From a 2000dollarwedding kindred spirit:
I am also sick of ridiculous proclamations by the WIC. For example, just today I received an e-mail from the Knot with the top "worst" pieces of wedding advice. One of the pieces of advice that was considered "worst" was only spending $9 per person for food. The Knot informed me that wedding catering should be 40% of my budget and that "skimping" on food is tacky. Personally, I'm having Mexican food catered from a local restaurant. It is going to cost about $10 per person. It is perfect for our wedding because all of my friends and family know how much my fiance (especially) and I love Mexican food. Also, our guests just aren't stuffy people that want fancy food. Who is The Knot to tell me that I can't have delicious, inexpensive food at my wedding that all of my guests will love?!Hear, hear, Emily!
Planning meaningful and memorable (not to mention fabulous!) weddings does not require us to lose our sanity and our savings. It's too stressful to feel pressured by the Wedding Industrial Complex to spend more money in order to have the wedding of our dreams. We can have the weddings of our dreams, on our own terms.
Mexican food from a local restaurant sounds amazing!
23 comments:
oh, i hear you, Emily. awesome post. i have The Knot budgeter, and it has ridiculous assumptions with my budget. As in, $150 for my ceremony site, but almost $5,000 for the catering. Um, or not. I'd rather spend that money on special touches (or not at all, really), not on food that my guests feel is too fancy to eat.
Another thing they had was no-no to online RSVPs.
Too bad! If I have to follow up with phone calls, it's not the end of the world. But I can't justify three envelopes and shipping expenses all over the place simply to tell me you're coming. Plus, giving the guests a phone call is a good way to catch up.
I also received that particular email from the Knot - I am using online rsvps, wearing a prom dress and feeding my guests cheap but satisfying food. I'm going to hell...
wow, i also got the email yesterday, quickly deleting it. we're getting married memorial day weekend, 2010. it'll be outside & food will be catered by us and grilled outside on the patio! oh well for not following 'the rules' because i wouldn't want to have my wedding any other way. what's the point in paying thousands of dollars to simply 'impress' our guests when that's not what the day is about? i am so disappointed, i actually purchased the knot wedding planning book when i first got engaged just from the excitement of it all. i haven't opened it yet, but now i really have no desire to!
yeah they are desperately trying to brainwash new brides into believing that crap.
We are spending $500 for BBQ from Baby J's in Palestine TX who just happens to be listed in Texas Monthly Magazine as one of the top BBQ joints in Texas (shamless plug I know but well deserved!)and then making a few salads to go with it. Betcha that isn't going to be 40% of my budget!
Agreed! I got that same email and also though of you, Sara! Best wedding food I've ever had was from a local Mexican restaurant. Not even catered -- my brother just ordered a bunch & served the enchiladas right out of the to-go tins!
I was looking at Martha Stewart the other day (and usually I'm pretty okay with Martha) and her website said.."a wedding without flowers is like a marriage without love". Really? really? I beg to differ.
Yum. Mexican is an awesome idea. My fiance and I just attended a "food tasting" where we are getting married and it felt awkward and little pretentious (there were 100s of other couples there). We're going with fried chicken and maybe even mini cheeseburgers. We're thinking people will have more fun with finger food! With, of course, a veg option . . .
Ugh, I got this email too. And I must say, I'm mighty tired of the WIC telling me what to do and how to do it. It's our wedding, it is our party and we will plan it the way we want to!
Just one more reason I no longer receive emails from 'the knot'
Mexican food and BBQ are awesome wedding foods! I would love to have them as a wedding guest. I would much rather have a plentiful buffet of these types of foods than a skimpy plate of fancy wedding food.
Roxanne, I saw that too. And I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with Martha.
But, from what I understand, Martha doesn't really write any of the wedding mag. It's mostly Darcy, isn't it?
I was going to blog about this (I got that same email yesterday), but I haven't had a chance yet. Motivated by that email, I went to their website to see what all they had on the checklist of what I'm supposed to be getting done. I read off a bunch of the most ridiculous ones to my fiancé and we would've had a good laugh had it not been so appalling.
oh yes- the knot checklist is highly amusing ;) another thing (it might have been a computer glitch, but i wouldn't be surpised if it was made this way)- their "handy" little budget calculator won't let you leave certain things out... ie. a videographer (?), alcohol (we're having our reception in a public park- no booze allowed), and a DJ... it was mildy ridiculous...
I could maybe understand if they said not spending more to have enough food (like for appetizers). I think if you are going to make people wait after the ceremony for you to take pictures, and you don't spend the extra to have snacks for them . . . that might be bad, but if you can find good food for $9 per plate . . . more power to ya!!
The last wedding I attended spent $10,000 on food for 250 people. What did that mean? A sit-down dinner of salad with not enough dressing for the entire table to have a tablespoon, rubbery chicken, over cooked carrots and rock hard dinner rolls. If Mexican and BBQ are what you like, then serve it. Your guests will appreciate the meal no matter what, so don't worry about spending too little.
Oh yes, that e-mail had steam coming out my ears! Our fabulous, deliciously catered food will run about $10/person.
I've had folks give me the same advice because I'm having an hors d' oeuvre reception. Luckily, my friends and family don't try to accuse me of being "cheap" or "stingy," but instead are just hppy to share in a special day.
When you're broke, but in love, it makes no sense to go deep in debt just to serve your wedding guests expensive food. My family didn't care about expense and we all chipped in to do a buffet-style dinner for my wedding. Very cheap and well within my meager budget! Some might say cheap food is tacky, but at least I don't have a huge bill to pay off afterward. And nobody complained about all the delicious food! If I remember correctly, I spent a total of $300 on my wedding food.
I totally agree! I have a post going out either today or tomorrow about the same thing!! sooo frustrating.
We're having an $8/person burger buffet at our partially-covered outdoor reception on a public golf course. I'm totally excited about it! Burgers are delicious! We'll have 2 or 3 vegetarians invited and will likely have some veggie burgers or something of the sort set aside for them. If anyone feels it's tacky, that's their right, but I'm personally deleting that word from my vocabulary for our wedding. I'm looking forward to displaying my tattoo, feeding each other wedding pecan pie, and carrying a wheat bouquet I'll make months in advance for about $8. Tacky? Nope. Just us.
I read that one too! I laughed at the part about the sister-in-law's wedding where they served sandwiches and fruit salad. The horror! :)
Wow, I agree with Emily. For my wedding, I struggled trying to figure out how my fiance and I would handle the food situation. My fiance and I are paying for most of our wedding. Were trying to have a DIY wedding on a small budget that we can afford. My parents are going to help us out but just not with everything. I feel so lucky that my parents are helping my fiance and with our wedding. They have decided to help us out with the food situation.
I feel greatful for there help.
Recently, my mom talked with one of her friends. Her friends brother is a caterer. When I found out his prices, I was in amazement. Most caters I've researched were over priced. He was the cheapest caterer ever. That made my mom so happy. For $12.00 a person I could feed all my guest a wonderful buffett dinner. For $3.00 a person I could feed them appatizers. Either way, my parents could afford to feed my guest a beautiful meal. I wonder what The Knot would say about my prices?
The caterer that we plan on using, will work with our budget. What I really loved about this caterer was the fact that he caters to people who can't afford to have a lavish wedding. He does so many weddings on a small budget. I like supporting people who don't support the industry. This cater also shops at local grocery stores like Costco. He doesn't get his food from fancy stores at all. Yet, his food looks amazing. For me, price doesn't matter! Eating a $30.00 dinner is no different than eating a less expensive dinner. Both in the end will taste the same. So why pay $30.00? Why not save the money? Thank you for this post and reminding all brides that money isn't everything.
-Jodi :)
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