Italian Wedding Food for a Budget Wedding

One of the biggest headaches brides face when getting married is the reception. Not only is it difficult to plan, what with having to find a venue, deal with seating arrangements, consider the entertainment, and create a menu, but it is also very expensive! Brides on a budget often worry about what they will serve their guests and whether or not it will be sufficient. Luckily, Italian wedding food is both delicious and affordable!

Traditional Italian wedding food is composed of twelve to fourteen courses. It is very seldom these days that a wedding will serve that many courses. In fact, most receptions choose to serve their guests buffet style. Giving guests the option of what they want to eat has become modern practice because many guests have different eating habits. Some eat more, some eat less, some don’t eat meat, etc.

Here is a sample menu for Italian wedding food:

Antipasti: Calamari & Bruschetta

-All Italian wedding receptions start with an antipasti. Serving calamari, which is deep fried squid is always a delicious option, not to mention very traditional. Bruschetta, which is bread topped with basil, tomato, and cheese, or sometimes other ingredients, can also be served. Both are light and delicious appetizers.

Soup & Salad: Cream of Tomato & Arugula

-A creamed soup is traditional, and tomato is quite affordable. It can be followed by a simple arugula salad combined with parmesan shavings and topped with a traditional dressing.

Pasta Course: Ziti Aglio Olio

-Because you’ve already had tomatoes in two of your courses, try to veer away from a tomato-based pasta. A ziti, which is a pasta favorite among most, cooked in a simple sauce of olive oil and garlic can be the perfect balance to the previous dishes. You can choose to add a sausage or chili flakes if you want a bit more flavor.

Main Course: Roasted Chicken & Grilled Vegetables

-Roasted chicken is both delicious and affordable. Not to mention the fact that most people will eat it, so brides can rest easy. Combined with grilled vegetables, like bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and asparagus spears, and you have the perfect and simple main course that is still light enough on the stomach so guests can fully enjoy dessert!

Dessert: Wedding Cake & Panna Cotta

-Traditional weddings always serve the wedding cake as dessert, but it is all too often that there isn’t enough to go around. Having a second dessert, like panna cotta, can help make sure everyone has something sweet to eat at the end.

If you want to be traditionally Italian about your wedding food, don’t forget to give away confetti Tulle, which are sugar covered almonds wrapped in mesh bags. It is customary that the bride and groom hand these out, putting them beside each place setting in the reception hall. It is the perfect end to any reception, and it’s light on the pocket too!