Affordable Dinner Menu for Your Wedding

Getting married these days is as costly as putting a downpayment on a house! Still, most of us dream our special day will be something to be remembered forever, don’t we? Unfortunately, getting married has almost become a sort of keeping up with the Jones kind of affair. We’ll hop into enormous debt for the sake of trying to out-shine the nuptials we attended a few short weeks ago. It isn’t necessary to break the bank as you tie the know. With a little creativity and a huge saving on your pocketbook, you can have a sensational affair! Let me share an experience.

A couple of years back two good friends were about to be married. Although both had good jobs and wanted their wedding to be unique and memorable, they were also practical individuals and wanted to the bulk of their money to go, first, toward a glorious honeymoon (the islands of Hawaii for two weeks) and, second, a new condomium they were eager to own. One evening while sitting around eating dinner, they asked me and a few other friends if we had any ideas. We tossed around several before coming up with a winner! Why didn’t they rent a nice hall with kitchen facilties. As their wedding present, I’d cater the affair, do it for UNDER $1,000 and bring them change! Since they planned to host about 150-200 guests, they were skeptical but loved it! Well, who wouldn’t? Considering many hotels charge a good $15.00 per head that’s $3,000 plus tax right there -often just for a chicken dish. Having been invited to several dinners of mine, they knew I’d do them culinary justice while saving them a bundle.

Now here’s the best news of all! For less (much less) than $1,000 the menu consisted of *Shrimp on Celery Sticks, *Beef and Pork Tenderloin, *Fancy Turkey Salad, *Seasoned Rice and *Savory Vegetables.

Here’s how I did it. I waited until meat prices were on sale and bought 4 each beef and pork tenderloins. Total cost came to about $150. I did the same for the shrimp and bought 25 dozen large at $4.99 (cost about $125). For those who don’t eat seafood I just left them off the celery sticks and substituted fancy olives. Four turkeys were purchased at about $60. For the produce, I scoured a Farmer’s Market and was able to buy in bulk, spending between $200-$300 on rice, vegetables and added ingredients. So far, my spending is less than $700!

Let’s get to the good part – preparation of the menu:

Shrimp On Celery Sticks – clean and remove shrimp veins. Mix with Cream or Sour Cheese, Pimento and Chives. Wash celery thoroughly and fill with mixture.

Beef/Pork Tenderloin – Wash meat, pat dry. Rub with Olive Oil and Garlic Salt. You can use other seasonings but do so sparingly as a sauce wil also be used with this dish. Cook meat 15 minutes per lb. In the meantime, prepare your special sauce on stove top: For each piece of meat combine 1 Bottle of Thousand Island or Ranch-type Salad Dressing and 2 jars of Marinated Artichoke Hearts (with the liquid). Add 1/2 cup water. Heat in saucepan over low to medium temperature and stir constantly. For a lighter consistentcy use more water. When meat is done, split down the middle. Pour half the Sauce into the split. Sprinkle with parsley and paprika. Slice thin and serve remaining sauce in small cups or dishes for dipping.

Fancy Turkey Salad – After cooking turkey, separate the wings and drumsticks. Cut up the rest into bit size pieces. Add Mayonnaise, Bacon Bits, Seasoned Pepper and Salt, Sun-dried Tomatoes, 3 teaspoons of Worcestershire Sauce and a couple of shakes of Cayenne Pepper (optional). Circle Wings and Drumsticks around the salad. Serve on a platter over a bed of lettuce.

Seasoned Rice – Cook rice in flavor-enchanced water (beef or chicken bouillon, for example). After rice is cooked, mix in some teriyaki sauce and basil.

Savory Vegetables – Cook Sweet Peas, Broccoli and Cauliflower with sliced or pear onions, roasted garlic and celery salt.

I was thrilled to hear the compliments the bride and groom received about the food! (I should mentioned I enlisted a few good friends to help – and we had a ball!) Needless to say, cooking is wonderfully creative and you can change any items above for your own favorites (example, maybe you have some other vegetables in mind or instead of turkey you prefer some other poultry). Maybe your family has a treasured recipe for a sauce. Use your imagination!

I mentioned flowers. Why not approach a local florist (especially one just starting out) and see if they’d be willing to donate either at a large discount or maybe even free and give them the opportunity to have their business cards available to all guests? You might be able to get a wedding coordinator the same way and he/she can decorate! That’s HUGE publicity! If you can’t locate one, try the Internet!

So, you see, it is very possible to have a terrific wedding folks will talk about forever AND save a bundle!