What Would You Do For Your Wedding?

[Nina C.]

I'm getting married next year in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and obviously I love food (or I wouldn't be here). It's an evening wedding and I want it to be sophisticated, but casual and fun. The problem is, I want to have 130-150 guests, and I'm on a tight budget of $10k for catering, including rentals, staff, etc. (I imagine that anyone who has planned a big catered event before in NYC is saying "oof" right now.)

I've been searching for a caterer, but so far my leads haven't gotten me that far. Either it's too expensive, or it just seems like crap wedding food.

Here are the foreseeable options I've found:

- A relatively light cocktail spread (no stations, just passed hors d'oeuvres) with Seasons Catering but their stuff looks interesting and appealing.

- Drop off catering (but I'm not sure from where exactly.) I worry about cold food, and having to arrange some staffing. Also, I'd still need hors d'oeuvres for before the meal. Places that I know do this - Cafe Habana, Soul Spot, Smoke Joint - not exactly the kind of food I had pictured for my wedding, but it would work, I suppose. See worry above about crap wedding food.

- Trying to cobble together cooking friends to put together something ourselves. Why does this smell like disaster, and a very stressed out bride?

- An amazing caterer that I haven't discovered yet who could do something interesting for me!

Any ideas, suggestions, etc? What do you think about any of the above options.

Thanks so much!

[Badiane]

Approach a culinary arts school and offer it as a class project - they will probably do it for the cost of the food. We did that several times when I was in cooking school. It's a lot of fun.

[Sentiamo]

Nina, I am a caterer and when I got rehitched a few years ago, went for passed nibbles with a static table also as guests will never feel they are not being fed enough ( or often enough!) if they can wander over and help themselves to something. The following is what we provided our guests.

Passed: ( over 5 hours)

Bacon wrapped Scallops with Hoisin Glaze

Sushi Selection

Stuffed Button Mushrooms

Thai Chicken Salad in Wonton Cups

Mini Mussel Fritters with Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

Lemon and Caper Chicken Peak Rolls

Strawberry and Brie Picks

Smoked Trout Rolls

Goats Cheese and Thyme Tartlets

Mandarin Duck and Rice Paper Rolls

Mini Steak Sandwiches

Baby Frittata's

Moroccan Lamb in Phyllo

Mini Arancini

On the static table:

Large Cheeseboard with Fruit Pastes, Crackers and Breads (also had bottles of Eiswein beside the cheeseboard! Im a freak for blue cheese and a good sticky!!)

Fresh Fruit Basket ( whole fruit)

Fresh Fruit Platter (sliced eg: melons, pineapple, kiwifruit, starfruit, 1/2'd passionfruit etc)

Ham on the Bone with various Mustards, Chutneys and Relishes, served with fresh Ciabatta Rolls

Sweet Platter ( all mini...meringues, lamingtons, lemon and lime curd tartlets, Florentines, stuffed Medjool Dates, Profiteroles, Chocolate Truffles, White Choc and Macadamia Brownie squares etc)

At 11.30pm, we put out the ' heavy' food!! Everyone was pretty much in a party mood and Kiwi's are renowned for their, ummm, alcohol consumption. So, out went BBQ'd Chicken Wings, Chilli Sausage Rolls, Tempura Fish Bites with Lime Mayo, etc......

Coffee and Tea was available at a seperate station all evening/night long. As was a juice station.

The only downer was that the next morning after I hauled my aging body outta bed and hightailed it back to the venue for a brunch with some of the guests, we realised that one flight trolley ( we used to do airline catering) was still 1/2 full of the scallop and bacon nibbles. Grrrrrrrrrr! Someone had kinda forgotten to look there after an initial round. A costly mistake that!!

Oh, and all the 500 helium balloons had slowly drifted down and set off the alarms at 4 am. Oh well. A good time was had by all and Im sure you will sort your wonderful day to be just fantastic. PM me if you have questions.

Lyn

[I_call_the_duck]

Nina,

Congratulations!!

It isn't easy getting married on a tight budget, especially in NYC, but it can be done. We did.

We found most of our stuff on craigslist. There are a lot of people who are starting out in the wedding business and just want a recommendation or something to add to their portfolio--and are willing do to stuff for little to no cost. We found our officiant, photgrapher, and wedding planner--all for free (Our photographer turned out to be flakey, but we won't go there.)

Our reception was at a bar that our friend owns, which cut down on the cost of renting tables, linens, etc. He also gave us a good deal on alcohol. The caterer we used was Indiana Catering. I would recommend them. The food was creative and tasty, and presentation was beautiful. We settled for passed hors d'oeuvres, along with a cheese station. Our cake came from a place in New Jersey.

We had about 65 guests at our wedding and our entire cost was around $10K. It was a casual yet elegant, and we all had a great time.

Good luck.

Edited July 3, 2007 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Approach a culinary arts school and offer it as a class project - they will probably do it for the cost of the food.  We did that several times when I was in cooking school.  It's a lot of fun.

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I second this idea. I had the culinary students at a local university cater my wedding and it was better and far less expensive than any of the other options. Passed hors d'oeuvres for cocktail hour, five course sit down dinner with paired wines and dessert. Incredibly elegant and well done and affordable. The guests thought it was the best wedding food they'd ever had.

[savethedeli]

Don't waste money on a "work of art" cake that tastes like stale drywall. I was at a great wedding this weekend, and they just had the local supermarket make their cake for them. Cost less than $200, look good, and tasted like supermarket cake. But i'll take that any day over the $1000 cakes i've had at fancy weddings which I am too drunk to see and taste awful.

[I_call_the_duck]

^^We were thinking along the same lines after interviewing a place in Brooklyn. $10/slice and $75 delivery. Granted, the cake was pretty damn tasty, but that was also pretty damn expensive. Our $200 ($50 delivery from Jersey) was just fine.

Sheesh. Weddings are such a racket.

[weinoo]

I used to work for Indiana Catering, and they will do a very nice job for you.

For a good, reasonably priced cake that your guests will actually eat, I would suggest a place like Veniero's.

It sounds like your budget is all in - including the space for the party. Do you have your space yet? If not, this should be a primary concern, so you can see what the cost is. Any way you can trim the guest list a bit?

What about a cocktail reception without a sit-down dinner, just lots of "heavy" hors d'oeuvres.

Something along the lines of a big mezze table may be a way to keep costs down - all sorts of dips (baba, hummous, taramasalata), stuffed grape leaves, pita crisps, etc.

Along with fancier passed hors d'oeuvres, followed by cake, this may be a good way to go.

If you can provide your own alcohol, you'll save a bunch - figure $5 pp for booze if you supply, and think about just doing wines and beer...you can usually get by with one bartender once everyone has their first drink, and that second staff person can start doing something else.

Schools are a great resource - my alma mater has a bulletin board service - check with the ICE.

[I_call_the_duck]

Hey weinoo, did you do our wedding?

[Nina C.]

Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone. I have the space for the party, and the cake (My dad's partner is a baker) for free.

I had thought a cocktail party would work, but given the cost of staff and rentals in NYC the price gets very expensive anyway. One caterer told me that the amounts of food you need are similar, and in the end there's not a huge difference in cost.

I need to look more thoroughly into providing my own alcohol - how much that would save.

I haven't heard of Indiana Catering, but I will look into them! Thanks.

[I_call_the_duck]

Try New Hampshire or Delaware. No sales tax. My sister made my other sister (who lives in Boston) shlelp to NH to buy booze. Twenty years ago, and she's still bitter about it.

Or if that isn't a possibility, try Trader Joe's. I have a friend who had Two Buck Chuck at their wedding and nobody was the wiser. I haven't tried TJ's wine yet, so I really don't know how good it really is.

[weinoo]

Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone.  I have the space for the party, and the cake (My dad's partner is a baker) for free.

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Well, that'll save you a bunch!!

I had thought a cocktail party would work, but given the cost of staff and rentals in NYC the price gets very expensive anyway. One caterer told me that the amounts of food you need are similar, and in the end there's not a huge difference in cost.

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This is true. Rentals should be a little less for a cocktail party than a sit-down dinner. Staff will be around the same. Food around the same - perhaps a bit cheaper if you go for lots of stationary hors d'oeuvres.

I need to look more thoroughly into providing my own alcohol - how much that would save.

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Depending on your deal, providing your own booze should save you around $5-$10 per guest. Sales tax at around $8 per $100, is not, imho, worth schlepping around to save. Go to Astor, K&D, Wherehouse, etc. You should be able to get a pretty damn good case deal and find a white and a red worth drinking for under $10 - buy a bottle of each, try them, and get something you like. Most likely, it will be better and cheaper than anyone's "house" pour. And, they'll deliver it for free. Don't forget about ice - at least make sure the caterer is handling it and non-alcoholic beverages as well.

[Catew]

If you want to compare Delaware booze prices with what you'd pay, look here: Total Wine and More. This store is HUGE and is just over the Delaware/PA line immediately off of I-95. It's our local store, and I've been very pleased by both the prices and selection. And as someone already pointed out, Delaware is the home of tax free shopping.

[docsconz]

Another nearby caterer that you may wish to consider is eGullet Society member Pete Swanson's Trellis Fine Catering.

Best wishes!

[Habeas Brulee]

Approach a culinary arts school and offer it as a class project - they will probably do it for the cost of the food.  We did that several times when I was in cooking school.  It's a lot of fun.

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I'm in a similar position now for my wedding next summer. Do you know of any culinary schools in particular that do this sort of thing ever?

(Or have any other suggestions, of course.)

Thanks!