What to feed guests on a tight buget?

That is tight! I would do an afternoon tea with finger foods and cake.

What kind of theme are you gonig with? Evening or daytime wedding?

4pm fairy tale theme

4pm fairy tale theme

You can do some heavy and light hor d'ouerves with 50 people $300 should be more than enough

I would definitely do tea, then:

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Just keep in mind that if you can't afford a full meal, guests will start drifting out around 7 pm or so because they'll be hungry and want dinner. So that will make for a shorter reception - can you move the ceremony time up a little bit?

I would be doing a tea as well. We originally wanted a 3pm wedding and I wanted to do a tea with cake and drinks, but the judge changed our time to early in the day so I have no choice - it's a great way to save $$ and people will be fed and content not expecting a huge meal.

I was going to say a pasta buffet like bella but for 50 $300 is a good amount of money if you make all the food yourself.

Finger food, I have seen boxes in Costco that bring like 100 assorted hot hors d'oeuvres for around $30. You might want to do that. You can serve sparkling wine to toast and then soft drinks. You can also bake cupcakes and decorate them instead of a cake. Best of lucks to you.

Do you have a wholesale grocer like gordon food service or sams club or costco u can get ham and have it sliced you can get even prime rib there and have it sliced those large can of veggies are like 4 bucks a piece it can feed 24 so it says, some rolls some sort of potato, some salad maybe a cupcake tree instead of a tiered cake or maybe a t cake for u to cut and then cupcakes and the punch mix that comes in a bag its powdered

Call around...I have had to cater lunch here at work for 65 ppl and we have done mexican food, italian food and hawaiian bbq for under $300 , it was lunch and ppl probably didn't eat as much but its amazing how some restaurants will work with you... The mexican restaurant for example did fajitas, beans, rice, and tortillas and there was alot of food left over. I doesn't hurt to call around tell them what your budget it and see if they can work within it. Good luck!

I didnt' see your theme earlier but honestly i don't think your food needs to match it.. as long as they are fed your guests will be happy

WOW so many great ideas thank all u WONDERFUL LADIES yall rock.lol

Definetly check out cheapchicweddings.com, I googled ways to save money on weddings and that site had many great reception ideas including food as well.

I went to a wedding where they had a hall that had a kitchen, they had baked macaroni and cheese, meatballs in a sweet bbq glaze sauce, baked fish, yellow rice, and a ton of other things includong rolls. It was really good, I just hated that we waited do long! Lol good luck!

You could have el pollo loco cater.

Thats what im gonna do berts girl the hall has a kitchen

THANKS

To be blunt- a 4pm wedding will require a real meal. Can you move it to 1 or 2pm?

Yeah, that's a little late for finger foods. People will come hungry, expecting a meal because of the time. You should move the time, but if not, do a mad hatter tea party! it goes with the fairy tale somewhat and then you can have scones, cucumber sandwiches, chocolate strawberries and cookies. That's what i'm doing for my bridal shower and i think it should be pretty inexpensive.

Also, for my catering it's $12.95 a person and that's pretty damn good. That for 50 people its $649. you'll definitely have to make it all yourself

Check out Olive Garden and Boston Market- I know it sounds crazy, but it works out to be economical!

Megan is right - if you don't feed guests enough they will leave early to go eat. If you make the reception between 1 - 4 pm you can get away with snacks & desserts. Later means dinner. Think about it - how much would it cost it you took 50 of your closest friends to, say, Mc Donalds? Probably about $6 pp, which is your max. Self catering might be the most viable option. Lasagne, salad & bread? Don't forget the price of dishware (disposable? ) cash & carry aka smart & final have some decent options.