Couple Spent Nearly $2,000 On Food From Chain Restaurant To Feed Their 99-Guest Wedding On A Budget

May 26, 2023

Getting married is a magical experience for the couple and their wedding party guests. The happy couple has a lot to plan to help make their big day as perfect as possible, from picking out the perfect flower arrangements to creating a menu that is sure to satisfy their own taste buds.

With such a milestone moment to celebrate, most couples opt to have their friends and family join them in celebrating their love for one another and go all out for the ceremony and reception on their special day.

It’s no secret that weddings can be extremely expensive, and sometimes the couple needs to find new ways to budget and think of ingenious ways to still make their wedding party a blast. 

In the case of Madison Mulkey from Savannah, Georgia, she had to look for ways to have her wedding party be served with budget-friendly meals. In a now-viral TikTok video, Mulkey revealed that she and her husband decided to serve food from Chili’s as an alternative to a traditional catering buffet for their wedding. 

"We loved the price point, I mean you really can't beat that price point — you just can't," Mulkey explained. "It's insane that we only spent that much money for our wedding food."

Mulkey showed the receipt of their Chili’s purchase which only amounted to $1,950 — 50 bucks short of two grand. What was surprising about the purchase was all the food was able to feed her 99 guests at the 2023 wedding. However, they encountered unanticipated problems along the way. 

While that was true, Mulkey’s wedding fell on the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, which meant that the restaurant would be booked and busy to accommodate their own guests on that day. Because of this, they had to pick up the food seven hours prior to service. 

"We had to have our hired servers who were really supposed to be cleaning, serving, preparing, really do a lot of the cooking, and my coordinator kind of had to show them what to do and take on a role that she wasn't really supposed to do and they weren't supposed to do either. But everyone made it work, thank goodness,” she elaborated in the TikTok video. 

Thankfully, Mulkey’s aunt, who worked in food service, offered to help and organize the food items according to the correct way they should be handled, stored, cooled, and reheated. 

Despite the setback, Mulkey seemed not to regret the decision as the couple successfully served the food without any issues. She also raved about the experience, even pointing out that their case was “rare” because of the coincidental holiday weekend. 

Per her guests, the food was “amazing” – from chicken tenders to egg rolls, the homey and familiar Chili’s food was a knockout of the park. People online were also thrilled to hear the idea, as one commented that they would be “so hype to find out the wedding food was Chili's.” 

At one point, Mulkey also went store-hopping to purchase 300 glass vases as decor for her wedding. She also chronicled her “wedding vase journey” on Instagram, which people followed as it unfolded. 

Would you appreciate coming to a wedding with chain restaurant takeout as the food? What can you say about the bride’s decision? Do you think it was OK to serve food like that? Let us know, and pass this on to any of your family, friends, or other loved ones!