Step-by-Step Guide to DIY Wedding Reception Buffets

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Step-by-Step Guide to DIY Wedding Reception Buffets

DIY food buffet at an LDS reception — Photo Courtesy of JarvieDigital.com

Are you thinking about planning and executing your own wedding reception buffet? It certainly is cost-effective, but if you do it yourself it will be the most labor-intensive event you’ll take on in quite a while. Here’s a general guide to planning and executing your own wedding buffet.

You can do much of the planning and prep work yourself, but on at the reception itself you won’t be available to do the grunt work. After all, you’ll be too busy and distracted to worry about re-stocking the rolls and double-checking that the salad is being kept cool enough! A DIY buffet only works when…read more

How to Save Money on the Wedding Reception Dinner

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How to Save Money on the Wedding Reception Dinner

bread table food station — Photo Courtesy of Teresa K. Photography

After the dress, the flowers, the cake, and decorating the reception hall, let’s face it – you are quickly running up the bill and are probably looking for ways to trim costs where you can. Luckily, wedding reception dinners are one area where you can really pare down costs without cutting corners with some of the methods in this article.

Make sure to get several quotes from caterers in your area before signing a contract with anyone. (Just make sure that a caterer with a much lower rate than others isn’t planning on “surprising” you by tacking on extra charges after the fact.) Don’t be afraid to haggle with your caterer, either. Just like when you’re buying a car, catering prices aren’t set in stone.

Just like beauty schools provide salon services to the public for cheap, culinary schools and catering colleges will be happy to…read more

What You Need to Know About Renting Wedding Party Equipment

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What You Need to Know About Renting Wedding Party Equipment

catering equipment — Photo Courtesy of JarvieDigital.com

When you’re throwing a wedding reception of any shape or size, party rental companies can be your best friend. Chances are that you don’t have the tables, chairs, or catering equipment necessary for all your guests, so you’ll need to rent them.

Here’s what you need to know before renting items from an event rental company for your wedding.

• Check out their reputation. Look at any potential wedding rental companies’ status with the American Rental Association (ARA) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB.) Talk to friends and if nothing else, Google the company name to see what comes up. Any extremely dissatisfied customer has probably vented online somewhere.
• Know what you want. Are you looking for catering items like plates and silverware? Buffet warming trays? Tables and chairs? Tablecloths and linen napkins? Tents for an outdoor reception? Décor items? Find one…read more

DIY Wedding Cakes: How to Decorate Your Own Wedding Cake

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DIY Wedding Cakes: How to Decorate Your Own Wedding Cake

DIY Wedding Cakes for LDS wedding receptions — Photo Courtesy of Watasch Studios

It feels great to have guests marvel over your wedding cake at the reception and be able to grin and say, “I made that.” Making your own wedding cake is something to be proud of, and it’s much more budget-friendly than hiring a professional cake designer. But before pulling out your cake pans and your rolling pin, take a close look at the pros and cons of a DIY wedding cake.

Lots of LDS brides tackle making and decorating their own wedding cakes, but think long and hard about whether you’re up to the challenge before you commit to doing it yourself. Even if you have the expertise, you just might not have…read more

How to Cut Wedding Cake: Step-by-Step Guides with diagrams

/ budget wedding cake ideas, Do-it-yourself wedding cake, Fresh Fruit Wedding Cake, How to Cut Wedding Cake, LDS bride, LDS groom, LDS Open House for LDS Weddings, LDS Reception, LDS wedding, LDS Wedding Cake, LDS Wedding Reception, shapes for wedding cakes, unique wedding cakes, wedding cake cutting fees, wedding cake cutting guides, wedding cake toppers, wedding cake toppings, Wedding Cakes, Wedding Reception Ideas

How to Cut Wedding Cake: Step-by-Step Guides with diagrams

When cutting wedding cut first remove the top tier from the cake stands or from the other wedding cake tiers. The top tier is usually saved for the first anniversary. Begin cutting the 2nd tier, then the 3rd and 4th and continue until all the wedding cake is cut. In general wedding cake is cut into pieces approximately 1 inch wide x 2 inches deep x 4 inches high (about 2 layers). Remember, the order of cutting is still the same even if…read more

wedding cake cutting instructions — Round Wedding Cake Tiers

How to Cut Wedding Cake: Step-by-Step Guides with diagrams

/ Do-it-yourself wedding cake, Fresh Fruit Wedding Cake, LDS Open House for LDS Weddings, LDS Reception

How to Cut Wedding Cake: Step-by-Step Guides with diagrams

When cutting wedding cut first remove the top tier from the cake stands or from the other wedding cake tiers. The top tier is usually saved for the first anniversary. Begin cutting the 2nd tier, then the 3rd and 4th and continue until all the wedding cake is cut. In general wedding cake is cut into pieces approximately 1 inch wide x 2 inches deep x 4 inches high (about 2 layers). Remember, the order of cutting is still the same even if…read more

DIY Wedding Cakes: How to Decorate Your Own Wedding Cake

/ Anniversary Cake, Do-it-yourself wedding cake, Fresh Fruit Wedding Cake, LDS Open House for LDS Weddings, LDS Reception, LDS Wedding Cake, LDS Wedding Flowers, LDS Wedding Reception, Wedding Cake in Hot Weather, Wedding Reception Ideas

DIY Wedding Cakes: How to Decorate Your Own Wedding Cake

It feels great to have guests marvel over your wedding cake at the reception and be able to grin and say, “I made that.” Making your own wedding cake is something to be proud of, and it’s much more budget-friendly than hiring a professional cake designer. But before pulling out your cake pans and your rolling pin, take a close look at the pros and cons of a DIY wedding cake.

Lots of LDS brides tackle making and decorating their own wedding cakes, but think long and hard about whether you’re up to the challenge before you commit to doing it yourself. Even if you have the expertise, you just might not have…read more

DIY LDS Wedding Catering Tips

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setting your catering budget, WeddingLDS.com's signature bride — "Start early and remember to set a budget!"

Food!

It’s just one aspect of a successful wedding day, but it can be one of the most expensive and overwhelming. The options are truly endless! Should we have a full service dinner or a mid-afternoon hors d’oeuvre reception? Hire a caterer or do it ourselves? How much food do we need? What should we serve? Many of these items are inter-related and you’ll need to think about them all together rather than one after the other. If your budget can handle it the best option is to hire a professional caterer, or at the very least, a day of coordinator to run the kitchen and buffet tables for you. This way you will enjoy eating your food instead of serving it! But if you decide that “Do-it-Yourself Catering” is your best option, the information below will help you approach this aspect of your big day:

The key to a successful reception is…read more

Wedding Cake Decorators, How to Choose

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How to choose a cake decorator — Photo Courtesy of Kimberly Davis Photography

How to Choose a Wedding Cake Decorator

LDS brides and grooms get their wedding cakes from all sorts of designers, from a top-dollar professional wedding cake specialist to their talented Aunt Miranda who will do it for free. Accounting for price, style, and taste, how do you choose a wedding cake decorator?

The fun part is browsing through bridal magazines and online wedding cake photo galleries for pictures of the intricate, unique, and always beautiful wedding cakes. Who knew that food could be so much fun just to look at? Don’t worry about finding “your” wedding cake just yet, but do…read more

Wedding Cake for an Anniversary

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Your 1-Year Anniversary Cake

1st year anniversary cake — Photo Courtesy of Wasatch Studios.com

Hard to believe it now, but the 365 days after you are married are going to fly by, and before you know it you’ll be celebrating your first wedding anniversary. Most couples, while they are in the middle of planning their wedding, also make arrangements for their first anniversary cake with their wedding cake decorator.

Most professional bakeries and cake designers make it easy for you to get your first anniversary cake through them. The following three options are the most common.

Many cake decorators will offer to freeze the top layer of your wedding cake, so that in one years’ time you will have a cake for two that helps you relive the most special moment of your life together.

If the decorator doesn’t offer the service of freezing your cake, you can always do it yourself. Just make sure that the caterer or the cake decorator – whoever is doing the wedding cake cutting and serving – knows to reserve the top layer for you. To freeze the cake at home…read more