Wedding Venue & Catering

Your wedding venue will most like be your biggest expense, especially since many venues require you to use their own catering services. This is where you can save the most money, either by choosing an inexpensive location or a place that will allow you to use your own catering. Really spend some time and shop smart on your venue for the greatest savings. Great inexpensive options include parks, beaches, and back yards.

If you choose a venue that allows you to use your own caterer you can save a ton of money. When shopping for a caterer check with your favorite local restaurants. Don't only ask them if they cater. Also ask if they will sell you food by the pan or tray. If they say yes, this is how you will save the most money. You will have to hire people to serve the food or recruit friends to do it but the savings will make it worthwhile. We recommend you purchase a tray ahead of time to test how many people it will feed. The restaurant will give you their own estimate but I've found it tends to be on the high side, especially if you give your guests several options to choose from.

Using this technique we were able to feed two hundred guests (most had seconds) and we had food left over for under $800. The food was outstanding and we were able to support our favorite local restaurant.

If you are opting to serve the food yourself, you may want chafing dishes to keep the food warm and for presentation purposes. Check with your local party rental store for prices. The cheapest rental in our area costs $24 and does not come with fuel. The most inexpensive option are disposable chafing dishes which can be found at stores like Walmart and Party City for under $20 (online for $13). They contain everything you need including fuel. We tested one and found it worked best with a single fuel can. That way it kept the food at a perfect temperature without drying it out. Using both fuel cans caused the water to boil. We recommend testing one before your big day.

If you are using a catering service, dishes and flatware will usually be included in the per guest cost. If you are using an alternate method you will need to provide these yourself. They can be rented from any party rental supply store. Our local rental store charges around $.50 per piece (i.e. plate, cup, saucer, bowl, spoon, etc.). A great alternative is using plastic china and flatware. You can now buy plastic china and flatware that looks just like the real thing. You won't know the difference until you touch it. The plastic flatware costs less than the price of renting and the plastic china can cost up to the same price as renting. Using plastic gives your guests the option to take food home and you have the luxury of just throwing it all away after your event.

Compare the prices of renting versus purchasing online for everything. By doing this we discovered it was cheaper for us to purchase our table linnens than rent them. It also cost about the same to buy our punch dispensers than rent them and we continue to use them all the time.

When it comes to acquiring alcohol for your wedding there are many ways to save money. Warehouses like Costco and Sam's Club have decent wine and champaign selections. If you have your heart set on a particular bottle try contacting your local alcohol distributor. We used a distributor and were able to purchase our champaign in 1.5L bottles for less than we could have purchased standard .75L bottles anywhere else. They can also help you with wine selections and beer on tap.

The biggest savings, and quite frankly the most popular option, are alcoholic punches. At our wedding we made two different punches and they were such a hit that it wasn't until they ran out that people moved on to drinking beer and wine. If I had to do it again I would have made much more punch and cut back on the amount of beer and wine we purchased. It would have saved us money and made our guests the happiest. The great thing about punches, besides being very cost effective, is that there are so many varieties and colors. Look around for ones that match your wedding colors and theme.