Catering your Wedding -- How to Plan Hors d'Oeuvres, Main Courses, Desserts, and Everything In Between for a Low Price! (Plus, a TM Wedding’s Promotional Discount!)
When it comes to budgeting, many wedding planners find that catering can constitute up to 35% of their entire balance for the entire event. Now, this does not need to be true -- there are many ways in which you can save money on catering, whether it is by doing the catering yourself or with help from family and friends, or just by making smart decisions on the menu items and catering service you choose during your planning stage. This article will provide you resources on exactly how to save money catering your wedding, ranging from good tips for those who want to cater their wedding alone, to ways to save money when simply selecting the catering services and menus. It will also give you tips on how to be informed when deciding how exactly you will cater your wedding as well.
At the end of the blog, there is also a special TM Weddings promotion, where readers may receive 10% off of a catering order of $100 or more from the Lower Merion’s Japanese restaurant Gin Za -- so stay tuned!
HOW TO CATERING YOURSELF -- HOW TO EASILY SAVE MONEY BY CATERING YOUR OWN WEDDING
Purchase Catering Equipment Yourself
For those hoping to cater their own wedding, it may seem reasonable to rent the equipment that you will need (think burners, heat lamps, decor/plates/silverware). However, the cost of renting equipment has increased in recent times -- and catering companies and rental services are charging more than ever for this service.
This is true to such an extent that it is usually cheaper to buy this equipment yourself -- most catering equipment can come for a low price if you are willing to do the searching. Finding metal trays, some gas stoves, and affordable plates and silverware can be a much more customizable and cheap means of catering, and is a great way to save money on your catering endeavor.
The best part of this is, if you purchase all of the gear to cater your own wedding, you could sell or gift it to the next person getting married that you know. Thus, by buying your own gear, you can pass it along to a friend -- making some of your money back, or just sharing the gift of the gear to help a friend cater their own wedding as well.
Select Foods That Are Easy to Make in Bulk
This may seem like a fairly obvious point, but it is a surefire way to save a lot of money when catering your own event. By making items in bulk, you make catering a much more feasible experience. It may be tempting to select complicated hor d'oeuvres or intricate meals that require many ingredients -- and this is also okay! But, your budget and your capabilities will be much less strained if you can choose simple yet delicious items that are made on a large scale. These sorts of items can include protein items like braised ribs or roasted chicken breasts, large garden salads, or various pasta dishes, where sauces, vegetables, and noodles can be combined in large quantities.
Plan Your Cooking Ahead of Time
Another self-evident point about catering your own wedding is to know how many people you are cooking for, and to decide exactly what it is that you are cooking. If you have these two aspects down, you can devise a schedule for how to actually execute the cooking aspect of your wedding. Consider this -- you have made noodles for a pasta two days early, and the day of your wedding finally comes. You notice the noodles have become quite soggy by now, and the salad you prepared has also wilted since yesterday as well!
This is the sort of crisis you really want to avoid. If you know your menu, you can figure out when and how to execute your cooking plan -- which may entail cooking some items on your wedding day, or others several days before. If you want a salad, this is best made fresh, and can be feasibly done the day of your wedding. However, if you are making something like roasted chicken, which can easily be stored and heated up later, this is something you can schedule two days early, for example.
To plan your cooking ahead of time is to ensure your food comes out in the best quality as possible, as well as to relieve your cooking burden by having a solid plan before you actually begin. Thus, if you know your menu and your guest list, you are ready to start determining your plan for your cooking schedule.
Get Your Friends Involved!
Catering your own wedding does not just involve cooking -- it also involves the transport, setup, decor, and serving of all of the food as well. This can seem like quite a daunting prospect, given all of the logistics (i.e. making sure items are the right temperature, having the space to store the food, having time to set up all of the food when the time comes). However, if you have friends and family available to help you, you can design an efficient and flawless system where your food is cooked, transported, stored, set up, and served with ease.
To execute this step pragmatically, consider several things. Do you have the fridge and kitchen space to cater your wedding? Do you have the time and space to transport all of this food when the day comes? Will you do buffet style or have servers to serve the food? Who could potentially serve, transport, or give me the space to cook? These questions can help you figure out where exactly you do need help in the process, and who can help you with it as well.
CATERING SERVICES -- HOW TO MAKE SMART AND COST-EFFECTIVE CHOICES
Knowing Your Headcount and Devising a Per-Person Estimate
When it comes to selecting a caterer and a menu, the most critical aspect for your budget is knowing your headcount and devising a per-person cost estimate. These two things will allow you to be prepared to discuss with a caterer, who will often require you to know these things before you talk prices. Here are the most important things to be aware of when devising a per-person cost estimate. To come up with this estimate, it is best to refer to the average per-person costs highlighted in the above point (“Select your Catering Style”) to get a feel for how much you will be spending. It is also important to know that most couples spend an average of $1,800 to $7,000 dollars on their catering for their weddings.
As aforementioned, your per-person estimate must be compatible with your catering service, and if you are not willing to stretch on this estimate, you help make sure that you select a catering service within your price range. By being aware of these average prices, knowing your person count, and deciding on a buffet or a plated dinner situation, you can expand your knowledge of your budget, and avoid paying more than you want to for a catering service by having a well-informed budget.
Know your Average Costs, and Saving Money via Catering Styles
When budgeting for catering, it is most important to know whether your catering will be plated dinners or buffet style. It is also important to know if you will have an open bar or not, if you will have hors d’eouvres, desserts, or anything extra of this sort. The average per-person cost for a plated dinner is $40. If you cater with a buffet, the average per-person cost is $27. Adding an open bar will typically cost $15 extra per-person. These are three cornerstone average costs that most wedding planners will encounter. Knowing how much food (and at what times of the wedding you want them) will ensure that you will be aware of your costs before you plan with a caterer.
In terms of saving money, a buffet-style catering situation is the best. Keeping things simple is also a great way of saving money, especially on hors d’eouvres, which can become quite complicated and expensive. Thus, if you want to save money, these are a couple good ways of keeping your budget in check when selecting catering styles -- simple, accessible foods, and buffet style self-service.
Another great way to save money if you have an open bar is an open tab. This means that instead of paying the entire price for an open bar (knowing that some people may not drink), your guests will charge their drinks to your open tab -- thus reducing costs on those who decide to not drink.
Selecting a Trustworthy and Quality Caterer
When selecting a caterer, there are several critical factors involved. A trustworthy and helpful caterer is one of the most important aspects of finding a good business to help you on your big day. So, how can you decide?
One good way to select a caterer is to know what it is that they serve. This could mean that the catering service you hire is one that you know -- or even a friend of yours! Having people affiliated with you catering your wedding is a great way to ensure they are invested in making and serving quality food on your good day. If you are not hiring a business you are familiar with, then it is a great idea to schedule a tasting. This way, you can taste the food you are selecting, and get to know the people behind your catering operation.
Another great way of determining if a caterer is right for you is to ask them one simple question -- how much of their menu is frozen? If a catering business is used to setting up, heating frozen food, and then serving it, your money would be better spent on something else -- as you could easily do this job on your own. This is a critical question that makes sure your caterer is invested in providing good quality food that you could not simply provide yourself, and ensure that the food being served is unique and good tasting as well.
One final way to select a quality and trustworthy caterer is to ask them questions such as this: “what makes your business unique?”. This question is critical -- if they are unable to particularly answer this, they may not be as passionate about their craft as you would hope. You want to ensure that your caterer provides quality and standout food, and that they are trustworthy and invested in their own business. By asking these sorts of questions, scheduling tastings, and knowing their menu inside and out, you are a step closer to making an informed decision. It will also let you know how much of your money you hope to spend on this aspect of your wedding -- what you will settle for, what special add-ons and ideas for catering that you want, and beyond.
Be Aware of Tips and Wildcards!
One final note on catering is that there are typically extra costs to be wary of. Catering businesses will usually expect a 15-20% tip for their services, and beyond this, many catering businesses have sorts of “hidden fees” that might not be expected. This can range from service fees (i.e. time spent serving) to even more random ones, such as a flat rate for each slice of cake that is cut. When discussing with a caterer, find out what exactly these fees are expected to amount to, and make sure to make this a part of your budget that you are informed of rather than surprised by.
A SPECIAL TM WEDDINGS PROMOTION -- 20% OFF OF CATERING FROM GIN ZA JAPANESE RESTAURANT OF LOWER MERION
If you are looking for a deal on high quality, authentic sushi and Japanese food to cater your wedding, look no further -- TM Weddings has just arranged a great deal for all of our readers! For those of you who are reading from Pennsylvania, the Lower Merion restaurant Gin Za is offering 10% off of all catering-related orders for your wedding above $100. As mentioned in the article, buffet-style catering is a great way to save money on your wedding’s budget. From Gin Za, you can select from a whole menu of sushi, ranging from intricate special sushi rolls to simpler, traditional rolls that would truly spice up any wedding buffet or menu. They also have high-quality sushi and sashimi, which could also make a great add-on as well. Furthermore, their menu contains many traditional Japanese dishes that could be served in a buffet or even on an individual plate basis, such as teriyakis, yakisoba noodles, and more.
Gin Za Japanese Restaurant of Lower Merion is now working with TM Weddings to provide our readers with a 10% discount on all wedding catering orders above $100. To receive the discount, simply call the restaurant when you are ready to plan, and mention our blog promotion to their owner, Kyung Kang. The restaurant is willing to deliver their catering within a 20-mile radius -- ranging from all of greater Philadelphia, into Camden, King of Prussia, and Media as well. If you fall out of the delivery range, pick-up is also a suitable option.
For more information on Gin Za, you can refer to their website here ( http://www.ginzamainline.com/ ), or find their reviews online via Google or Yelp. Make sure you search for Gin Za Mainline, and not a different, incorrect Gin Za! We at TM Weddings wish our readers the best of luck with catering their weddings, and hope that our promotion offers you some help in adding some quality, fancy flairs to your wedding’s food!