Meal for 250 wedding quests on $2 K
Annie
02/20/09 		I am in the beginning stages of planning a casual wedding reception. There will be 250 guests and my budget for food is $2000.00. The number of quests and budget are pretty much set in stone. I keep hearing that it can't be done but I am determined to make this work!
Does anyone have any suggestions for a meal that does not involve a tremendous amount of preparation time, storage, etc.(as I may be doing much of this on my own or with a couple of volunteers.) Also, If I were to serve (for example) Caesar salad, rolls, lunch meat, cheese, condiments, etc. how much of each item would I need to purchase?
ellen
02/20/09 		Annie, change your plans right now! Have the wedding at 1 pm with a tea reception or 7 PM with a dessert reception. These are delightful appropriate functions that you MIGHT be able to pull off on this budget. There is no way to do a full meal on that budget with the cake coming out of that also (300-800).

Also, simple meals are expensive; the one you propose would already go over your budget...

You can write further-
Ellen

ellen
02/20/09 		Just FYI, the current average cost of an American wedding this size is around $25 K, yes, $100 per guest, with $6K the basic minimum of that going for food NOT including beverages, wedding cake, etc.
Annie
02/20/09 		Thank you for the information. I had actually budgeted separately for the cake and drinks. Does this make any difference? Is there anything more substantial I could serve beyond deserts? I plan on making it clear to our guests that a full traditional meal will not be served, but I would like to offer more than this. Any suggestions?
ellen
02/21/09 		Yes, but the critical thing is, the reception must not be over a regular mealtime, or you are faced with the hospitality responsibility of providing a meal's worth of food, even if it is of the finger food type. See the article called wedding dinner (button at the top of the main cook talk page) for a discussion of times.

It could be scheduled for 730 PM with a "light hor douvres note on the invitation, but it could not be done so at 6 PM.

At either a tea or dessert type reception, you could have a selection of savory bites (mini quiches, sausage balls, little kolaches, etc) along with the sweets table.

Or you could consider a adult sundae bar at an evening function with espresso, liqueur toppings, wonderful cookies, if that would suit your guest selection. See the article on how to do a sundae bar, it has off site links to photos of a wedding sundae bar.

One person doing a dessert type function baked and froze different cookies and bars every weekend from June until the wedding in December. She was delighted with the enthusiastic guest response, and family members and friends found it easy to contribute.

ellen
02/21/09 		Do go read this thread:

www.ellenskitchen.com/forum/messages/3104.html