Need to save money on catering

Maybe you could try restraunts who cater I know Olive garden does and maybe some local bbq

Is your wedding reception during a normal meal time? If so, then I would try to come up with the extra money and do normal catering (you can find some great deals for Italian, Mexican, BBQ, etc.). Many places offer package deals that might even be cheaper than grocery store catering. But if your reception is not during a meal time then you could probably get away with appetizers and desserts

IMHO not feeding people adequate food (particularly for an event that goes for a few hours or more) is a big faux pas and will lead to unhappy guests who will think more about how hungry they are than how beautiful the wedding was.

If you are having a short wedding (i.e. ceremony and reception done and dusted in 3 hours) then appetisers and dessert will suffice, but, I would say any longer than that and you need to ensure there is more food available. Things to consider are; the time of the wedding, duration, how much alcohol will be served etc.

If you're trying to save so money on catering, I'd recommend looking into local resultants in your area. Most will do a buffet style (which is extremely cheaper than a formal sit-down dinner), and local restaurant's prices are typically cheaper; at least from my experience. My husband and I went with a local restaurant and saved thousands of dollars on the food for our wedding. We had great food & a crazy amount of leftovers that the restaurant employed working our wedding boxed up for us and let us keep.

I agree with the timing being a major factor. Also, take into consideration how you would serve the food and if it fits into the COVID restrictions in your area! Store catering might be cheaper upfront, but then you might have to pay for staff to monitor the food (make sure it's at the correct temp, help with servings, etc.).

Also agreeing with the many comments here. We were also trying to scale down our catering budget and decided to go with Mission BBQ. We're having a rustic fall "picnic" themed wedding in October so BBQ is fitting for us. I honestly think that our bar bill is higher than our food xD There's still going to be plenty of food but I have a lot of family and friends that are big drinkers.