Cheap food

Determine what you’d want to spend per person and get a budget in mind. I’ve found the vendors section to be very helpful in research. My venue does the catering so luckily that was one less decision I had to make. We’re doing bbq for our rehearsal dinner to keep costs reasonable. Good luck and enjoy some tastings!

BBQ and Italian are notoriously the most budget friendly to cater. You could also do something like a taco bar for a reasonable price. Depending on the size of your guest list, it's also often cheaper to have catering done by a restaurant like City BBQ or Olive Garden rather than a stand alone catering company. You may also want to look into local restaurants to see what they would charge.

Find out your budget then go from there. Pig roast is cheap.

BBQ, Mexican and Italian are fairly cheap compared to traditional "wedding" food. My fiancé and I are serving BBQ buffet that includes brisket, ribs, pulled pork and smoked chicken with four sides and some cornbread.

BBQ was the cheapest/classiest food we could find! Ours also comes with chicken for those who don’t do pork with no extra cost.

I looked through so many caterers and I finally found one for $21 per person. For a turkey and pork loin carving station! I thought that was a great price. Plus, our tasting was amazing. And i live in a big, popular city where everything is way over priced.
My suggestion is keep looking they're out there. You shouldn't have to sacrifice quality for price.

Taco Bar!! It's cheap and people love tacos.

Hi Art! Not sure of your geographic location nor your guest list, but I just hosted a family reunion for 50 people, I served spaghetti w/meatballs, pasta alfredo and salad, it was $300. Now that was bare bones, you will want more food than that, I am sure. but look around, it can be done!

I have heard Famous Dave's is very yummy, people who normally don't like BBQ rave about it.

Work with a caterer and tell them your affordability, most are willing to work with you!

We are doing little cocktail sandwiches, chips, salads and dessert. Nothing fancy, but perfect for an August wedding!