Expert: Teri Davis Newman - 5/19/2009

Question
My sister's fiancee recently suffered a pay cut and they are having to cut back on their wedding quite a bit.  I have offered to make her reception meal as her wedding gift.  What are the cheapest wedding meals to put on? I believe she is expecting between 100 and 120 guests.  These are the possibilities I have considered so far: 1) pasta buffet with red meat sauce, white sauce, salad, and bread, 2) taco bar with ground meat, beans, toppings, chips and salsa/guacamole and 3) ham dinner with mashed potatoes, vegetable, and rolls.  I have a membership to Sam's Club so should be able to buy in bulk.  

Also, I am specifically looking for suggestions for an actual meal as opposed to something like an appetizer buffet.  Finally, I am also in the wedding, but it is an evening wedding, so I will have the entire day before and most of the day of to do preparation.  The venue has a commercial kitchen available for me to use the day of the event.

Any suggestions or feedback you have would be greatly appreciated.  I was in food service for 4.5 years (although I never did any catering) so I feel like I can probably handle this as long as I'm well prepared.  Thanks in advance!

Answer
I'd buy the Stouffer's frozen lasagne from Sam's club because for the labor involved and the money, you can't make it any cheaper and I've served Stouffer's at countless events and no one realized it wasn't homemade--an excellent product.  Thaw them before you cook them so that they will cook in MUCH less time.  If you put them in the refrigerator 3 days before the wedding and then put them on the counter the day of the wedding 6 hours ahead, they will be perfect, cook them in a way that you have 2-3 pans in the warmer and 2-3 ready to in the kitchen and the remaining 3-4 in the oven to come out ASAP--about 45 minutes--it will be about the right time frame.  Serve it with a great salad--which means a lot of different greens, a really good Creamy Italian dressing or Caesar dressing and garlic bread made by using those little hard-shell rolls and tossing them in a strong garlic/melted butter before serving and you'll be a hero!