5 Budget Friendly Recipe Tips For An Outdoor Summer Wedding

Weddings are going to be pretttty expensive, especially if you want all your friends and family there. It's important to add valuable details so that you can keep the price to a minimum. There are many budget-friendly perks you can consider when planning an outdoors wedding and reception during the summer. For starters, you can have a secret garden-like venue for just the price of the park permit. The permit fee for a luxurious place like Central Park in New York goes for just $400 — leaving room to splurge on other wedding necessities like the quality of your food. While you can only have a ceremony in Central Park, there are many parks around the country where you can bring the reception along with you.

One of the first things to keep in mind for your reception dishes is the heat: cold appetizers are your friend. Keep ice handy and I suggest using a rustic wooden base like a boat, a wheelbarrow, or tin buckets and filling them with ice to keep your refreshments and some dish garnishes cool. The rustic wooden look adds a romantic vintage touch to your party!

For your dishes, think Mediterranean — most of the dishes can stand the outdoor heat, are healthy, and are budget friendly, using quality ingredients in smaller quantity. Everything about your wedding should focus on quality over quantity!

When it comes to dessert, my recommendation is to fill up on a candy station, get creative with serving sweet fruits, and have plenty of delicious beverages!

Here are a list of budget friendly dishes that require minimal ingredients but are still high quality in taste and satisfaction.

1. Keep your guests cool with a refreshing salad like watermelon, feta, and mint.

2. A Mediterranean station with grilled meats and veggies.

3. Refreshing drinks like Blueberry Lavender Mojitos.

4. Get creative with fruit platters. The best and most affordable fruits will be the ones that grow in season like: cherries, carrots, figs, grapes, melons, peaches, potatoes, raspberries, tomatoes.

5. Cold appetizers are your friend! Caprese skewers, the basil will make all the difference. A selection of antipasto trays, an assortment of pickled veggies, and even apple sandwiches with peanut butter and raisins.