Wedding Food

You could do an early evening hor d'ouerves, cake and punch wedding.

I would do an evening wedding so people wont have to take the whole day off and do pizza and dessert.

I think pizza would be fine as long as it's a pretty casual wedding. I'd also order like a pasta dish and salad so it's not just pizza. Ask for a discount at where ever you get pizza? Ex: we order pizza for work sometimes and we'll be like "if we order 8 pizzas can we get 2 free" or something like that. It's not much but it adds up and the worst they can say is no. How many guests are you having? Maybe look at somewhere like Sam's for some large side dishes you could set out? Think like fruit tray, veggie tray, pasta salad, etc. Not sure what you're doing for cake.. but Sam's also has pretty good cakes and cupcakes (way cheaper than any of the bakeries around here too).

I agree with this. If you do pizza, I would definitely have some side dishes for people as well like pasta, salad, veggies and dip, maybe some bread/rolls and butter.

I see nothing wrong with a weekday wedding! I found and fell in love with a venue from Jeffrey A Miller catering, and although they're affordable no matter the day, my fiance and I have a smaller than average budget. Their awesome manager suggested a Monday (Columbus Day) wedding for us! It cut off a huge chunk of the cost which is what helped us up our budget for food! So being a fellow weekday wedding couple, I support this 100%. As for saving money on food, I've found it very helpful to keep in mind the types of food chosen. Working with Jeffrey A Miller for my food as well, they helped me cut down the budget by hundreds just by switching to cheaper cuts of meat, choosing a cheaper salad over a full appetizer, possibly doing just beer and wine rather than a full open bar. There's plenty of ways to cut down on food spending, along with some DIY stuff!

Yay for another weekday wedding! We will also be getting married on a weekday, a Monday. We chose it because its our anniversary and wanted to continue celebrating the same day we've been celebrating for the past 12 years. I fully agree with Merissa and Mandi, it's your wedding, do what makes you both happy and people shouldn't judge you for that!

How many guests are attending?

I think it depends on the guest list and if they have dietary concerns. If you have a smaller guest list it could work, but if it's larger it might be tricky to find a place that can make that many pizza's at once that are fresh for everyone. I would make sure to have non pizza items (salad/pasta/whatever) for those who can't or don't consume dairy.

There's nothing wrong with pizza, but pizza for 250 people may not work if you are ordering from a regular pizza place. It will take forever to cook all that pizza, it will be cold or luke warm at best between delivery and everyone getting some. I think there are several things you can do

cut the guest list, have an evening cake/punch or cake/punch apps reception right after a meal time like lunch or dinner. Check into a mobile pizza truck/oven , taco/mexican buffet or italian or maybe any other food truck for about $10pp. Check with your local park and rec for venue options. I think 9k is a great budget and there's so much you can do with that. Also maybe find a cheaper photographer, It's a weekday wedding I'm sure you can find a deal.

If you can't afford to feed 250 people, you should not invite 250 people. Also, if your overall budget is $9000, more than 1/9 of it should be going to food. Your food budget should be more like $****.

Have you ever considered getting family and friends involved and do a self catered dinner. My budget was lower than yours and my dad and aunts decided to cook. and we paid like 400 for the food and they cooked it.... I know some people on here think its tacky to have family work during your wedding but I love the idea of people helping make my wedding great. Plus I know the food is amazing cause I know how they cook... Just an idea. We spent like 400 no more than 500 for about 150 ppl... ( that's roughlt 3 or 4 dollars a person)