Saving Money 101 at Your Wedding

When you dreamed of your big day as a child, you probably didn’t have a calculator in hand adding up every magical detail and idea. Now you’re planning your wedding and while you want it to be perfect (we want it to be perfect for you!), you may need to compromise in some areas. Hopefully, this post will show you compromising isn’t all that bad and you can still have the best night of your life!

::Cocktail Hours::
While everyone loves a good drink, having guests go to the bar at the reception is perfectly acceptable. You are less likely to run out of alcohol by avoiding the cocktail hour, since once they are at the reception they will have the option of going to through the buffet or to the various stations. This will also reduce your labor costs because you don’t need to have separate bartenders or servers for this area.

::Passed Hors D’oeuvres::
There is no secret that these are expensive. When you think about someone having to prepare each item individual piece. Imagine making 500 bacon wrapped stuffed dates. Our Cocktail Buffet Menu gives you a pick-up station with hors d’oeuvresque type food and your main buffet and sometimes a carving station.

Pick-Up Table

::The Band::
Don’t get me wrong I love a good band, but if it’s not in your budget don’t fret a DJ will do the trick of getting everyone crunk and no one will be the wiser.

::Overlays & Linens::
If you want more than just basic white linens, you can add an overlay. But with an overlay comes an extra price generally starting at $22.50/each. We recommend using a base linen that you like coordinating with your colors. Pintucks and Lamours are great options to add style and color to your event.

Lamour Linens

::Centerpieces::
You can incorporate some large floral arrangements on your buffet to add color. But consider doing alternative center pieces with old books, candles, lanterns, single flower vases. This will still add color and give your party a great look without the cost of grandiose arrangements.

Shannon Bailey Photography

Shannon Bailey Photography

::The Dinner::
Our Cocktail Buffet menus offers tons of options and can be modified to meet your taste buds. This also allows you to get away with only seating half of your guests, that’s right I said half! Now you don’t have to worry about seating cards or the dreaded seating arrangements; and if you’re ex-cousin’s twice removed step-father can’t sit with your best friend’s mother’s nephew, you don’t have to worry about it! Your guests will still have the option of eating three meats and lots of delish sides without the added price of a served entree or dinner buffet.

Main Buffet

::The Bar::
If you like alcohol but don’t want to offer your guests all of your favorite liquors, you can do beer and wine with a specialty drink. Our beer and wine set-ups also include the soft drinks, water and sweet tea. This will suit everyone.

These simple little tricks will let you stick to your budget while having an awesome time, and no one will be the wiser!

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Epting Events’ Menus 101

If you’re in the early stages of wedding planning or have been planning for a while and purposely putting off the sometimes daunting task of choosing your caterer and food; let me see if I can help.

First, you need to decide your catering budget. Then picture your event, and see what comes to mind… Do you think of white-gloved servers placing gold-rimmed plate in a synchronized service? Do you see your guests loving your specialty drink, and the food is working to support it? Do you want everyone to be seated at the wedding?

Cocktail Buffet:
This is one of our most popular menus. As guests arrive to the reception site, they will have several options; 1. they will go to the bar, 2. they will go to the pick-up station for dips and light appetizers, 3. they will go through the buffet, 4. they will go to the carving station (this depends on the type of beef you choose). We generally open the buffet immediately following the ceremony if it’s on site, or once guests begin to arrive. No one wants to wait in line to get food, nor do you want a huge line going through your party!

The pick-up station choices are at the top of the menu, and you generally pick three of your favorites. If you pick one with an additional number next to it, it is that price per person (this will be applicable throughout the whole menu). The menu is priced according to your choice of beef. If you decide on one that needs to be carved in front of guests (for example, beef tenderloin vs. shaved roast beef), you will have a separate table with a green, beef, starch and bread. Then, you pick one item from each of the categories below; you do not have to choose a seafood if you’d prefer not to. When picking from the list, be thinking about the various colors of the items and how your guests’ plates will look. There is no dessert included in this option, since you will more than likely be serving a wedding cake.

One prime advantage of the cocktail buffet, you will save money on tables and chairs as it allows you to only seat half your guests. Why? All of the food is made to eat without needing a knife. They will chat, eat, drink and be merry!

Don’t be fooled by the name cocktail buffet, your guests will NOT leave hungry! There is plenty of food for them to eat, and it is perfectly acceptable to pick this menu for a 6:30 or 7:00 wedding.

Short Plates or Stations:
This menu is designed around “mini-meals” served on our square, white plates. You will generally serve three or four of these options. Short Plates create wonderful flow throughout your party, allowing your guests to mingle and float to their next dish of choice. You can choose from our pre-designed menus, or you can adapt your own from our cocktail buffet menu. Each plate consists of a meat, starch, veggie and bread. One of the most popular ones: pulled pork slider, mac & cheese, sauteed green beans.

You also only seat half of your guests for this option too.

This is a self-serve Tuscan Station

Dinner Buffet:
If you’d like to seat everyone, and walk into the reception with guests enjoying a pre-set salad this is the choice for you! You might also want to offer your guests passed hors d’oeuvres until you are ready for them to be seated. The salad is priced per guests, the buffet price is based upon your beef or pork choice. You then choose a chicken, fish (only if you’d like), and four veggies. If you are doing a wedding cake, you generally forgo the dessert option. Remember to think about color on this plate too. In order to avoid the line forming, we invite one or two tables at a time to go down both sides of the buffet.

Suppers:
This one is home-style, country food and is amazing! It has a lot of the same items as our other menus, but there are fewer choices. You only choose one of the predetermined menus based at $13/person. All of the choices are delicious and you will not go wrong with any of them!

You might have a couple passed hors d'oeuvres as your guests arrive

Served Dinners:
If you want formal dining at your wedding, you’ll choose this option. Each table of eight, is assigned four waiters for a synchronized service. Your guests will begin their evening with an appetizer then a salad, priced per person. You will then choose the entree that you like, if you see two options we can always do a duo with smaller pieces of meat. The entree comes with the sides predetermined, then you choose the green of your choice. Dessert can be added, or again you may serve a wedding cake. Each price is based per person. Service is also increased on this option.

All of the menus are based only on the food aspect, and do not include service. It does include the standard plates and cutlery, serving utensils and dishes. Also, please note all menus are just suggestions, we are always happy to make your grandma’s casserole, a Kosher meal, completely local menu! Hopefully, this has helped some with the breaking down of the menus, and how to best chose the option for you!

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Unique Station: Late Night

After a night out, everyone loves grabbing a late night bite to eat with friends, so why not at your wedding? Your friends and family will more than likely be dancing the night away, and as the busy bride and groom, you probably didn’t eat much at the buffet… let’s be honest, you will all be hungry.

A Bryan Photo

Enjoy your favorite, non-traditional wedding food as a late-night snack. Most late night items are miniature, which makes them even more fun to eat. Also, your guests won’t feel like they’re eating another full meal.

Does the groom love hamburgers? A great menu could be mini 21 club hamburgers with 21 sauce, mini grilled cheeses and a mini order of fries. On the sweet side, chocolate chip cookies with shots of milk are easy to do, and this is a fun DIY opportunity to show off the bride and groom’s favorite kinds of cookies. Another late night sweet snack idea: a variety of doughnuts, which are always a huge hit with guests. If you don’t want to have a whole station featuring late night items, consider having them as a passed hors d’oeuvre.

Serve these with your cookies or doughnuts

Shannon Bailey Photography

As always, the possibilities are endless and can be tailored to fit the bride and the groom.

Written by Abby Buss

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Unique Station: Candy Station

A Candy Station is a great way to fulfill your guests’ sugar tooth and add a unique touch to your wedding. You can have anything from Skittles to fine chocolates. Guests can help themselves during the party or take home their delicious treats in a customized box or bag.

The candy is a non-traditional and fun way to add color to your wedding, especially by using a candy that incorporates your colors. Brides can order customized colors to tie together the theme.

The Pyron wedding (coordinated by Katie Selvey, and photographed by Our Labor Of Love) used sterling silver serving pieces to incorporate their winter theme. Others have used clear, glass cylinder vases filled with multicolored candy pieces. Our warehouse is full of lots of different choices to make it special to the bride and the groom.

Last year, Epting Events staff hand made 500 miniature candy boxes for favors! The boxes or bags can be personalized in countless ways.
Written by Abby Buss

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Unique Food Stations: Charcuterie Station

Terrell Clarke Photography

Captivate your guests’ palate and imagination by taking them to the places you have traveled through dishes you love. One of my favorite things about living in Paris was a picnic of charcuterie, bread, cheese and a bottle of wine. Take your guests to France by offering a Saucisson, Charcuterie & Paté Station. . This beautifully displayed station feautures sliced cured meats, salamis, sausages and paté paired perfectly with rustic artisinal breads, cornichon, whole grain mustard and hearty red wine.

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Refreshing Local Summer Menu

Photography by Terrell Clarke

 

 

Passed Hors d’Oeuvres

Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Slivered Celery

Pitted Dates are cut in half and filled with fresh Goat Cheese and thin

slice of celery, presented with a Balsamic Reduction dipping sauce

 

Greek Lamb Skewers

Lamb rubbed with Olive Oil, Chopped Fresh Garlic & Rosemary

Skewered on bamboo & grilled

Served with a Tzatziki dipping sauce

 Crab Melt Panini

Crab meat with melted Cheddar Cheese on Sour Dough bread,

grilled on the Panini press

 

 Pick- Up Table

Artisinal Cheese Board

A Selection of Bucheron, Cahill’s Irish Porter Cheddar & St Andre with Crackers, Sliced Baguette, Nuts & Dried Fruits

Tuscan Bruschetta

Cannellini Beans stewed with Olive Oil, Garlic & Escarole

This is spread on top of Grilled thick slices of Luna Baguette

Garnished with Cracked Black Pepper

 Baked Artichoke & Vidalia Onion Dip

Warm Baked Artichoke Hearts and Vidalia Onions with Parmigiano Cheese

 Southern Pickles

Homemade Bread and Butter Pickles

 Blueberries

Ripe from the bush and served in earthenware bowls

 Artisinal Breads, Focaccia and Crostini from Luna Bakery

 

Main Buffet

Beef Tenderloin, Top Round & Flank Steak

Grass-fed Beef Locally sourced

Grilled Vegetables

Zucchini, Squash, Vidalia Onions, Bell & Banana Peppers  drizzled  in Olive Oil, Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper

Green Beans

Sautéed with Garlic in Olive Oil

 Roasted Fingerling & Purple Potatoes

Tossed in Olive Oil and Seasoned with Sea Salt & Rosemary

Purple Hull Pea & Corn Salad

Chilled hearty salad of Purple Hull Peas & Corn in Vinaigrette

South Georgia Squash Casserole

Cheese Biscuits & Soft Rolls

 

Shrimp & Grits Station

Low Country Shrimp

Savannah Shrimp Sautéed with Low Country Spices 

Red Mule Grits

Locally Ground Organic Grits Cooked in Cream

Fried Okra

Whole Okra Battered and Fried Served with Remoulade

 Hush Puppies

Red Mule Cornmeal with Fresh Corn Niblets, Fried On-site

 Signature Moser Salad

Fresh Field Greens served with Sliced Strawberries, Crumbled Blue Cheese & Toasted Walnuts, Dressed in our Own Sweet Onion & Poppy Seed Moser Vinaigrette

Beverages

Watermelon, Blackberry & Mint Cooler

Freshly Squeezed Limeade Flavored with Watermelon, Blackberries & Mint

Vanilla Lemonade 

Peach Sweet Tea

 

Cocktails

 Drunken Arnold Palmer

Sweet Tea, Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, Firefly Sweet Tea vodka  garnished with a Lemon Wheel 

Mint Mojito

Freshly squeezed lime juice, mint, white rum and club soda

 

Locally Brewed Beers from Terrapin Beer Company

Sunray Wheat Beer, Rye Pale Ale, Golden Ale, India Style Brown Ale

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Wedding Comfort Food: Non-Traditional Wedding Desserts

Photography by Our Labor of Love

Photography by Our Labor of Love

Photography by Our Labor of Love

I pondered our dessert options for months, went back and forth. I am not a cake lover and neither is Zack. However, we both love pound cakes made by a friend of mine Angie Edwards. Angie bakes pies, cakes and cookies for local restaurants and I came to her with the idea of baking the cakes for our wedding. She graciously agreed to make 12 pound cakes in four different flavors. Our guests ate almost all twelve Chocolate, Almond-Apricot, Lemon and Vanilla Pound Cakes. They were a hit! Our cookies accompanied with shots of cold milk were devoured as well. Who can resist Molasses, Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter dipped in Chocolate cookies paired with cold milk shooters?

If you are looking for something a little non-traditional, then I encourage you to think about your favorite treats and make it happen! One of our brides recently had a donut tower in place of a wedding cake. It was delicious and they broke the donuts instead of cutting the cake. Too cute! It is your wedding, anything can happen.

If you are interested in eating one of Angie’s tasty creations then please send her an email at dessert.first.athens@gmail.com. Her business name is Dessert First! I will post one of her pound cake recipes later today.

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The Classic Mojito: A Refreshing Wedding Favorite

Photography by Our Labor of Love

As soon as Zack and I walked away from the ceremony, we were handed a refreshing mojito! This was so much fun to celebrate with our friends while drinking our signature cocktail. A special thanks to Manny for providing these delcious drinks and to Jesse and Whitney of Our Labor of Love for capturing this and many special moments.

Photography by Our Labor of Love

Please go to Our Blog of Love to check out all the pictures. And then hop over to the new OnceWed.

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Personalize Your Wedding Menu: The Signature Drink

If you are what you eat, and you want your wedding to reflect you and your fiance’s personality, then a great place to add a personal touch is in the wedding menu. Think about the foods the two of you enjoy, the region where your wedding will be and the theme or feel of the wedding.

When we began to plan our wedding, the menu was one of the most important parts of the reception for my husband and I. This week and next, I will go through the ways we personalized our menu and how special the reception was in part because of these little touches.  

Our wedding ceremony and reception for 250 were held outdoors in the spring, just one month ago! The ceremony was held in a sunken garden and the reception under a tent in the front lawn. As soon as the ceremony ended we wanted the fun to begin! Guests were handed cold Mint Mojitos served in mason jars courtesy of Emmanuel Stone as they left the sunken garden following the ceremony.  We also had Vanilla Lemonade and Sweet Peach Tea on hand. Mojitos are special to Zack and I because we drank them on our first date.  The Mojitos were delicious, one guest quoted “nectar from the gods”, and were a great way to set the tone and get the party started  ( Thanks Emmanuel!).

Recipe: The Classic Mint Mojito

Made to Order Mojitos

2 oz white rum

4 chunks of lime – (Cut each lime in half, across its’ axis.  Cut each half lime into four pieces.)

2 teaspoons superfine sugar

6 mint leaves

2 oz club soda

Place lime & mint into a Double Rocks glass.  Add 2 teaspoons of superfine sugar.  Using a muddling stick, press the juice from the limes.  In the process, this should mix with the sugar.  Add 2 oz rum.  Fill the glass with ice and Shake.  Pour into glass, top with club soda and serve.  Garnish with mint or lime slice.

Quantity Recipe that makes 17 drinks      

1 liter bottle rum

½ liter simple syrup

17 oz Fresh Lime Juice

1 liter club soda

Mint leaves for garnish

Combine Rum, Lime Juice & Simple Syrup, well before serving combine with 1.5 pounds (1/4 bag) ice.  Let the drink sit long enough to chill properly.*  Set-out your glasses, fill each with 6 mint leaves.  Muddle the mint leave gently.  Pour pre-mixed cocktail  to fill halfway.  Stir and top with nugget ice

* Stay tuned, we will continue this series for the rest of the week! Also, my wedding will be featured on Our Blog of Love
as well as OnceWed
Please check it out!

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