Wedding Advice

Daddyof4 · #1 02/02/08, 11:38 AM

Mine and wilbursmommy's daughter Courtney will be getting married on May 3rd. We are trying to plan a nice wedding at our church but the food costs appear to be very high. IT could potentially cost us $1,000 just in food. We were going to have Peking Chinese Restaurant cater with Chinese Food but the expense will likely be a budget buster.

For all you people who have paid for your kid's weddings we would like some advice.

1. What do you think about a pot-luck dinner reception? I've read about them and they seem great but some people think they are tacky. Your thoughts?

2. Any other wedding planning advice you wish to give is welcome.

What we've set in concrete are as follows:

1. May 3rd date on a Saturday at 1:00 PM
2. Indoors at the church.
3. Reception in the front area of the church.
4. A small wedding cake for just Courtney and Alex plus a large sheet cake for the guests.
5. A Krispie Creme donut tower for the novelty of it. (yeah it's a southern thang)
6. Planning for 60-100 guests.

LvDemWings · #2 02/02/08, 11:45 AM

A couple of questions. Does your church have a kitchen and can you use it? If the answer is yes is it a homestyle kitchen or a commerical type kitchen. How many adults and how many children? Were you planning on serving alcohol? Having some type of music or dancing? How long are you planning on this lasting? Do you have the time to do this yourself? Can you get help? Has there been a theme suggested?

tamsam · #3 02/02/08, 11:52 AM

Do what you can afford to do. At 1pm I don't think anyone will expect a full meal. My one Step Daughter's husband is fro Ca and they wanted a full sit down meal as that is what they did out there. Well since they wanted it he told us he would pay for it which worked out fine since all his people came from Ca to NC for the wedding. It did turn out to be a wonderful wedding. Now when my other Step Daughter go married here in WV her GM made spagettie and we got big foot long hogies and cut them in like 2 in pieces along with cake. I can't say one was any better than the other so again do what you can afford. Good luck with your planning. Sam

Rocky Fields · #4 02/02/08, 12:00 PM

Hey.

Find a local scenic spot and have a pig pickins.

RF

Katrina26 · #5 02/02/08, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daddyof4

Mine and wilbursmommy's daughter Courtney will be getting married on May 3rd. We are trying to plan a nice wedding at our church but the food costs appear to be very high. IT could potentially cost us $1,000 just in food. We were going to have Peking Chinese Restaurant cater with Chinese Food but the expense will likely be a budget buster.

For all you people who have paid for your kid's weddings we would like some advice.

1. What do you think about a pot-luck dinner reception? I've read about them and they seem great but some people think they are tacky. Your thoughts?

2. Any other wedding planning advice you wish to give is welcome.

What we've set in concrete are as follows:

1. May 3rd date on a Saturday at 1:00 PM
2. Indoors at the church.
3. Reception in the front area of the church.
4. A small wedding cake for just Courtney and Alex plus a large sheet cake for the guests.
5. A Krispie Creme donut tower for the novelty of it. (yeah it's a southern thang)
6. Planning for 60-100 guests.

Aw! They're getting married the same day as my parents did

.

My sister just got married this November and she had a potluck type reception. It went over great! She had about 30 guests including family and it went very well. The groom's family brought food and my parents and I brought some too. Chicken wings and quiche were a big hit.

It's great to have the reception at the Church. Sis and her husband had it at their house. 30 people and 1 bathroom = nightmare. Potties are always overlooked but it's good to have alot at a wedding.

Kat

Miss Lynne · #6 02/02/08, 12:08 PM

When my dd got married, we bought potato salad from the deli, and cole slaw, then we made sandwhiches with sliced deli ham and cheese. We also had mints, cake that my friend made, punch and coffee. It was very nice.

chickenmommy · #7 02/02/08, 12:51 PM

When I got married the first time 30 years ago (!) we had a pot luck in the new husbands fathers back yard. Father went to the corner store (only store for 20 miles) and bought all the beer they had. Anyone that came in looking to buy beer got told where it was and besides the invited guests, we had quite a few drop-ins. They gave money, too! What a fun wedding. You can do the same thing at the church (minus the beer I would think) and chances are the food will be much better than a catered affair. I know we had some really good food there.

AngieM2 · #8 02/02/08, 12:58 PM

One thing we had at two weddings was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut with large heart cookie cutters. The children and the adult children loved them. I had them made the day ahead, mixed the jelly and peanut butter together and smeard onto the bread, top, and cut with cookie cutter.
They went the first of the available munchies.

Also, the best wedding I went to was pot luck.

Angie

Shepherd · #9 02/02/08, 01:00 PM

I personally have never attended a potluck type wedding reception but have recently started hearing about them. If everyone who's invited is family and close friends, I think it would be a lot of fun. Have you considered how many tables it might take to hold all the potluck dishes? Would you be providing the dishes, glasses, silverware, cups, etc., and then have to deal with the clean up too? Or would you use disposable items?

Is a sit-down dinner a firm decision? At that time of day, I would give serious thought to finger foods/hors d'oervues which people could help themselves to as they mingle and visit. You could cater something like this yourselves fairly easily & affordably. Or make arrangements with the ladies from the church to help with.

You can buy meatballs already made and pre-cooked in the freezer section of the stores; mix some up with a brown gravy sauce, and some in a BBQ sauce. Have cold cuts and cheeses on toothpicks (or small skewers) set out on a platter. Have a platter of various veggies with a bowl of veggie dip. Have a fruit tray with skewers of pineapple, strawberries, grapes, etc., and a bowl of fruit dip if you like (or not) - you could also choose to have a chocolate fountain for the fruit and a platter of angel food cake cut into bite sizes to dip in it. You could even get a few pounds of shrimp and have a bowl of ice with shrimp and some cocktail sauce. You could remove the bowl when it's empty and bring out another bowl later - you don't have to have tons of it - people will just remember you had some yummy shrimp at your reception.

I wasn't done - but hit the "post reply" button by accident, LOL. I'll stop for now and add to later.

Loriann1971 · #10 02/02/08, 01:04 PM

DH and I had an outdoor wedding, at 1 in the afternoon, in my parent's garden. There were about 100 guests. Then we served an array of salads that Mom, myself and a few neighbors had worked on the day before. (Potato, coleslaw, macaroni, etc) We also had trays of deli meat made up and bought really nice sandwich rolls from a local bakery. We did few vegi and dip trays to round things off and served everything buffet style. It was a simple buffet, but set up to look very elegant.

Pigeon Lady · #11 02/02/08, 01:52 PM

I think simple, home made, potluck type weddings are the best!

Pauline

**Cabin Fever** · #12 02/02/08, 02:02 PM

I'm confused. Are you saying that Wilbursmommy is also Courtneysmommy?

LynninTX · #13 02/02/08, 03:13 PM

For my wedding yrs ago... I bought a bunch of fruit & veggies and my girl friends came over and helped me fix trays up... a few family members also did trays... we had that, punch & cake and it was fine!

willow_girl · #14 02/02/08, 03:17 PM

I think potluck is tacky, but there is nothing wrong with the bride, mom, sisters, and perhaps a few friends putting the food together and serving it themselves!

Deli trays, potato salad, fruit and veggie trays, etc., can all be made up ahead of time and served buffet-style with minimal fuss.

mrs oz · #15 02/02/08, 03:38 PM

For me, personally, I would rather nix the full meal idea and go for heavy hors d'oeuvres. Deli Meat and cheese trays. (Rolls to make little sammies) Veggies trays. Meatballs. Mini Quiches. That type of thing. Or you could be even more casual than that and do BBQ, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, etc. etc. That should be way more affordable and that way you won't feel forced to go the potluck route.

CraftyDiva · #16 02/02/08, 03:48 PM

What does your daugther and future husband want? Shouldn't they have some input to thier own wedding? If both are working , they shoild help with the expense Many brides and grooms today pay for thier own weddings, because they want the control of what's to take place, and not what Mom and Dad want for them.

Wildwood Flower · #17 02/02/08, 03:51 PM

I think potluck is tacky too.

I'm planning my granddaughter's wedding right now.

We are going to serve deli meat & cheese trays with asst. deli rolls & condiments, plus 5 salad:

mandarin spinach salad
pasta salad
tex-mex layered dip with chips
fresh fruit tray with pineapples, strawberries, grapes, & cantaloupes
oriental coleslaw salad
deviled eggs
tray of lettuces, pickles, sliced red onions, & pitted olives

The cost will be about $300. for 100 people.

I plan to serve in nice large glass salad bowls & arrange the deli meats & cheeses.

I'll send you some of the salad recipes if you like.

Wags · #18 02/02/08, 04:25 PM

We did deli type trays with cheeses, fancy crackers, fresh fruit etc. Don't see any reason why folks need to be fed a full meal.

sewsilly · #19 02/02/08, 05:04 PM

We were married at a tiny little country church... no social hall, no bathroom. We were married at 3 pm, May 1. Two aunts 'managed' the reception, which was outdoors (no contingency plans). I had to pay for everything myself, so I went with what I could afford.

We had a cake (purchased at bakery), strawberries (in season here in May), mints,mixed nuts, buttercookies, and finger sandwiches of chicken salad. Pretty plain, pretty simple. Punch was white grape juice and gingerale.

Rented three tables and the clear glass plates and cups. Purchased 3 tableclothes and lace to lay over them. Had the florist make up several small arrangements with flowers that we picked that morning. The only 'purchased' flowers were mine, which were pure white roses, which I didnt' have growing at the time. Had some chairs for those that needed to sit.

Twasn't about the food!

NativeRose · #20 02/02/08, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewsilly

We were married at a tiny little country church... no social hall, no bathroom. We were married at 3 pm, May 1. Two aunts 'managed' the reception, which was outdoors (no contingency plans). I had to pay for everything myself, so I went with what I could afford.

We had a cake (purchased at bakery), strawberries (in season here in May), mints,mixed nuts, buttercookies, and finger sandwiches of chicken salad. Pretty plain, pretty simple. Punch was white grape juice and gingerale.

Rented three tables and the clear glass plates and cups. Purchased 3 tableclothes and lace to lay over them. Had the florist make up several small arrangements with flowers that we picked that morning. The only 'purchased' flowers were mine, which were pure white roses, which I didnt' have growing at the time. Had some chairs for those that needed to sit.
Twasn't about the food!

Sounds like my wedding. I had a small, quiet and simple ceremony with family and a few friends. My family made everything and it in its simplicity and beauty was the most memorable time of my life. It really was not about the food or an elaborate production.