Sit down meal?

[FierceAngel]

who is having one? / had one?

i really want one but its a big dent on the budget!

ideas/opinions/experiences

 

[honeybee2]

because having a 'sit down' meal was important to me i went through all the ideas. We knew we couldnt afford a 3 course dinner, but that doesnt mean it cant be a 'sit down' meal iykwim?

So, we went through the possibilities- a hog roast, a buffet, a BBQ because these ideas you can still 'sit down' to eat at beautiful tables with the centrepieces, favours & name places.

In the end we decided to have a one course meal with our beautiful 4 tier belgian choc cake as dessert. This way we could personalise the meal. We have 3 options two of which are our fav meals as a couple (chilli con carne & chicken wrapped in parma ham) we have all the sides with it (new potatoes, chips, rice, salad & veg) and we also have a veggie option, this came to £13 pp (£1040) not inc the cake which we paid seperately.

Alot of people I know have 'posh' fish & chips which is fun. Think outside the box and off the menu!

We found that the night time buffet was expensive too so we decided because the main meal didnt finish untill 8:30 (after the speeches etc) we would have 'drunk-munch' food instead so we chose sausage & bacon bagettes. (£6 pp which comes to £480- alot cheaper than a £1000 buffet)

We also cant afford wine on tables so we're having a glass of pimms after the ceremony at £1.90 pp which came to £152 and also beer as a toast drink (because its more laid back than sparkling wine which alot of the time gets wasted!) which was £2.99 pp which came to about £240. Of course for the bride & groom we are having champagne cocktails etc, you may have to budget for your guests but remember, its your day so make it a bit more special for yourself!

As I say think outside the box because we only had £2000 for the food & drink- and this is basically what we could afford for 80 people! Go for it and have fun!

 

[polo_princess]

We didnt have one because it wasnt that important to us, by my friend who is getting married in a couple of weeks is having a sit down meal, and then a hog roast instead of buffet for the evening to help recoup some of the money

 

[honeybee2]

We didnt have one because it wasnt that important to us, by my friend who is getting married in a couple of weeks is having a sit down meal, and then a hog roast instead of buffet for the evening to help recoup some of the money

hog roasts are amazing but at £18 pp at our venue for the pig & sides- it was more expensive that having a buffet, which was also out of our budget!!

 

[jellytot]

we are having a 3 course sit down meal, but this is where the venue make there money so it isnt really a dent for us, as the venue go by room hire only

 

[DonnaBallona]

we are also having a 3 course sit down meal, but our venue dont charge for exclusive use-so its where they have made their money.

we loved the idea of a hig roast too-but they wanted £2,500 for that! so we have also gone with sausage and bacon baps-mainly because we didnt like the choices of dishes they gave.

good luck whatever you decide xx

 

[jellytot]

we are also having a 3 course sit down meal, but our venue dont charge for exclusive use-so its where they have made their money.

we loved the idea of a hig roast too-but they wanted £2,500 for that! so we have also gone with sausage and bacon baps-mainly because we didnt like the choices of dishes they gave.

good luck whatever you decide xx

ours is exclusive use too, so that how ours make their money, i think its cheaper than some places

 

[24/7]

We had a sit down meal, and loved it. xx

 

[dizzyspells]

We are having a sit down meal & Evening buffet.rices vary so much,when we looked round they ranged from £32ph for a 3 course meal to £80ph so def worth having a look round all the options.x

 

[MissMummyMoo]

As Hannah said definately worth looking around.

Ours is costing £42ph for a 3 course meal, but that includes a drinks reception for all the guests, champagne for the toast, sword for us to cut the cake, our room for the night and a few other little extras thrown in. We are then getting hte cheapest buffet on the evening at £8.25pp.

If you can't afford the full 3 course meal I like honey's idea of having a main course and serving your wedding cake as dessert. We still haven't decided when to serve our wedding cake lol x

 

[xLaurax]

I'm like you, dont want to dent our budget, so I'm thinking along the lines of fish and chips as something fun then cupcakes from our wedding cake for dessert. We're getting married next December so we're also thinking if having mulled wine to greet our guests.

 

[kitty1987]

We personally hate formal meals so we are just having a buffet. It has cost us £340 for 80 people! It took a lot of searching and we are having it delivered from wolverhampton when we live in derby lol

 

[buttonnose82]

we had a sit down meal, it was park of a package deal we got with the venue

we had a melon starter

Carvery main (beef, salmon & turkey)

sticky toffee pudding desert

then on the night we had bacon buns, sausage buns, onion rings & potato wedges, again this was included in the package

 

[tmr1234]

We hate formal meals as well and alot of people (myoh and es) are fussy about food so we are having a buffe as we are getting marryed late 4pm we will get the buffet at about 5-6pm so will fit in nice and people will of aet there lunch befor they come

 

[kitty1987]

We hate formal meals as well and alot of people (myoh and es) are fussy about food so we are having a buffe as we are getting marryed late 4pm we will get the buffet at about 5-6pm so will fit in nice and people will of aet there lunch befor they come

exactly our thinking. Our reception starts at 5 and fnishes at 11 so people wont be hungry after the buffet anyway

 

[krissie1234uk]

We are having a buffet which we are doing ourselves at about 4pm, just after people arrive at the venue from the church. We are also having a hot buffet at night, as we don't want people getting too drunk! Our hot food will come to about £200 and the self buffet about £150 so all in all the food will come to £350 which is great value.

 

[honeybee2]

thats amazing value krissie

 

[chelseaharvey]

We are having one

I wanted a BBQ but my OH wanted the formal sit down meal so we are having a 3 course meal.

Im also a BBQ in the evening so OH & me both get what we want

 

[Arlandria]

We are having a sit down meal for 70 people - 65 @ £32 per head & 5 @ £13 for children.. then a drinks package on top of that for 63 people @ £17 per head and then an evening buffet for 170 people @ £16 per head...the buffet is the only thing I wouldnt have normally paid that much for but we get the room for free if we take a buffet so its not that bad!

So its taken a big chunk out of our budget but its what we want so were are happy

 

[MummyJen]

We had a sit down meal at a hotel a 5 min drive from where we got married. We both felt it was important to us as it was quite traditional and nice to get everyone together for a meal. I am glad we did it as I think there is a lot of tradition in a sit down meal. I also wanted a quite formal day. We only had a 3 course meal as it was cheaper than the 6 course meal they tried to serve us! I think it is up to you and the theme you are going for. My best friend got married on a beach in Thailand where we literally wore beach dresses with bare feet and sat on chairs on the sand. Then after the wedding we walked to just behind where we were sitting where there was buffet food and some music and we got to have some drink, eat some food and party on the beach. It really is the theme you go for. It wouldn't have been right if she had a sit down meal.