Wedding Planner Tips (Part 4): How to save on your wedding food and beverage bill

Since the cost of your food and drinks can amount to one of your biggest wedding expenses, this means that there is also a lot of room for saving. Depending on your wedding style, here are some ideas, straight from the wedding planner team at Nicolette Weddings, that might help you save on your food and drinks bill:

• Venues often offer drastically reduced rates for wedding breakfast and lunch menus.
• Consider hosting a cocktail party reception instead of a three course, sit down menu. Offering your guests rounds of canapés throughout the evening can cost significantly less.
• It’s becoming increasingly popular for newlyweds to choose to celebrate their union at a more relaxed and informal braai-style reception, which can really save on menu costs

• It’s also becoming more common for couples to serve their wedding cake as dessert which saves on an entire course.

• To save on the canapé selection, it helps to mix both up-scale canapé items, with more budget friendly ones.

• To save on drinks, consider creating a low-cost ‘signature’ cocktail to add a personal touch and trim the drinks bill without your guests being any wiser

• Consider only having an open bar at your reception for the first hour or two
• To save on costs, you can limit the types of beverages that your guests are able to order at your open bar. Rules such as “no doubles”, “mainline spirits only”, and “no red bull” are very acceptable.
• Unfortunately it’s true that the fewer people you invite, the more money you will have available to spend on your wedding
• If you’ve chosen a wine farm to host your wedding, choose the wine from the estate to serve on your big day to save on costs as you will often qualify for a big discount from the estate

• Lastly, having a dessert buffet can be a beautiful feature in your reception space, and a fantastic way to incorporate your wedding colours into the room. It’s also an even better way to save on the dessert course without your guests having any idea.

All pictures used above were taken at weddings done by Nicolette Weddings.