Wedding Under $2,500.00 - The Caterer

We knew right from the beginning that we wanted to have a BBQ for our wedding menu. At first, looking for a caterer was awesome! We went to every BBQ restaurant and every Hawaiian restaurant and cart within 25 miles of our home. If you're wanting to know which was the best I'll tell you as a side note. Goldies BBQ in Vancouver, WA is the best BBQ. Noho's Hawaiian in Portland, OR and Da Kine Cafe in Vancouver, WA are the best Hawaiian places around.

But I digress. Although they are very affordable places to dine, the catering menus were outside of our budge. I was struggling to get the food that I wanted for under $10 a person. That's when I approached my mom. These were my questions.

Can you make a BBQ dinner for 100 people at or under $10 per person? Are you willing to work the food station for the wedding? Will that ruin your experience of my wedding?"

Mom came back with the answer that she could make a BBQ dinner for 100 people at $6.00 a person, and if she had some help, it would be just fine for her to spend 2 hours of the reception serving food. This was awesome news! And since Travis's mom was the cook at the Police Station, she is just the kind of help my mom was looking for. With their food-service know-how it should be a cinch for them. My Aunt will be visiting for the Summer and she is also willing to help. Everything will be set up buffet style and with all the help everything should go smoothly on the wedding day.

Here is the menu:

• Pulled Pork Sandwiches
• Hotdogs
• Coleslaw
• Potato Salad
• Pasta Salad
• Baked Beans
• Sliced Watermelon
• Iced Tea
• Punch

It's pretty much the same menu we were going to use when our budget was much higher; slightly tweaked.

For dessert we are using the wedding cake. It seems obvious, but some people don't do that. My sister can make some mini cheesecakes for about $1 each. If we can get the price down to .50 each by buying in bulk, and I have enough left over in my budget, I might add those to the dessert menu.

I am also trying to trim down the cost of the wedding menu by asking a few people to bring menu items as potluck dishes. The punch is being made by my Bridesmaid, and my future mother-in-law is making both the potato salad and the pasta salad. Hopefully that is enough to make a dent in the cost.