Cheap Food Options?

I've looked into restaurant catering like Fuzzy's but wanted other options as well.

Dessert is fine if you have your wedding at a non-meal time like 2 pm.

We had a bbq buffet for 44 guests and it was about $4000 before alcohol. $1200 for that many guests I just don’t know is realistic. Our rehearsal dinner was chicken and sides from Publix catering, about $500 for 44 guests.

As Pirate & 60s Bride said, if you are getting married at a non meal time, you can get away with just doing dessert or even appetizers. But otherwise, you will need to serve a meal. Your guest list is rather large and I’m not sure your food budget is realistic, unfortunately. You may need to either cut your guest list or reallocate your funds to food and cut from other places.

Most places charge per person and $1,200 is less than $10 per person for 150-170 people which is highly unrealistic especially if you plan on serving alcohol. Unless you are having your reception during non-meal time then you need to serve a full meal and not just desserts or appetizers. For our rehearsal dinner for less than 50 people we sent over $1,200. If you want to spend less than $1,200 you are going to need to drastically cut your guest list. I also looked on Fuzzy's website and do like their build-your-own taco bar is $10 a person and that doesn't include drinks or anything extra like cake so even if you went with them you would be spending more than $1,200. I would also offer more than just a taco bar for a wedding reception. A good way to think about this is called the Olive Garden Rule. The article I have linked explains exactly what that meals.

https://apracticalwedding.com/common-wedding-mistakes/

We are doing sandwiches from the Walmart deli! You can keep it under $700 for just the sandwiches for about 225 people. Then get some large bags of chips and put them in a nice bowl.

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I love that idea. Thank you!!

Do a Google/Yelp search for caterers in your area. Restaurants will be cheaper because they don't tack on "wedding" fees like a regular caterer will. Get price quotes and tastings and decide from there.