffet for the most part. Caterers realize that the food cost is less manageable on a buffet so they charge a little bit more for it. However, if you are not hiring a caterer to provide the food, it might come in a bit more cheaper, especially if you're just ordering platters of food from the local supermarket.

Depending on what time of day your ceremony and your reception are kind of dictates what kinds of food and amounts you would serve. If it is a dinner reception, have a couple of hot dishes, maybe a roast being carved, salads, veggie platters, cheese platters and then maybe desserts. If you have anyone in your family who is particularly talented in the kitchen, or in baking, then maybe ask them to help out with providing some food. If you have a talented baker, you might be able to do a dessert buffet at a reasonable price.

Answer 3

I just got married in June and we did do a buffet style meal as well. Ours was not outdoors but I highly reccomend the buffet especially if you're on a budget. We had stuffed chix, lasagna, prime rib, salad, bread, roasted potatos, and some other sides, plus a fruit & cheese tray and shrimp cocktail. We spent about $3000 for our caterer, please keep in mind I live in Maine! :) It went very well, everyone loved the food and with a buffet you get a variety. A con someone previously mentioned was the long lines, if your caterer knows anything they're going to call people up one table at a time and it will be fine!

For the outdoor reception I wouldn't go too formal with the options but again, your caterer will be able to help you make a choice that's right for you. Also a good way to save some money is not to have a large amount of options.

Congrats on your wedding and good luck with the rest of your planning!

Answer 4

My daughter is getting married next month and we are having a buffet type wedding, outdoors. We have decided to make it as easy as possible, we are serving a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and maybe something like barbequeing lil smokies.
It is hard to know what to do at an outdoor wedding because you need to serve something that will hold up in this heat. We may also try hot wings. Good Luck.

Answer 5

I got married a little over a year ago, and I can remember trying to figure out all those little details. Some of them can be very brain racking. I found buffets in most cases to be more expensive than sit down. I went with sit down not only because of cost but I personnally perferred that. I had a May wedding which isn't exactly summer. It really depends on where the wedding is and what vendors are available to you. We did a dish of fish, beef, and pasta. Try to have a vegetarian dish on the menu for possible vegetarians. Most places will accomodate for that.

Answer 6

Yes it is cheaper with a buffet because they don't have to get as many helpers. With a sit-down they have to hire more people to bring the food around and it is costly for more helpers.

If it is an evening wedding instead of a full buffet you could consider doing just appetizers.
For an outdoor reception things like fruit, and veggies, with ham sandwiches and light foods sounds good. When you pick your caterer you could ask them for their suggestion as well.

I was just married and we choose buffet because of price difference with a sit-down, and we had two meats (chicken, and roast beef) two sides, and a salad. It was $11.00 per person plus we had cheese and crackers. We also had to pay for the table clothes she provided and the silverware and napkins. We had 250 and we paid 3500 for our caterer. Just talk with a bunch of them before deciding and ask around your town for opinions. If you can't ask anybody then ask the caterers for a sample of some of their food. The last thing you want is to hire somebody and the food to be bad. Good luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding!

Answer 7

We were on a very strict budget also at our reception last fall!
What we did was go to an Italian deli style northern market near our church and had them make up deli trays with cheese and meats, also different types of sliced breads (which i put in various baskets!) and then fruits and cheese trays....it was really beautiful and very light and summery! You can also do the same thing if you have friends that will take the time to put the trays together the day before the wedding and store them in a large fridge at the site or in the church kitchen by going to places like Sam's Club. Just make sure you call ahead and order what you need - most times they will go ahead and do all the slicing for you and wrap it up. You can also purchase the big silver trays at any party store to use to put the food on!

Add assorted gourmet cookies, also from Sam's club! and then decorate with ivy and flower garland around the trays.

Then get a large metal tub (from any hardware store) and fill it with ice and then canned drinks and then another layer of ice and more can drinks.....

Near your cake table have a simple (large plastic) punch bowl full of punch. Check out the internet especially weddingchannel.com for recipes with soda like Cheerwine and ginger ale and sherbert ice creams.

How's that?

Congratulations!

Answer 8

We're going to have a buffet for our outdoor summer reception, and we are going to have cookout food. Chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, beans, chips and pretzels. Sounds good to me, and that's all that matters. Plus, the only thing that will need to be cooked is the chicken. We aren't getting a caterer and this is the best option for us.

Answer 9

I was gonna have a buffet style at my reception but after discovering how exspensive it still is. I decided to just do finger foods example my food list is:
bbg wings
hot wings
cheeseballs
cracker
pretzels
meat tray
ch tray
vegi tray
coctail weinnies (both bbq and sweet n sour)
mini sandwiches
bol n ch
tuna
chkn salad
ham n ch
and for the kids pb&j

Answer 10

I had a buffet style. Your best bet is to go w/ something for even the pickiest of eaters. I had a fish dish, chicken, pasta and beef, that pretty much covered all the bases. Because u don't know who might be a vegetarian etc.