Wedding Day Catering | Creative & Affordable Food and Drinks

What your guests will eat and drink at the wedding is a great place to get really creative, and showcase your personalities.  There are endless options for unique, interactive, and beautiful food, drinks, and dessert!  There are also endless options for how to source & supply the food that extend way beyond hiring a traditional wedding caterer.

Let’s review some important things to consider as you formulate what your guests will eat & drink at your wedding celebration.

Wedding Day CATERING, FOOD + DRINKS | episode dated 8.14.24

WEDDING CATERING & YOUR VENUE

Food & drink service will depend a lot on your wedding venue, so it’s important that you have a venue, date & time set in stone before making any big commitments.  In other words, you’ve paid a deposit and you know without a doubt when & where your wedding is taking place before you hire a caterer, or decide on alternative catering options (more on that in a minute!)

RECEPTION STYLES

Let’s go back to the overall WEDDING VISION that you’ve imagined.  Are you planning food & drinks for a 3-day long weekend event?  A destination wedding?  A small, intimate micro-wedding for 12 people?  A more traditional reception with a seated meal?

Also, consider practicality – I don’t want you dreaming of a food truck wedding and DIY ice cream sundae dessert bar when your venue has no parking or freezers!

Some popular catering options include:

Seated Meal – your guests will sit at tables and be served a pre-made plate by waitstaff.

Buffet Style – your guests will walk the line and make their plates themselves from a variety of options that you select.

Food Stations – Similar to buffet style, this updated spin includes various stations throughout the venue, each one serving a different style cuisine.  For example, a risotto bar with toppings, a seafood station, and a gourmet slider bar with mini burgers and fries.  This style of catering gets major points with me for lots of opportunity for creativity, and lots of fun guest interaction!

And of course, the meal timing itself can vary as well – depending on your wedding day format & set up, you definitely don’t have to serve dinner.

Consider hosting a wedding day brunch, mid-day luncheon, or early evening cocktails & hors d’ouvres.

And I’ll rattle off a few more creative options to get your brainstorm flowing (and because who doesn’t love to talk about food??)  Imagine …

• Made-to-order brick oven pizzas,
• A taco truck with variety of meats, toppings and fixings,
• Pre-made bento boxes,
• Gourmet picnic bags,
• A really unique local food truck,
• Fondue style where guests simmer meats in oil and dip bread and veggies in melted cheeses.
• Extensive charcuterie board table with meats, gourmet cheeses, olives, local honey, olive oil tastings, and for dinner your favorite pasta and salad served family-style … YUMmmmmm!!!!

You name it, the sky is the limit when it comes to creative ways to take care of your wedding guests’ cravings.

RESEARCHING FOOD & DRINKS

Now that you’ve done your brainstorm, it’s time to start searching your local area for catering options & make some phone calls.  Availability & pricing will vary greatly based on your location, time of year, etc.

If you get stuck – say you’re hands-down in love with the charcuterie option I outlined above, but can’t find a caterer who seems to do a large charcuterie appetizer set up like described – then it’s time to get really creative.  See if a caterer will work with you in letting you shop for unique, gourmet ingredients that might not be in their standard menu offerings.

Especially for an appetizer spread or dessert bar (more on desserts in just a minute) – think to yourselves, could we set that up on our own? 

Shopping for and setting up a gorgeous appetizer spread is totally doable, not to mention much more affordable than what a caterer would charge you for a comparable spread.

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Do It Yourself / DIY Catering – wait, what???

DIY catering is not for everyone.  I mean, REALLY not for everyone.  There are certain wedding situations where it can work, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to save a whole ton of money if you’re on a tight budget.

To even consider handling the food elements on your own, you should be 100% willing to do a ton of extra research and work.  Building a menu, pricing everything out, shopping, and detailed planning ahead will be key, and also requires a lot of time and committment.

You’ll also 100% need to hire some kind of help for the wedding day in terms of servers, bartenders, waitstaff, etc.

Why am I even bringing this up???  Because I’m the crazy person who actually tried it, and it worked.  John and I set up an appetizer spread, sit down fondue dinner, and top shelf bar – for 75 people – for less than $2000, which is pretty amazing.  And yes, $2000 included the beer, wine and liquor!

Was it easy?  NO.  Was it a totally unique experience, unforgettable, and FUN?  Definitely.

I’ll reiterate – it was NOT easy.  There was a ton of research, time, work, prep, and set up that needed to be coordinated.  We also had A LOT of help from family in the 2 days before the wedding to pull it off – not to mention a full staff of servers and bartenders, and a person designated as our wedding coordinator to orchestrate this whole show.

It’s possible, it’s an option, and I wanted to mention it for those of you out there who are game for a challenge 😉  You can find MUCH more information on DIY appetizers, desserts, main meal, and your bar in the “DIY Catering” episodes within the CATERING bonus section below.

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Desserts

Desserts are another wonderful opportunity to get creative, and showcase your personal favorites.  You’ll find a full episode dedicated to desserts, also in the CATERING bonus section below.  Desserts definitely fall into the “easy” DIY category.  Enlist the help of family and friends, and a beautiful dessert bar can easily be done on your own.

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MISC. CATERING VARIABLES TO CONSIDER

Your catering vision simply must be compatible with your venue.  Back to our earlier example from the beginning of the show – you can’t have food trucks if your venue is located smack in the middle of downtown and has ZERO parking.

You can’t have a DIY ice cream sundae bar if you have no access to freezers.

You can’t DIY a fondue meat dinner without access to a refrigerator and ample space to prep and store the food.  Makes sense, right?  In my DIY fondue example from just a minute ago, we had full access to a gourmet kitchen, 2 full size refrigerators, and plenty of prep space – for 2 whole days in advance of the wedding.

This point is so important – don’t bite off more than you can chew in terms of what types of catering set up your venue will be compatible with.  You could get stuck with a lot of wasted time & money, not to mention a complete surprise disaster on the wedding day.

Next thing to consider is the time of day & season of your of wedding when thinking about food options.  No one wants to eat hot chili in Pheonix in July.  No one wants to eat ice cream in Buffalo in January.  And no one wants to eat steak & potatoes and martinis for brunch (well, maybe some people do?)

I heard a wonderful but awful story about the creators of The Knot, and what a disaster their wedding day was.  They tell in such colorful details about hosting their wedding on a rooftop in Washington DC in July.

On the wedding day it was over 100 degrees, with no air conditioning.  They had arranged for “made-to-order” paella, so while their guests were literally standing around dripping sweat, they had caterers steaming fish, sausage and rice in the room.

Their guests were horrified, and everyone was miserable.

The moral of the story?  It’s great to get creative and showcase your personalities & favorites, but make sure your food matches the timing and season of your wedding celebration.

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MONEY SAVING TIPS

My NUMBER ONE tip for controlling your catering budget is to limit the number of guests you invite to your wedding.  We discussed this in great detail when we reviewed BUDGET and building your GUEST LIST, and catering is one of the biggest reasons why.

SWAP & SAVE.  Be aware of where you can make easy swaps to save money.  If you’re not satisfied with the initial quote from a caterer, ask what you can do to save $1000, $2,000, or whatever your target number is.  A good caterer should be able to suggest some alternative food items and service styles to get you closer to a target budget.

BE CREATIVE!  

Ready to rack up $1000 in food & drink savings in the blink of an eye?  Let’s go!

• Your guests won’t know the difference if you don’t host a midnight snack from a fast food restaurant in addition to the main meal.  Skip it and save hundreds of dollars.
• Caterer charging $6 / person for cheese and crackers?  Make your own appetizer spread!
• Can’t find a reasonably priced wedding cake?  Save the money, and enlist the help of your family and friends.  Have everyone make a couple dozen of their favorite desserts to arrange on a meaningful & beautiful dessert bar.

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DRINKS | Non-alcoholic, Beer, Wine, & Liquor

Let’s wrap up this section with some notes on the bar.

For maximum savings, limit your wedding day beverages to water, tea, lemonade, sodas, coffee.

For families and friend groups where alcohol is an issue for some, couples find it less stressful – and MUCH less expensive – to skip the beer, wine and cocktails altogether, and host a dry event.  Less drama, less cost, and less headaches – literally – for everyone.

When I talk to couples about the possibility of hosting without alcohol, inevitably the response is along the lines of “but what will people do, what will people think, what if people sneak it in, what if people pre-game in the parking lot and come in drunk?”

My responses?

• People will get over it,
• What people think makes no difference if this is what YOU want,
• Yes, people might sneak it in, and
• If you’re that worried about people drinking in a parking lot to the point of stumbling into your wedding drunk and making a scene, then maybe you shouldn’t invite them.

Tough love, I know, and a very sensitive topic for some.  Try to keep a clear mindset and stay true to what you know in your heart will be best – given your specific situation.

MONEY-SAVING TIPS | THE BAR

I probably don’t need to tell you that alcohol is expensive, especially when provided by a traditional venue bar.

If you will be serving beer, wine, and / or cocktails, ask your venue & caterer if you’re allowed to supply the drinks on your own.  (This applies to non-alcoholic drinks too!)

Shopping for beer, wine and liquor at a wholesale store can be much more affordable, and is a great option for huge savings.  It also allows you to customize your bar with your personal favorites.

Not allowed to supply outside beverages?  Other ways to save:

• Offer a cash bar for the entire event (your guests pay for their own drinks)
• Offer a hosted bar for cocktail hour only (you pay), and cash bar thereafter (your guests pay)
• Offer beer & wine only,
• And for maximum savings, consider limiting drinks to non-alcoholic options.

Browse creative wedding catering ideas on our Pinterest Food & Drink board!

Questions for me about today’s episode?  You can always find me at

[email protected]

Talk soon!  Cheers, Kara