We have a $350 budget for the food. We are trying to decide on either h'ors d'ouevres or a buffet. We have to feed approximately 150 people and this is an afternoon reception. Any ideas?
2007-03-12 03:50:51 · 14 answers · asked by ladyj 3 in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
I'd say your only option is good old spaghetti.....pasta ia cheap, know someone who makes good sauce, ask for some help.
Salad
Spaghetti w/meatballs or meat sauce if possible
rolls
Otherwise, cheese trays with crackers, fruit trays, or kabobs, lots of Dips with crackers pretzels chips, Pasta salad, bread with dipping sauces.
Start making little apps and freezing them.
You could always ask your close relatives to bring their favorite appetizer instead of cookies.
Nothing spectacular, but good and filling
2007-03-12 04:14:12 · answer #1 · answered by ste.phunny 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Honestly I live in the south where prices for most things are rather cheap. I picked the 3 cheapest caterers in the area. We had about 150 at ours. And I didn't have anything like real buffet food--I just had fruit and cheese, deviled eggs, some cold cuts, and a pasta salad. I had water, tea, and punch to drink. Just small lil hors d'ouevres and ours was around 2,000-3,000--but the caterer was in charge of tableclothes, renting the couple of extra tables we needed, and silverware/glassware. Perhaps if you were not meaning all that but a budget on just the food I still don't know if its possible to do it for $350.
If you really only have $350 though and it cant be expanded--
I think what you have to do is a punch and cake reception. One of my friends had that. They just several different types of beverages (no alcohol) like water and 2 punches. Then just get a large sheet cake from Walmart. Or you could have several friends or the members of the family to bring a dessert. Then you'd have several different options. But fruit juice is rather expensive. Tea is probably the cheapest beverage. You might be able to make lil cucumber sandwichs as finger foods. But you'll be shocked at how much it costs just for punch and glasses.
That's quite a challenging problem. Please let me know how you solve this delima.
2007-03-12 06:18:06 · answer #2 · answered by phantom_of_valkyrie 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The key to a nice wedding on a budget is not to try to make it look grander than it is. $350 isn't enough for a buffet (or even much in the way of h'ors d'ouevres) for 150 people so rethink your strategy.
We had an ice cream sundae bar at our afternoon wedding. We had several flavors of ice cream from the local parlor (small town), toppings and the groom and groomsmen opted to do the serving which the guests absolutely loved. We were not doing a receiving line, so it gave guests the chance to say hi to the guys who were wearing aprons over their tuxes.
Consider just doing dessert and beverages. We skipped champagne because my husband didn't want alcohol which also reduced our cost considerably. Do something simple well instead of something bigger poorly.
2007-03-12 05:50:15 · answer #3 · answered by elsa_bard 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yikes!! That is a very low budget but here is some ideas..
Have it the recpetion later on past supper so people will come after they have ate at home. This way all you will need are some sweet things like cup cakes or brownies that you can make the night before or have a family member help you. Get the cheap mix from the store and make it up yourself. You can than buy some frozen drinks that is cheap and mix in the water yourself in a large punch bowl. Have some finger foods and look for bulk and cheap Stick with the no name foods. You wont have much to spend so keep it little.
2007-03-12 05:34:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Are you having the wedding professionally catered, or are you making/buying the food yourself? If you're going with a pro, ask what you can get for your $350. (S)he will know best, and can guide you in the right direction. Hors d'oeuvres aren't always less expensive than buffets. Sometimes, it can cost a caterer more to make 150 little potato puffs than it would for him to just make a big roast beef for a carving station. Be sure to ask before you decide.
Another (and probably cheaper) option instead of a professional wedding caterer would be to talk to a local restaurant or deli. Ask to see their catering menus and select some food from there. You could try deli sandwiches (or a platter of cold cuts and some fresh rolls), fried chicken, potato salad, fresh fruit and vegetable platters, shrimp, casseroles, etc. You could also go to Sam's Club or a supermarket and pick up some frozen or ready-made foods, and then just bake or heat them before the reception.
What time of day is your wedding? Remember that if the starting time falls during a mealtime (usually about 11-2 for lunch and about 5-7 for dinner), you should feed your guests a full meal. If that's not an option for you, move it to a non-mealtime and serve hors d'oeuvres or desserts. And be sure to put Cocktail Reception/Dessert Reception to follow on your invitations, so that people will know to eat something beforehand and won't expect a full meal. Remember that brunch and lunch is usually cheaper than dinner, so if you must serve a full meal, consider an early reception.
2007-03-12 04:18:48 · answer #5 · answered by BeatriceBatten 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
With $350 you will not be able to feed a "buffet" to your guests. That is $ 2.33 per plate! You cannot even get a happy meal for that. So you have to be realistic. A buffet requires special equipment that you have to rent. So let's forget about a "buffet".
Since you have an afternoon reception, no meal should be expected. Set your reception for mid afternoon so your guests are not hungry. Specify on your wedding invitations that it will be an hors d'ouvres reception.
Hors d'ouvres Reception
Serve punch and iced tea for beverage.
Toast with sparkling wine
Serve finger food (cold)
Fresh fruit trays with dip
Cheese and ham trays (cubed)
Pepperonni and cracker trays
Vegetable trays with dip
Cold cut trays
Cheese tray (sliced)
Rolls
Relish tray: pickles, olives, pickled mushrooms etc.
Round bowl breads filled up with spinach dip
Fancy cracker tray with different jams and jellies
Cookie trays
Mini-cheese cake trays
You can buy pre-made trays at Sam's or any other whole sellers.
Serve wedding cake as dessert.
Congratulations and Good luck
2007-03-12 04:26:58 · answer #6 · answered by Blunt 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I think you can pull it off if you are allowed to bring your own food and not rely on a caterer. I can't imagine that you will be able to feed 150 people for $350 with catered food.
That being said - if your family and friends are good cooks, maybe everyone could whip up their specialty! As stated above, pasta would probably be the best option since it is relatively inexpensive. Maybe baked ziti? Also, meatballs and salad and rolls.
2007-03-12 06:46:56 · answer #7 · answered by duritzgirl4 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
can you bake i say bake some cookies an minni quiche an serve punch an sheet cake if you were able to bump the food to 700.00 i say you can do a decent toss salad an pasta an meatballs for all your guests an bread sticks an cake an punch or you can do a pot luck reception an just provide drinks an cake napkins cups ec i had a friend do that an it was a smash we had people making all diffrent kinds of food
2007-03-12 06:52:11 · answer #8 · answered by rodeogirl 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
$350, You might want to find a way to make your budget a little bit bigger. Food is a big factor in weddings. Either start slaving away in the kitchen or expand your budget. Good luck with that.
2007-03-12 04:02:33 · answer #9 · answered by Mel 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Serve desserts and light snacks, maybe a fruit bowl also because it is between lunch and dinner. Don't sweat it. on the invite state that h'or dourves will be served at the reception so that no one will expect to eat a full course meal.
2007-03-12 03:57:52 · answer #10 · answered by not2smarttoday 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋