Alternatives for Catering

Sedona is gorgeous! But as a smaller upscale town, probably not inexpensive. What about a brunch wedding instead of dinner? Usually brunch is cheaper!


Is this an out of town wedding for most guests? If so, can you cut your guest list to provide a full dinner if you want an evening wedding? If guests are traveling more than 2 hours, or spending the night in a hotel, I don’t think you can really skimp on the meal. Are there any Italian or Mexican restaurants in the area that can provide a full buffet? Usually those restaurants are the cheapest.

View Quoted Comment Thanks so much I will definitely look into this!!

BBQ, Mexican, and Italian tend to be the least expensive catering options. You can also checkout caterers or restaurants who offer drop off services instead of full catering where they would stay to serve your guests.

You could also just do a simple off meal time cake and punch reception with light appetizers?

You could look into using a good truck. That is what we are doing and it’s only $15 per person!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much! I didnt even think of this

Look into pizza or pasta bars as those are cheap and you can make them look nice.

I am not familiar with that area but $5,000.00 for 80 people seems insane to me. (That's $62.50 a person which I guess for a wedding isn't totally unheard of but jeeze.) I am doing BBQ at about $15 per person for 120 people.

I definitely think this depends on the type of food and service you are wanting.

View Quoted Comment I definitely thought it was insane to lol. Thank you I will look into other options.

We went thru a local grocery store chain that does catering. We're doing a taco bar for $9.95/head.

View Quoted Comment That is awesome! I would be interestes to know what storr you used! Is there a website to look up stores that cater. Sounds economical!

View Quoted Comment We went thru HyVee. Which is out of Iowa, and I think regional to this portion of the midwest. But it may be a way to go thru a different store in your area.

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much!

I initially wanted soul food for 60 people and got $1300. 5K sounds insane!


We have a lot of out of town guests so I'm torn between not skipping the meal, and just getting reeeeeaally good finger foods. Think shrimp cocktails, cheese trays, bread, things that will satisfy but won't fill.
Luckily one of my guests is the Baker as well and she's working for free, so I make up the meal with desserts. There basically is a dessert bar instead of catering.