wedding menus

[lovemickeya]

I am helping my cousin with her wedding and we are trying to come up with EZ food ideas as the menu for her October wedding. Her theme is fall (leaves pumpkins that sort of thing). It is a smallish wedding 100 people or so. So we are trying to come up with ideas of things we could made and serve instead of having it catered with it costing $15 a head for food. So.. Any ideas would be great. The cheaper the better- with out getting to TRASHY!


TIA

 

[ChristmasElf]

Chicken Cordon Bleu is always a favorite!!!
Easy to make, great presentation, and most people love it.

Serve with a baked potatoe and green beans and a tossed salad and you could easily do this for less than $10 dollars a head, saving the extra cost for cake and extras.

 

[Growin'upDisney]

100 people is not small - the average american wedding is 123 people.

The easiest (and cheapest) thing to do on a mass scale is pasta. Maybe a bowtie or penne with olive oil, cherry or grape tomatoes and basil. Or lots of lasagnes that could be made ahead and frozen.

Unless you do a huge BBQ (tri-tip or ribs), the next easiest are Chicken dishes. I made Chicken Marsala for 50. Simply dredge and cook the chicken ahead of time and then reduce lots of mushrooms in marsala wine. Roasted potatoes are simple.

To be honest, cooking for 100 is probably more work than you think - and the bride certainly shouldn't be thinking of trying to do it with all the last minute things that come with a wedding.

 

[aynt79]

Most of the receptions held where I grew up they cater themselves. It really isn't that hard. For that many people I would think the best and easeist way to go would be buffet. You can find pans that keep things warm/cold at party places or Sam's Club/Costco.

For a bunch of recipes/ideas this is agood website to start: http://members.tripod.com/~lotsofinfo/index.html

 

[lovemickeya]

Thank you for all your thoughts and ideas-

100 people is a MAX (and that number includes kids) so really I mean we might be looking at 1/2 of that to feed - we will know better onces the RSVPs get out and back-- Like I said the wedding isnt until October so the finally head count is up in the air at this point.

We were thinking about having a baked potato bar. I didnt know how well this would go over - at a wedding. I have done it for birthdays before.

thanks again

 

[terri01p]

I don't know what time of day this person is getting married, but whenever my dd got married she had 82 people and was married 2:00 ( so hopefully people came on a full stomach from lunch ). Her wanting to get married couldn't have come at a worse time for us, money wise. This is what we did and if you set it up right it can be beautiful.
We had different stations, one was a table of tiered sandwiches ( we cut them heart shaped with a cookie cutter , you can do leaves, pumpkins anything basically ) just pimento cheese, chicken salad, egg salad, whatever you would like, we had meatballs and wings. Then we had a table of cut up vegetables, several different dips, meat trays of rolled up ham, turkey, cheeses, crackers etc. We had one table of different cut up fruits, strawberries, grapes, watermelon, etc ...with chocolate fondue dip. We had a table that had all kinds of different candies, cookies, nuts, punch and drinks. And of course the cake table. All of the stuff we got at Sams Club in bulk. Except for the cookies and candies, we shopped around for these. Bottom line was if I could have payed for my dd to have a big reception I would have ,but real life gets in the way. But to this day if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing, everyone had plenty to eat, it was beautiful and classy just the same. You don't have to have a sit down 5 course meal to have a beautiful wedding reception. Total cost for reception was 631.00
( not including the cake ). And we even had trays of food left over.

 

[RunDanceSkate]

This is what we did and if you set it up right it can be beautiful.
We had different stations, one was a table of tiered sandwiches ( we cut them heart shaped with a cookie cutter , you can do leaves, pumpkins anything basically ) just pimento cheese, chicken salad, egg salad, whatever you would like, we had meatballs and wings. Then we had a table of cut up vegetables, several different dips, meat trays of rolled up ham, turkey, cheeses, crackers etc. We had one table of different cut up fruits, strawberries, grapes, watermelon, etc ...with chocolate fondue dip. We had a table that had all kinds of different candies, cookies, nuts, punch and drinks. And of course the cake table. All of the stuff we got at Sams Club in bulk. Except for the cookies and candies, we shopped around for these.

This sounds perfect for my brother's upcoming wedding, do you have any photos you could share of the tables and how they were set up?

Cindy

 

[Tazicket]

OP, what kind of reception food do you want to do? Would you prefer sit down or more of a buffet style?

 

[lovemickeya]

It will be buffet style- whatever we end up serving.

 

[barkley]

when i was married we wanted to keep costs down as much as possible-but we did want to ensure our guests had plenty to eat. we ended up contacting a nice bsns. in town that had both a deli as well as a catering buisness. we explained to the owner what we wanted and our price range (which was about a third of the then going price for full meals). the owner came up with a menu of about a dozen items (cold meat trays, cold cheese and veggie trays, stuffed mushroom caps, beef skewers, chicken apple sausages, sweet and sour meatballs, and some fresh seasonal fruit, different types of breads...). the price was very reasonable esp. since we did'nt have to rent chafing dishes, serving utensils-and all the plates and cutlery were included. we had tons of food and everyone enjoyed it very much.

 

[Tazicket]

It will be buffet style- whatever we end up serving.

Cool! I like terri01p's idea of having different stations. You could base what types of stations they are on whether you want to do more meal-type foods or snack-type foods. (What you guys want to do and the wedding time would affect this the most). If you wanted to do heavier, you could have a pasta station, bread station, veggie/fruit/salad station, punch station, etc... If you would prefer less meal-type things you could always do crackers & cheeses, fruits/veggies/dips, mini sandwiches (either preassembled or have a bowl filled with rolls and assorted meats and cheeses on a platter beside them), etc...

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

I agree with most of the post to do a buffet style...just arrange it neat or use nice or unusual serving platters

There are so many options out there that arent expensive & easy to make like one big hit at my parties is my sausage stars(hidden valley ranch receipe) & stuffed mushrooms

My DH is hispanic & Ive learned from ALL his families parties that they order meat from the mexican stores & let me tell you how incredibaly delicious it is. They just bring toritillas, bread, etc to add to it..its worth checking out

My mom has a great reciepe for beef & peppers cooked in one of these big roaster pans...YUM...its easy ...all you do is throw it in a roaster & let it cook (its better if it cooks 6-8hrs to get tender)

It all depends how much you want take on ...it can be alot of work & its a day that should not involve to much work & lots of enjoyment...try shopping around to price out catering...you might be surprised & in some cases it works out to be the same price without all the hassle...
good luck

 

[lovemickeya]

Thanks again for all the posts

To answer some lingering questions

Ceremony is at 7 reception at 8pm

I love the idea of making sandwiches with the cutters-

BTW= She is assigning the food to someone who isnt actually in the wedding party(aunts friend from work) so they will not have anything to worry about but getting it set up and then enjoying the rest of the reception.

Keep the ideas coming- I love to hear all of the different suggestions.

 

[barbeml]

I worked as an event planner for years and planned my own wedding. The NJ Metro area can be very snobby, but the most memorable events I have planned or attended have been DIFFERENT and FUN, not necessarily expensive. One of the most successful cocktail parties I ever planned professionally was a tailgate-themed party for political types. Six-foot long sub, chili dogs, popcorn, etc. If you pick a theme, everyone will get it if the food (no matter how thrifty) goes with the theme.

One that stands out that might work for you was a PTO fundraiser DH and I attended (because his boss's wife was part of it and he bought tickets for his staff & spouses). It was a wine tasting (read no need for an expensive open bar) and food stations. The stations were Mexican Fajitas (cheap, delicious and filling), Italian Pasta Bar (again, cheap, delicious and filling) and the coolest of all, a Mashed Potato Martini Bar. The servers would scoop mashed potatos into a martini glass (so it seemed really upscale) and top the spuds with your choice of broccoli & cheese, beef burgundy (slow simmered cheap cut of beef in red wine) or sauteed mushrooms marsala (for the vegans). Everyone raved because it was so fun. People LOVE to have choices.

Take it from a pro, half the battle is the WOW factor: no matter what you serve, if it is plentiful and presented nicely people will love it.

 

[golfgal]

Have you priced caterers? There is a good chance you can find a caterer for $15/head. Another option would be to look into a restaurant that caters. We had Famous Dave's cater our Marching Band Banquet. We had ribs/chicken, 2 sides and rolls for $11.99/person. We ordered cakes from the local bakery and had beverages available--pop and water and it was under $15/head for everything.

 

[ZPT1022]

Do you have a local culinary school? I know when my brother was going to culinary school they often catered things and their prices were great. Also, you could do a lot just with a Sams Club Membership and lots of heavy hot hors d'oeuvres. I think if it were me I would still buy a regular wedding cake, but as long as there is enough for people to fill up on I don't think it would be a problem. The only thing about your plan that I would worry about is a reception starting at 8 pm that involves lots of little kids. By 8 pm a lot of little kids are tuckered out already.

 

[tw1nsmom]

I would go with the stations idea. Some of the ones I like:

-cut up veggies/salad station
-pasta station
-mexican/fajitas station
-premade sandwiches and other appetizers station (you could get crackers and cheese, and other appetisers at B.J.'s or Costco)
-dessert station (homemade pies, cookies, cakes and pastries)
-candy station (this can also be the wedding favors... have many bowls of candy, either go all white or try to have it fit the wedding colors...each bowl has a scoop...have bags printed with a special message from the couple that the guests can fill with candy).

Remember to budget in the cost of renting chaffing dishes for warm items. Also, get lots of extra tablecloths. You can make different levels by turning a large pot, small pot, etc., upside down on the main tablecloth and draping another tablecloth over it. You could have miniature pumpkins and leaves (artificial if real ones aren't available for you at that time of year) scattered around. You could also have either many votive candles, or weave white Christmas lights in and around the table tops.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I would say as easy as possible...My parties usually consist of something like stuffed shells (frozen fro BJ are good an you add sauce), meatballs and sausage, 6 foot hero, tossed salad and bread. To make it a little different, like others said, have cheese and crackers, veggies and fruit tables...you can also put different things on the tables...like olive trays amd or cookie trays...HTH!!!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I worked as an event planner for years and planned my own wedding. The NJ Metro area can be very snobby, but the most memorable events I have planned or attended have been DIFFERENT and FUN, not necessarily expensive. One of the most successful cocktail parties I ever planned professionally was a tailgate-themed party for political types. Six-foot long sub, chili dogs, popcorn, etc. If you pick a theme, everyone will get it if the food (no matter how thrifty) goes with the theme.

One that stands out that might work for you was a PTO fundraiser DH and I attended (because his boss's wife was part of it and he bought tickets for his staff & spouses). It was a wine tasting (read no need for an expensive open bar) and food stations. The stations were Mexican Fajitas (cheap, delicious and filling), Italian Pasta Bar (again, cheap, delicious and filling) and the coolest of all, a Mashed Potato Martini Bar. The servers would scoop mashed potatos into a martini glass (so it seemed really upscale) and top the spuds with your choice of broccoli & cheese, beef burgundy (slow simmered cheap cut of beef in red wine) or sauteed mushrooms marsala (for the vegans). Everyone raved because it was so fun. People LOVE to have choices.

Take it from a pro, half the battle is the WOW factor: no matter what you serve, if it is plentiful and presented nicely people will love it.

Another political event planner here and barbeml is right on the money. If you don't want to do the wine tasting, you can choose a speciality drink. Frozen lemonades, dreamcicles, margaritas, and you can take a pass on the open bar. I do this for our 4th of July bash at our house. A choose a different speciality drink and have a keg of beer. I design the party around the drink. Last year if was frozen italian ice and vodka, just pour the vodka over the ice and voila...you have a fantastic drink.

I would really look into hiring a local caterer, as other posters have said, it may not be as expensive as you think - it really is alot of work for a wedding you are attending. You should think about it.

 

[terri01p]

This sounds perfect for my brother's upcoming wedding, do you have any photos you could share of the tables and how they were set up?

Cindy

I do have tons ( and I mean tons) of pictures of every thing, but every time I try to post a picture, it won't take it because it's saying the picture are too big. I don't really know what's going on, I have never posted a picture before and I'm not doing something right. I'll have my dd try to help me whenever she comes over. A picture is worth a thousand words that's for sure !