Hello, Guild-goers! I've been on a small bout of hiatus this past year due to personal reasons, but now I'm back - for the time being, at least. I still remember the start of the good ole Guild. Forgot how much it had changed!

One of the most exciting things to happen to me over 2014 was that my boyfriend proposed. But now I run into a dilemma I've been trying to come up with a solution for, for 3 months now. And as such, I seek all of your knowledge!

I've never even so much as stepped foot into a wedding. So, that being said, I am all but at a loss on what to serve for food. >.< Our budget is only 1K, and I haven't found a reception location yet or a dress or much of anything. So we want to keep food limited and inexpensive. The guest list is over 300 people and it is still growing. ...Yeah, I know. Apparently it is customary for the parents to invite everyone and their dog even though they have nothing to do with my fiancé or myself. Who knew, right?

The ideas so far are:
1.) A three tiered wedding cake (I am buying, only about 150), a three tiered grooms cake (his mother is making), 3 sheet cakes, homemade cream mints, and nuts.

2.) Both cakes, 2 sheet cakes, pies, cookies, and other homemade desserts I can't think of - but am more than willing to take ideas for!

3.) Both cakes, 2 sheet cakes, and a snack bar/stations consisting of stuff such as chex mix, pretzels, nuts, that popcorn recipe on the back of the Old Dutch bags.

I guess I'm asking for suggestions and what, if you were a guest/have been a guest to a wedding/had a wedding of your own, you would like to see and what you have seen! And don't worry, it isn't until October so I'm not exactly pressed for time yet.

Have you discussed with your family about the budget and how it limits the amount of people you can afford to feed? The wedding receptions that I have been too have had anything from catering to home bbqing to potlucking. I've seen folks cater from delies or fast food joints or sandwich joints. Feeding 300 people full meals or even just an entree alone could go over your budget for the entire wedding alone.

I was married once and because we were young and limited on the what we could spend, we had a short guest list and we wrote on the invitations that they were welcome to bring their favorite dish. Ipwe ended up having a lot of good different stuff and we paid for the soda and utensils and renting tables/chairs/etc.

I have seen many folks have some entrees or appetizers that are vegetarian friendly. Even vegan friendly. It depends on your circle.

The budget is important for many couples and their families. Sit down with those responsible for planning and reconsider the amount of folks being sent invitations. If you consider catering as an option, have them RSVP in a timely manner so the catering has a head count and can give you a price for the amount of people.

Congratulations and best wishes for your partnership.

Oh, yes. I've discussed many times that I don't feel like it is necessary to invite people who have not touched our lives in some way, just as I feel that inviting nearly the whole church (which the body is 300 people itself) just because they go to the same church is unnecessary. However, I have been told in response to those times that there are family friends and people from his parents lives that they want to invite that they feel should get an invitation. So, as far as decreasing the guest list, it's apparently not going to happen.

We aren't serving a full meal, I can tell you that much. That's why we are sticking to "finger foods" and the like, fortunately. They know the wedding budget in total amount but I have yet to actually figure out the budget of different aspects of the wedding.

Thank you for the advice!

Mazel tov on getting engaged.

Speaking from the chef perspective here, 1K isn't a lot of food budget for a party of 300 or so people, and you should cut back your wedding to a smaller affair attended by family and close friends. Communicate with the relatives if they aren't going to help you guys foot the bill for it, because if it's coming out of your pocket, it's your call, not theirs.

Salad is cheap -- romaine is about two bucks a head and you can probably get cases of even more cheaply. Dressing can be homemade, which also keeps it cheap. (Even ranch and caesar.) An entire case (24 heads) ought to do a party of 200.
By the same token, chicken wings are cheap and if you have access to a deep fryer, so much the better. Or you can bake them and serve them up with sauces. If you have the time, brine them overnight, then smoke them, then deep fry them. Serve with an orange sauce.
Chex mix is hella good; if you get 1/2 boxes of corn, wheat and rice chex, 2 16oz containers of peanuts and 1/2 pound bag of pretzels, you can use two salad dressing packets (like Italian or garlic and herb) and do that in stages, with 10 (2 1/2 sticks oz of butter melted and poured on the mixture of all these ingredients at 300F for forty minutes, stirring every ten. I tend to season with salt and garlic powder to get the taste up to par. This is my typical party snack mix. A large party will probably require four to six loads of this stuff.

I would love to be able to feed everyone a full meal. However, not in my budget, unfortunately. That Chex Mix sounds fantastic though!

Might be best to cut back the garlic on that mix however. Weddings tend to involve people concerned about how they look and how their breath smells. Not as bad as sales groups, but even so, you get lots of requests to cut out onions from certain types of functions. ;)

Hi, it's Doug Dimmadome here, owner of the Dimmesdale Dimmadome! I just want to wish you a dimma-dandy wedding!

Thank you, Doug Dimmadome, owner of the Dimmesdale Dimmadone. ;)