Couponing/Providing food and alcohol for a caterer

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone!

I'm living in DC and planning a November 2014 wedding in Austin. We're planning on seeing some venues in December when we fly in for Christmas, so I'm trying to get all of the possibilities for us together on a $6,000-$8,000 budget.

In an ideal world, I could find a cheap venue that is just the building and handle everything else myself-- catering and all. On that note, I saw an episode of Extreme Couponing where a lady coupons for the food that she provides to the caterers for her wedding. I would LOOOOOVE to do that. I am not an extreeeeme couponer, but I do coupon quite a bit so that my fiancee and I can survive in the expensive DC metro area on his modest salary and my part time job income while I'm in grad school (and accruing wayyyy too much student loan debt.)

We'd also like to just go to Costco (or somewhere else if it's cheaper) and load up on the alcohol in bulk and provide that to the caterer. I've also wondered if I could just hire a TABC-certified UT college student and just have them handle it so that our only cost there is his/her labor.

Has anyone in Austin ever heard of any of the local caterers allowing this... or any other thoughts on these ideas?

Thanks, y'all!

HoneyBunny13

I haven't heard of providing food to a caterer. I feel like the point of a caterer is they provide the food and set up, serve, break down. But if you want to provide the food you could probably just hire people to serve it, but I'm not sure if the cost of renting chafing dishes, etc, would balance out from just hiring a full service caterer.
There are however plenty of venues around Austin & surrounding areas where you can provide your own alcohol and just hire a bartender/server. The area grocery stores, HEB & Randalls, alll give 10% discounts on bottles of wine when you buy 6 or more. I'm not sure about  Costco's prices since I don't have a membership.
I'm getting married at Texas Old Town in Kyle, TX. It's just outside Austin. They allow you to bring in any caterer you want and your own alcohol as long as you have the bartendering service they contract with serve it.

may2005

How many people do you expect at your wedding?

For a small to mid-sized wedding, try the Caswell House.  In late November, it is decorated for the holidays, so you would not have to spend much on decorating costs.   It's beautiful that time of the year.

I had my wedding there and was able to hire a caterer plus their on-site caretaker, who is TABC-certified.  By bringing in my own alcohol, we saved alot of $$'s.  We also attended the Bridal Extravaganza and saved alot by taking advantage of show discounts regarding the cake, tux rental, & DJ.

I think your budget of $6K - 8K is doable there.

.

Cassiewickiam

I will be getting married at Mercury Hall in April of next year.  I chose the venue because my fiance are paying for our wedding ourselves and we are trying to do everything as cheap as possible.  They allow you to bring in your own alcohal so long as you have a certified bartender to pour the drinks! Huge money saver ALSO, the venue is gorgeous and super inexpensive!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for all the responses thus far! We've found a venue that is just a bit of a shell for a really reasonable price, but we are also looking at more traditional venues that insist you use their catering service.

We're planning on 100-120 guests.

I guess I'll just contact all the Austin catering companies and see what sort of crazy looks I get!

princesstiffylee

Don't forget local restaraunts.  They can sometimes be less expensive than catering companies.

We opted for Pappasito's and are serving a fajita buffett, (I really didn't want the tired BBQ route that a lot of Texas wedding have), we are having about 90 guests and it is around $2500.

I would have totally gone the Costco; finger food/appeitizer route, but fiancee really wanted us to have a "dinner" (I also would have opted to elope-but again he insists we would regret it)

Because of the alchol laws (and we don't drink) we opted not to serve it.  However, our venue; would require security and a liability insurance policy (so please check this option out when you are looking at non-inclusive venues).  Our caterer would allow us to bring in all the alcohol to be served, and would not charge us extra.  We have gone back and forth; and in the end it just isn't worth it for us (again we are not drinkers and most of the people we associate with are not either).

Our venue is very reasonable-I was getting very discouraged when looking; we opted for a community center with beautiful gardens and great indoor/outdoor space.  We are having both our ceremony and reception in the same place.

Our budget break down:
 
Venue- $1600 (had to pull a favor to get resident price-otherwise it would have been $2500)
Catering-$2500 (This includes 2 "bus boys" that will help the entire reception)
DJ-$1395
Photographer-$1195
Chocolate Fountain $170 (I have to supply all dippers)

I bought my own tablecloths; and plan to resell them after the wedding.  All that is left is the little things..sheesh lots to do yet!

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-austin_couponingproviding-food-and-alcohol-for-a-caterer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:126Discussion:e07b4785-8428-4afb-be82-c8d7e96d6526Post:d3401545-3ed4-4166-b31d-9ff21f291ea1">Re: Couponing/Providing food and alcohol for a caterer</a>:
[QUOTE]Don't forget local restaraunts.  They can sometimes be less expensive than catering companies. We opted for Pappasito's and are serving a fajita buffett, (I really didn't want the tired BBQ route that a lot of Texas wedding have), we are having about 90 guests and it is around $2500. I would have totally gone the Costco; finger food/appeitizer route, but fiancee really wanted us to have a "dinner" (I also would have opted to elope-but again he insists we would regret it) Because of the alchol laws (and we don't drink) we opted not to serve it.  However, our venue; would require security and a liability insurance policy (so please check this option out when you are looking at non-inclusive venues).  Our caterer would allow us to bring in all the alcohol to be served, and would not charge us extra.  We have gone back and forth; and in the end it just isn't worth it for us (again we are not drinkers and most of the people we associate with are not either). Our venue is very reasonable-I was getting very discouraged when looking; we opted for a community center with beautiful gardens and great indoor/outdoor space.  We are having both our ceremony and reception in the same place. Our budget break down:   Venue- $1600 (had to pull a favor to get resident price-otherwise it would have been $2500) Catering-$2500 (This includes 2 "bus boys" that will help the entire reception) DJ-$1395 Photographer-$1195 Chocolate Fountain $170 (I have to supply all dippers) I bought my own tablecloths; and plan to resell them after the wedding.  All that is left is the little things..sheesh lots to do yet!
Posted by princesstiffylee[/QUOTE]

I stinking LOVE Pappasito's. I have thought about restaurants but wasn't really sure which ones would be open to doing this. So yours was about $27pp then for $2500 and 90 guests? Does that include tax/gratuity? Maybe they could throw in some of their absolutely heavenly seafood enchiladas for the bride! ;)

annasmorgan

Hi! I am in the Metro DC area also and I am planning a long distance wedding in Hilton Head, SC so I can relate with trying to plan for vendors so far away. Are you just searching for them at random online? Our budgets are about the same. Are you doing full meals or buffets to save money?

Lastly, do you know of any local places to find antiques or some sort of craigslist version for our area for wedding decorations?

Thank you!! 

shaylagirl

We're going the restaurant route as well.

Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood; this NICE Italian place owned by the Mandiolas with it's own on-site vineyard (and photo ops out the wazoo).  We JUST had our tasting on Saturday, and I cannot WAIT until our reception!

We're having up to 80 guests, for which we're paying $3500; this includes the venue, food, and alcohol.  We're serving 3 types of wines and have 3 beer choices, although people can order off the wine/beer menu as well.  It's going to be $41/plate (we're doing an upgrade of beef filet).  The food is family style, the restaurant provides all the linens, china, flatware and the cost includes wait staff.  They're also letting us bring in table runners and any decorations which they will set up the night before.  I can also drop my cake off the day before and they'll store it in their fridge so I don't need to worry about THAT on the day of the wedding.

For 100+ people, the cost was $5500.

Of course, we're getting married at Chapel Dulcinea in Driftwood at the Wizard's Academy, so we're saving money there.    Fingers crossed the weather cooperates since it's outdoors!

Your budget is TOTALLY do-able; ours is a $5k budget (of which I've blown $1k on my dress *sigh*). 

[Deleted User]

Hi annasmorgan,

I just use Wedding Bee Classifieds, the Knot Classifieds, and actual CL to find used wedding decor. Because our wedding is a 24 hour drive from DC we are shipping almost everything straight to Texas when we buy it to a relative's house, so I haven't bothered looking around much here locally. Best of luck!

Ejbear26

I live 5hrs south of Austin Tx and we are planning to have the wedding in Austin as well! We are stumped on a lot of things. Catering and alcohol. Also the cake! Can anyone throw a few names out of a good catering company? Bakery and people who deal with the alcohol. One thing i've been trying to find is a vintr clawfoot bathtub so we can put ice and the beverages in it. That would look so cute! Do we have to have a coordinator? Should I have family decorate the tables or leave that to the professionals? I would like to save on costs but I would also like for me and my family to relax while we get ready for the wedding. Help! I would really appreciate it! Xo

shaylagirl

@Ejbear26; I just posted my vendor reviews.

I can recommend (as can every single one of my guests) Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood for a reception venue.  For up to about 75 people for $3200 (or $3500?  I can't remember, my parents paid the bill), we had plated dinners served family style.  This included alcohol (beer and wine).  We upgraded the plates with a steak option (making them $41/plate).  However, guests were served bread, appetizers (shrimp and bruschetta), main course (chicken and steak), sides (mashed potatoes and salad) and a dessert (we went with a marscapone cheesecake).  I dropped off ALL of my decorations on Friday afternoon, and they set EVERYTHING up for me; my cupcake tower, my table runners, my favors, my candles, my guest 'book' (I did riverstones for a guest book).  They did it ALL for me.  It also came out BEAUTIFULLY!!  I cannot stress how amazing they are out there and how well they treated my guests and myself; including opening the vineyards for photo ops.  The grounds themselves are just photo ops galore as well.

For my 'cake', I ordered from Sugar Mama's bakeshop.  6 dozen cupcakes and an 8" round cake that they delivered to the restaurant for a fee.  Sugar Mama's won Cupcake Wars in 2013, and everyone LOVED the cupcakes (we served a Strawberry/Vanilla flavor, German Chocolate and a Vanilla cupcake, and our cake was Lemon).