If you missed part 1 of my series on how to save money on your wedding, click here to read it!

Part 1 focused on a few early planning decisions that can help you keep your budget down. This post will focus specifically on catering choices you can make to help minimize costs.

1. Buffet vs. Plated Service

There's one big reason why buffet service costs less than plated service: staffing. The caterer needs to bring more people if each meal will be individually plated and served to guests. When you choose buffet service, waitstaff can focus on keeping water glasses filled and clearing dirty dishes, while only a few staff members are needed to monitor the buffet station and replenish foods as necessary.

2. Stationary vs. Passed Hors d'oeuvres

Along the same lines, a stationary table of charcuterie, fruits, cheeses, and crackers requires far less personnel to manage than small trays of passed appetizers. Even if you want to serve something interesting, like miniature ahi tuna cones, caprese salad spears, or gazpacho shooters, you can still make use of stations to cut down on the number of staff needed. Another bonus: your guests can find what they want at the station, rather than having to wait for the one server who has the gazpacho to wander into her vicinity!

3. Wedding Cake

Most couples, even if they're not serving wedding cake as the exclusive dessert, still want to have the cake cutting ceremony. Wedding cakes are priced by the number of people they will serve, and more elaborate decorations can spike the price pretty quickly. One classic cost-saving measure is to order a small, nicely decorated cake to be the showpiece that the couple will cut for the photos, and then order sheet cakes to be cut behind the scenes and served to the guests.

Sheet cakes don't have to be elaborately decorated, and are actually easier to slice and plate. You can have them made in multiple flavors, just like if you were ordering a large multi-tiered wedding cake.

Some couples forego a wedding cake altogether and serve cupcakes, cake pops, or even doughnuts. YUM!

4. Homemade Desserts

In some parts of the country and in some cultures, it's common for family members of the couple to make cookies or other desserts to populate the dessert table. This can be in lieu of or in addition to a wedding cake. This idea really only works if your family is local to the wedding location. If your guests are flying in from far away, asking them to bake and bring desserts is an unwanted burden. But in the right circumstances, homemade desserts are a great way to save money and personalize your wedding even further, with, say, you and your spouse-to-be's favorite childhood cookies. Just add milk!

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Jul 17, 2019

Sustainable Wedding Ideas: Florals

This is part 2 in a series about how to reduce your wedding’s carbon footprint and cut down on waste. If you missed part 1 about stationery and paper goods, you can find it here. Today’s post is about sustainable wedding ideas for florals and décor.

Jul 12, 2019

Wedding Trend Alert: Grazing Tables

The grazing table trend is happening! These beautiful spreads are filled with cheese, meats, breads, fruits and more. The arrangements are beautiful and the tastes are better. If you can't wait to include your very own grazing table at your wedding, check out these grazing table ideas from Shari's Berries. Get creative with tropical themes or dessert stations! If food brings people together, these luxurious spreads are sure to spark conversation as your guests pick and choose which bites to graze on.

Jul 10, 2019

Sustainable Wedding Ideas: Stationery

Weddings are wasteful. At the end of the night, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up in the garbage: programs, escort cards, table numbers, floral arrangements, paper napkins, plastic cups, uneaten food, half-eaten cake, unfinished drinks. The list goes on.

While it’s probably impossible to have a zero-waste wedding, it’s definitely possible to cut way down on the waste. Sustainability is a growing trend in weddings, especially among more environmentally conscious young Millennials and Gen Z-ers. Here are some ways that you can reduce the carbon footprint of your wedding from a paper goods and stationery standpoint.

Jul 6, 2019

6 Steps to DIY a Personalized Wedding Binder

You just got engaged and now the wedding planning begins! It’s no secret how much goes into the planning process, and it can get tricky or stressful. However, with the right resources and a helpful organization tool, you’ll be saying “I do” in no time at all.

To help you stay organized, Shutterfly put together a DIY wedding binder in 6 easy steps. From black and white to leaf, there are three themes to choose from. Download and add these beautiful themed printables to your binder and match your own unique style or wedding theme. It’s one place to hold everything – your wedding to-do lists, meetings, contracts, inspiration or ideas.

Jun 28, 2019

7 Mistakes Couples Make That Can Ruin Their Budget

A large part of planning a wedding revolves around budgeting. As perhaps the most important day of your life, it’s tempting to splurge on the best that money can buy – a beautiful venue, live musicians, luscious catering, etc. If you’re not careful with your spending, it’s easy for costs to spiral beyond your budget. Even seemingly small expenses like transportation costs and minor decorations can really add up.