Save Money on the Food at Your Wedding

Food and celebration go hand in hand. I suppose it has always been that way. And there are few bigger reasons to celebrate than with food. But does that mean that a couple is required to host a formal dinner with the most expensive dishes even if they have to go into debt to finance it? Of course not. There are a number of options available to the couple who wants to incorporate food into their wedding celebration without breaking the bank:

1. Venue: Often weddings held in houses of worship for members of that community of faith are covered as people from the church often help out by preparing and serving the food. Under this scenario the couple would usually be responsible for the cost of the groceries and any tables, etc. they want that go beyond what the church or synagogue owns.
2. Grazing Stations: It is cheaper to serve lamb in grape leaves, or shrimp, or a crepe bar, or salmon in stations scattered around the reception than it is to pay for a sit down dinner - and it will not be the same-o, same-o reception that everyone else has mounted either!
3. Edible Wedding Favors: Incorporating edible wedding favors into wedding plans for the food is an easy way to trim the food budget
4. Scheduling: Avoid the dinner hour and a couple can cut back to light refreshments. What 'light refreshments' means varies depending on the context of the local customs.
5. Themed Weddings: Certain themed weddings, like a turn of the century ice cream social theme, enable a bride to limit the food naturally - to say, ice cream and Italian sodas. Know any barber shop quartets?

Of course a wise couple will mix and match these suggestions to create their own personal plan that is so uniquely theirs that no one will suspect the motivation was to save money. For example, create a Renaissance themed outdoor wedding with grazing stations under individual tents decked in bright colors in the mid afternoon. Serve gelato and Italian sodas along with a choice finger food for those lacking a sweet tooth and you have managed to put together a fun plan that is much less expensive than the traditional formal dinner - not to mention more memorable.