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Sunday, July 11, 1999 By Jane Miller
Call Virginia Spanik the frugal bride.
Before her wedding, the former Virginia McPherson shopped the thrift stores for wedding accessories, such as wicker baskets, candle holders and a pair of white lace-covered satin shoes. Of the latter, she said, "These were $3.95 and had never been worn."
She saved hundreds of dollars when she bought her wedding dress on the clearance rack of a bridal store.
All of those savings were small potatoes for Virginia and Rob Spanik of Brighton Heights. By catering their own wedding buffet dinner for more than 200 guests, they say they spent about $3,000, saving thousands of dollars compared to many catered weddings.
"Forget the dress and all those other things. It's the food costs that add up the most," says the bride.
A younger bride would turn to her parents to put on the wedding, says Spanik, 43, a registered nurse and licensed massage therapist. "When you have a mortgage, two car payments and own your own business, you have to be practical."
She also likes to cook. She has cooked for the Assumption Catholic Church Parish in Bellevue, and has catered parties for up to 100 guests. Growing up in a Forest Hills Italian family with three older siblings, Spanik recalls watching her mother, Carmella McPherson, who never measured anything.
The couple's love story has a food connection, too. They met on Feb. 4, 1998, in the Woods Run Library on the North Side, where she was doing Internet research on Polaner jam, so she could use products owned by the parent company in a recipe contest. The winner would receive a bed and breakfast in Vermont.
"I was determined to be a finalist in this contest and leave the area, so I didn't pay any attention to the handsome man who helped me when I jammed two printers," she says with a laugh. Rob, a computer specialist, helped her out.
Their first kiss was over a chocolate dessert they made for a Wednesday night Bible study. He proposed in a birthday card on March 20 (her birthday was the next day), followed by dinner at the Primadonna Restaurant in McKees Rocks. It was the first marriage for both.
Planning their reception started soon after the couple announced their engagement. Cooking and freezing began two weeks before the June 19 wedding.
The Spaniks share several tips for couples who want to cater their own wedding. The size of the wedding and formality are the first decisions to make. Menu planning for an event depends upon appetites, seasons and time of day.
"How limited is the budget? Does it call for tea sandwiches or a feeding of the masses? You could cut down on the formality and have a picnic," she says.
"In the South, they serve a nice punch, tea, appetizers and the cake -- and pay a lot for that."
For a similar do-it-yourself reception, Spanik recommends the tea sandwiches and several hors d'oeuvres, served with crackers, vegetables and fruit, plus the cake and nonalcoholic "champagne." Keeping the wedding nonalcoholic also makes it affordable. The Spaniks estimate they saved $3,000 by serving a nonalcoholic punch of Seagram's Ginger Ale and Welch's White Grape Juice. She suggested sticking to the name-brand ingredients for best results.
"This is bubbly and looks like champagne, and everyone, pregnant women and children included, could all enjoy it," she says.
Their menu included barbecued and breaded chicken, pineapple-glazed hams, penne and meatballs, stuffed cabbage, parslied potatoes and glazed fresh yams. Appetizers included braunschweiger and cheese balls, hummus, shrimp dip and a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit from the Strip District. Her wedding cake was a gift from a good friend and massage client.
Finding a reception hall with enough refrigerator storage space and ovens can be a challenge. The bride found her place in St. Ursula Church's grade school in Glenshaw, about 20 minutes from the Assumption Church, where they were wed.
Shopping for most produce and paper products took place in the Strip District, but the best prices for the big-ticket meat items were found in local grocery stores.
She advises shoppers to check the loss leaders that stores use to get you to walk in. One store had mismarked their chicken breasts for 89 cents a pound and sold her 110 pounds of breasts for the lower price, although they had an intended sale price of $1.19 a pound. Ten pounds of that chicken were a gift to the friend who donated freezer space. She also purchased 200 pounds of legs and thighs and six whole boneless hams, since ample portions are important.
"If you run out of things to drink, you can always run out and get more. With food you can't do that."
The day before the event, 24 baking trays were removed from friends' freezers. (Using freezer paper, instead of aluminum foil, also trims costs a little, she notes.) Trays were placed in the large refrigerators at the reception hall so that they would begin to thaw.
On the day of the wedding, six volunteers, including two students from Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, reheated and replenished the buffet table. The student chefs, who were doing their internships, were not paid, but the couple paid $150 for a culinary graduate from the school to be in charge.
The four other volunteer servers were recruited by the bride's friend Cheryl Schmitt.
Leftovers were not a problem. The couple put some in their own freezer, sent some home with friends, and "we had plenty to give away to Northside Common Ministries. They were thankful to God that we had shared what we were blessed with. We really overcooked," said Rob.
The couple made the delivery before leaving on their honeymoon to Niagara Falls.
Having supportive friends and families helped the most, they say, including Schmitt, who cooked some of the main dishes. When Rob's mother and stepfather arrived from Myrtle Beach, they cooked, too. Meanwhile, Virginia's brother Ron McPherson, who works for the City of Pittsburgh Department of Parks and Recreation, and a friend, Nancy Burns, coordinator of special events and cultural affairs for the city, converted the school cafeteria into a palace with canopies of cloth. The bride's brother also provided fresh flowers. The wedding bows made by Virginia's mom were recycled for an event Downtown several days after the wedding.
"It was the total commitment and devotion of good friends. Without that it wouldn't have happened," says the new Mrs. Spanik.
As the couple settle into their Brighton Heights home, Spanik says she plans to write a booklet to help others put on the kind of wedding they dream of despite time and money constraints.
"This is one day. You should be able to afford your wedding and smile, knowing you're not $20,000 in debt."
Virginia Spanik can be reached at 412-949-0768. Jane Miller is an Avalon free-lance writer. She kitchen-tested Spanik's recipes.
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