Inexpensive Caterers and Florists?

My fiancee and I have to pay for our own wedding. We do not have the money to have an expensive/elaborate wedding though we are committed to having a ceremony and a reception (no Cort House) but we need some help.



Thank you for your time,

Broke BrideInexpensive Caterers and Florists?
Locate the closest junior college that might have a culinary school and design school.
If you or your family prepare the food on your own, make sure that you purchase the appropriate insurance to do so (the venue will probably specify the amount of insurance that you need, and you can purchase it at http://www.wedsafe.com/).



The easiest way to keep the cost down is to cut the guest list and hold the reception at a time of day that is in-between meals. That was you can serve hors d'oeuvres instead of a meal. For alcohol, serve beer and wine only, and purchase in bulk from a liquor store; most stores will let you return unopened product.



You don't need flowers everywhere! Buy some daisies in bulk on the morning of and wrap some ribbon around them to make bouquets. For centerpieces use votive candles and found objects (I'm planning to find my objects at a thrift store).Inexpensive Caterers and Florists?
We made finger foods instad of caterers. We had ham and turkey sandwiches, macaroni salad and chips and dip, fruit and veggie trays, simple things like that. Depending on how many people you have to feed is how much you will spend. Also we bought in bulk, we went 2 days before my wedding to Sam's Club and bought everything we needed it was much cheaper than buying it anywhere else (we checked)



as for the flowers, we had real flowers and they were the most expensive part. But we saved a lot by only having roses in my (the bridal) boquet. everyone else had gerbra dasies. there are even cheaper flowers than those by far. Roses are going to be the most expensive. Or use silk flowers. For my brother-in-laws wedding they got fake flowers and made their own boquets. it is something you can keep forever and it is much much cheaper. You just have to find someone creative to help you with them.



Hope this helped.
One thing that really helped me was basically eliminating flowers - I only had them in my bouquet, and the bridesmaids carried very small bouquets.



You can also use nice silks and can buy them at Michael's Crafts, Hobby Lobby, etc.



For catering, you could self-cater with cold cuts, mini-sandwiches, fruit trays, etc. If that is too expensive, then simply have a cake and punch reception in the afternoon.
We got married in a park and grilled steaks for our meal. We also cooked baked potatoes in the coals. We also had salad, shrimp, and rolls. I made the wedding cake, and we had cherry pie as the groom's cake ('cause that's his favorite).



A lot of people on this board get really snotty about silk flowers, but I used them and loved them. It's true they don't photograph as well - but they looked great the day off, and I still have them as mementos. But if you really want fresh flowers, check into grocery store floral departments. They have really beautiful flowers and/or arrangements now.