Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Catering on a budget
Sorry it's been a few days since I've blogged - I've been distracted trying to rent out my condo as my fiance and I are finally fully moving in together at the end of the month. YAY for not living out of a suitcase and a couple of drawers!
In my last post I described how the cocktail reception portion of our wedding had grown from 30 people to 100.
I've spent the past couple of weeks getting quotes from caterers, comparison shopping, and coming up with a plan that is both affordable AND wonderful!
One of the things I want at the wedding is a candy/dessert buffet. They have a great deal of visual appeal, and if you get little bags or boxes they double as both a catering item and your guest favors.
I REALLY like the glass apothecary jars that seem to be de rigeur for a candy buffet, but they are pricey. However, they are available at Michaels crafts, who often have 50% off coupons for a single item. Plan to stop by a store every week and pick one up, and you can get some beautiful glassware at a discount, OR do what I did - combine one or two of the pretty jars from Michaels with a bunch of clear glass vases, goblets, and bowls from a thrift store (6 items for $20!) and you have a beautiful bunch of display items that won't break your wallet.
An interesting side note - there is a brisk business on craigslist of brides selling the decor from their weddings to other brides. They've discovered that it's often less expensive to buy decor items and resell them than to hire a decorating company. Hooray for recycling!
As for the catering itself, I've gotten three quotes for a cocktail reception. Two were for hand passed horsdoevres - one came in at just under $8000, the other at just under $3000. Big difference? The lower quote was from an up and coming catering company from a suburb. The higher one from an established caterer from Vancouver. If I didn't have an alternate plan, I would totally go with the suburban place - Fiesta Creative Catering. I had their horsdoevres at a wedding show recently and they were delicious!
I got a third quote for a buffet table full of finger food from a catering company that is used a lot at the University I work at. It came in around $3000 as well. (Calhouns Catering)
None of those quotes included a dessert buffet.
My future Mother in Law suggested an alternative - she'll do the platters of antipasto, charcuterie, fruit, and vegetables, my friend the chef can then concentrate on the more elaborate food items such as the baby bocconcini skewers, mini yorkies, italian meatball skewers, and prawn puttanesca, and we will see if some of the aunts would be interested in putting together the baked goods for the dessert portion of the dessert/candy buffet. I figure we can do all this (including rentals) for about $2000.
Slate magazine posted an interesting article about the "average" cost of weddings these days - pointing out that "average" is a very misleading number. It can be very skewed by a small percentage of weddings with stratospheric budgets, and most likely isn't factoring in the very small budgets of DIY'er brides. A more realistic number would be the "median" cost - which is significantly lower than the "average". The article is here: http://mobile.slate.com/articles/life/weddings/2013/06/average_wedding_cost_published_numbers_on_the_price_of_a_wedding_are_totally.html
Based on the article, the 27K average wedding is actually an 18K median wedding - still a HUGE amount of money, but much more realistic. Another thing I think people don't realize is that non-party related costs are included in most wedding budgets - including the engagement and wedding rings - which can be appx. 20% of the budget.
My budget has trickled upwards from my original plan of 6K, and is sitting closer to 8K now - but that's still less than half of the median wedding cost of 2012.
In my last post I described how the cocktail reception portion of our wedding had grown from 30 people to 100.
I've spent the past couple of weeks getting quotes from caterers, comparison shopping, and coming up with a plan that is both affordable AND wonderful!
One of the things I want at the wedding is a candy/dessert buffet. They have a great deal of visual appeal, and if you get little bags or boxes they double as both a catering item and your guest favors.
I REALLY like the glass apothecary jars that seem to be de rigeur for a candy buffet, but they are pricey. However, they are available at Michaels crafts, who often have 50% off coupons for a single item. Plan to stop by a store every week and pick one up, and you can get some beautiful glassware at a discount, OR do what I did - combine one or two of the pretty jars from Michaels with a bunch of clear glass vases, goblets, and bowls from a thrift store (6 items for $20!) and you have a beautiful bunch of display items that won't break your wallet.
An interesting side note - there is a brisk business on craigslist of brides selling the decor from their weddings to other brides. They've discovered that it's often less expensive to buy decor items and resell them than to hire a decorating company. Hooray for recycling!
As for the catering itself, I've gotten three quotes for a cocktail reception. Two were for hand passed horsdoevres - one came in at just under $8000, the other at just under $3000. Big difference? The lower quote was from an up and coming catering company from a suburb. The higher one from an established caterer from Vancouver. If I didn't have an alternate plan, I would totally go with the suburban place - Fiesta Creative Catering. I had their horsdoevres at a wedding show recently and they were delicious!
I got a third quote for a buffet table full of finger food from a catering company that is used a lot at the University I work at. It came in around $3000 as well. (Calhouns Catering)
None of those quotes included a dessert buffet.
My future Mother in Law suggested an alternative - she'll do the platters of antipasto, charcuterie, fruit, and vegetables, my friend the chef can then concentrate on the more elaborate food items such as the baby bocconcini skewers, mini yorkies, italian meatball skewers, and prawn puttanesca, and we will see if some of the aunts would be interested in putting together the baked goods for the dessert portion of the dessert/candy buffet. I figure we can do all this (including rentals) for about $2000.
Slate magazine posted an interesting article about the "average" cost of weddings these days - pointing out that "average" is a very misleading number. It can be very skewed by a small percentage of weddings with stratospheric budgets, and most likely isn't factoring in the very small budgets of DIY'er brides. A more realistic number would be the "median" cost - which is significantly lower than the "average". The article is here: http://mobile.slate.com/articles/life/weddings/2013/06/average_wedding_cost_published_numbers_on_the_price_of_a_wedding_are_totally.html
Based on the article, the 27K average wedding is actually an 18K median wedding - still a HUGE amount of money, but much more realistic. Another thing I think people don't realize is that non-party related costs are included in most wedding budgets - including the engagement and wedding rings - which can be appx. 20% of the budget.
My budget has trickled upwards from my original plan of 6K, and is sitting closer to 8K now - but that's still less than half of the median wedding cost of 2012.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
The numbers game
One of the things I learned when planning a wedding the first time is to expect the unexpected. That's good advice for event planning in general - stuff is going to come up that you hadn't planned for, and the ability to roll with the punches is a good thing.
Our original plan was to have a small (25-30) person cocktail reception for the wedding party, immediate family and performers before opening the doors to the extended guest list (100+) for the cabaret show wedding, with a dessert buffet and dancing afterwards. A good friend of ours who is a chef had offered to cater the cocktail reception at an amazing price. He doesn't have a commercial kitchen so he was going to do all the cooking in our kitchen, which isn't far from the venue. We'd just need to find someone to help transport all the food from point A to point B and help set it up. (He's the friend who I collaborated with to design and who prepared the food for the amazing 7 Deadly Sins Birthday dinner party last year).
...and then along came a monkeywrench.
My darling fiance and I both have a good chunk of Irish Catholic in our backgrounds. That means lots and lots of relatives. Whereas the majority of my relatives live either on the east coast or in the UK, the majority of his family live in BC - and his family is really close knit. So, our 25-30 person cocktail reception has grown to a 100 person cocktail reception (80% of which is his side). I don't really mind that it will be mostly his people - I love his boisterous, happy family, and they've embraced me as one of their own.
BUT - complete rethink of the catering is required. Do we attempt the insanity of trying to cater for 100 people out of a residential kitchen? Do we blow the budget and hire a caterer? (I got one catering quote yesterday that came to almost 9K - I think they misheard me when I said we were on a budget). Do we order sushi from the restaurant across the street?
Excuse me while I go calm down my stressing-out fiance.
On a brighter note - my sweetie's gorgeous Brian Boru jacket arrived from Edinburgh today! *happydance* He wants to wear a formal kilt outfit to the wedding, but he's Irish (literally! He has the citizenship papers to prove it!), and the local rental companies just do Scottish Prince Charlie jackets with lion buttons. I found an ex-rental 100% Barathea wool Brian Boru (it's got a shawl collar instead of a notched collar and harp buttons) jacket and matching vest on Ebay - $166 with shipping. Great thing is that he'll be able to wear it with his Irish National Tartan kilt when we go to burlesque shows and parties. (gotta love a man in a kilt!)
Our original plan was to have a small (25-30) person cocktail reception for the wedding party, immediate family and performers before opening the doors to the extended guest list (100+) for the cabaret show wedding, with a dessert buffet and dancing afterwards. A good friend of ours who is a chef had offered to cater the cocktail reception at an amazing price. He doesn't have a commercial kitchen so he was going to do all the cooking in our kitchen, which isn't far from the venue. We'd just need to find someone to help transport all the food from point A to point B and help set it up. (He's the friend who I collaborated with to design and who prepared the food for the amazing 7 Deadly Sins Birthday dinner party last year).
...and then along came a monkeywrench.
My darling fiance and I both have a good chunk of Irish Catholic in our backgrounds. That means lots and lots of relatives. Whereas the majority of my relatives live either on the east coast or in the UK, the majority of his family live in BC - and his family is really close knit. So, our 25-30 person cocktail reception has grown to a 100 person cocktail reception (80% of which is his side). I don't really mind that it will be mostly his people - I love his boisterous, happy family, and they've embraced me as one of their own.
BUT - complete rethink of the catering is required. Do we attempt the insanity of trying to cater for 100 people out of a residential kitchen? Do we blow the budget and hire a caterer? (I got one catering quote yesterday that came to almost 9K - I think they misheard me when I said we were on a budget). Do we order sushi from the restaurant across the street?
Excuse me while I go calm down my stressing-out fiance.
On a brighter note - my sweetie's gorgeous Brian Boru jacket arrived from Edinburgh today! *happydance* He wants to wear a formal kilt outfit to the wedding, but he's Irish (literally! He has the citizenship papers to prove it!), and the local rental companies just do Scottish Prince Charlie jackets with lion buttons. I found an ex-rental 100% Barathea wool Brian Boru (it's got a shawl collar instead of a notched collar and harp buttons) jacket and matching vest on Ebay - $166 with shipping. Great thing is that he'll be able to wear it with his Irish National Tartan kilt when we go to burlesque shows and parties. (gotta love a man in a kilt!)
Monday, June 3, 2013
Apparently i'm a trendsetter...
Got an email from "The Knot" today - the big all things wedding website where we have our wedding website (http://www.theknot.com/wedding/Andra-and-Jeremy) with a list of "20 Wedding Traditions You Can Skip". I'm up to #11 and so far I'm only planning on doing one of the traditions listed (not letting him see me in the dress until i'm coming up the aisle. I'm all for that dramatic moment!).
Here's the list:
1 - Wedding dresses don't have to be plain white.
2 - You don't have to wear a big veil.
3 - You can have more than two wedding colors.
4 - Traditional ceremonies can be personalized.
5 - The bride can walk down the aisle to something other than Wagner.
6 - Ceremony programs can be fun and informal.
7 - It's ok to see each other before the ceremony.
8 - Alternatives to rice and confetti to see the couple off with.
9 - The wedding party doesn't have to be all male on the groom's side and all female on the bride's side.
10 - Cocktail hour doesn't have to take place after the ceremony.
11 - Bridesmaids can wear non-matching dresses.
12 - The bride doesn't have to be walked down the aisle by her father.
13 - There's more than one way to design ceremony seating - circular?!
14 - Child attendants (ring bearer and flower girl) aren't required.
15 - Non-traditional seating for ceremonies - pillows, quilts, couches.
16 - Creative altar ideas - not just an arch of flowers.
17 - The bride's accessories don't have to be understated. (This one made me laugh! of COURSE not!)
18 - Write your own vows - the ceremony doesn't have to be boilerplate.
19 - Creative and mis-matched bridesmaid bouquets.
20 - Think outside the church for ceremony locations.
Ok, i'm through the list and our wedding is doing all but four of these! (Possibly five - my plan right now is to walk down the aisle alone, but I may change my mind and have my beloved 83 year old father walk with me.)
Can you guess the other three?
Here's the article - http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-ceremony/articles/20-wedding-traditions-you-can-skip.aspx?page=20
Here's the list:
1 - Wedding dresses don't have to be plain white.
2 - You don't have to wear a big veil.
3 - You can have more than two wedding colors.
4 - Traditional ceremonies can be personalized.
5 - The bride can walk down the aisle to something other than Wagner.
6 - Ceremony programs can be fun and informal.
7 - It's ok to see each other before the ceremony.
8 - Alternatives to rice and confetti to see the couple off with.
9 - The wedding party doesn't have to be all male on the groom's side and all female on the bride's side.
10 - Cocktail hour doesn't have to take place after the ceremony.
11 - Bridesmaids can wear non-matching dresses.
12 - The bride doesn't have to be walked down the aisle by her father.
13 - There's more than one way to design ceremony seating - circular?!
14 - Child attendants (ring bearer and flower girl) aren't required.
15 - Non-traditional seating for ceremonies - pillows, quilts, couches.
16 - Creative altar ideas - not just an arch of flowers.
17 - The bride's accessories don't have to be understated. (This one made me laugh! of COURSE not!)
18 - Write your own vows - the ceremony doesn't have to be boilerplate.
19 - Creative and mis-matched bridesmaid bouquets.
20 - Think outside the church for ceremony locations.
Ok, i'm through the list and our wedding is doing all but four of these! (Possibly five - my plan right now is to walk down the aisle alone, but I may change my mind and have my beloved 83 year old father walk with me.)
Can you guess the other three?
Here's the article - http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-ceremony/articles/20-wedding-traditions-you-can-skip.aspx?page=20
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