Cheap Ways to Cater Your Wedding

Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life, but do you really want to still be paying for it when your first anniversary rolls around? I didn't think so. So how can you cater for the wedding on the cheap, without appearing to be cheap? There are several options available.

Look for the new kids on the block

New businesses are setting up every day, so look out in the local press for pubs, hotels, and restaurants who take out advertising features. Often, this is an established business under new management, or new premises opening for the first time. Call them and ask about catering for your wedding. Say you are prepared to give them a try, even though you'd prefer to go with a recommendation, and ask what they will do for you in return.

When I got married for the second time, I used a newcomer to the wedding catering trade, and we received a substantial discount. All we had to do in return was allow the caterer to take photographs of the table layout and the meals to use in promotional material.

Make use of the talent around you

Hire a function room or a village hall, and ask your friends and family to contribute food as their wedding present. Someone may be able to make the wedding cake, and other friends and family members may be able to contribute to the buffet. If you're catering this way, a buffet is always going to be easier to arrange than a sit down meal. Other people can organise that, while you concentrate on making yourself beautiful for your big day.

Hire a marquee

If you have the space to put up a marquee, you can have a luxurious wedding reception on a budget. Again, ask for food instead of wedding presents, as in the suggestion above.

Go midweek

Do you have to have a weekend wedding? If you can schedule a midweek ceremony, everything will be cheaper, and if you're going on honeymoon afterwards, that could be cheaper as well. Hotels and pubs will give you a better deal on catering, as their function rooms are probably sitting empty, and the venue for the marriage ceremony will also be cheaper midweek. It's worth investigating.

Your wedding is not about impressing the guests - it's about what you, as a couple, want for your big day. Don't feel you need to spend a fortune, unles you want to.