Budget Wedding Menu

Wedding Reception Table

A budget wedding  menu doesn't have to look cheap.  It can be elegant and easy.

Your home may not be the Ritz Carlton, but with careful planning and good taste, you can give a wedding reception in it worthy of an American "princess."






Plan dishes that require a minimum of last minute preparation so you can be a guest at the reception. Here is a delightful wedding buffet menu for 25 guests that you should be able to put together for less than $300.


Combine all ingredients but ginger ale in a punch bowl. Stir gently until well blended. Just before serving, stir in ginger ale and ice cubes. Makes 30 cups of punch.
This salad is an easy and inexpensive budget wedding menu way to fill your wedding guests plates.  Just add a couple dinner rolls from scratch or store bought, so guests can make their own sandwiches.

Place an 8 to 1O-pound turkey in a roasting pan and season with salt and pepper.  Cover with roaster cover or with foil. Roast until turkey is very tender so meat may be picked easily from the bones. Cool and dice. There should be about 12 cups.

You can also purchase a cooked turkey breast from the deli section of your grocery store. Don't have them slice it. Just take it home and cube it yourself.

Combine turkey, 4 cups diced celery, 2 cups green seedless grapes, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 cup finely chopped red onion, 4 teaspoons salt or salt to taste, 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, and 1 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup Dijon mustard.

Depending on how much meat you have, you may want to add a little more mayo and mustard to make the salad more creamy.

Line large salad bowl with leaf lettuce and add salad. Garnish as desired with small leaves from the head of lettuce and cluster of grapes.

If you have a little more to spend on your budget wedding menu, you can fill pineapple shells with the turkey salad.  That will add more of a tropical flair!

Fresh Asparagus Cornucopia Sandwiches

(Yield: 1-pound loaf of bread makes 18 sandwiches)

Cut thin slices of white bread into 3-inch rounds with a scalloped 3-inch cookie cutter. Roll bread rounds lightly with a rolling pin to flatten and spread with softened butter or margarine.

Shape each round into a cornucopia and seal the joining edges with an extra bit of butter. Refrigerate until serving time.

In the meantime, marinate cooked fresh asparagus spears, cut about 2 1/2-inches long, in French dressing.  Drain and insert one spear in the opening of the cornucopia.  Garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley.


(Yield: A 1-pound loaf of breadmakes 18 sandwiches)

Trim crusts from thin slices of bread and roll bread lightly witha rolling pin. Spread slices with softened butter or margarine. Roll into a tight roll with a sprig of watercress inserted in each end.

Cover with a damp cloth or towel or foil and refrigerate. At serving time arrange on sandwich tray with fresh asparagus cornucopias.