~*~Catering -vs- Do It Yourself**What are the pros and cons of each ~*~?

Answer 1

Catering Pros:
All you have to do is pick foods and number of people attending, it's easy and convenient. Someone else does the work.
Several phone calls and a couple of meetings in person and you're done.
The presentation, servers, chefs, all can give a nicer and more professional look.
Chefs who might be a better cook than you, fancier food than what you feel comfortable preparing.
They set it up and clean it up for you.

Catering Cons:
Not all caters will do special order foods, you have to choose from a list of what they supply.
You are paying for the food, drinks, servers, coordinators, and gratuity, it gets expensive fast.
If there is a mix-up, you are SOL on food at the reception.

Do it yourself Pros:
You can have any food you want, as long as you or someone you know can prepared it.
You cook it cheaper, so you would have more money for other things - or better food (steak instead of chicken).
You wouldn't have to worry about the food not getting there on the right day/time.
It can be a lot of fun to have your family and friends cooking with you, make a day out of it before the wedding a store and freeze what you can.

Do it yourself Cons:
Much more work involved.
Some things will have to be done the day of the wedding, when you might be pressed for time.
If you aren't great in the kitchen, or have some pretty execellent cooks close to you (mother, sister, best friend) the food might not turn out as well.
It's harder to cook for many people than when you are cooking for yourself.
Set up and clean up time may take away from your day.

You have to look at your budget, time constraints, skill and experiance as a cook, and if you have any possible helpers when you are planning a larger event, even as little as 30 people can be tricky to cook for.

If you are confident about your ability to handle it, then go for it. I had a great time doing my own with my family. We cooked everything at my mother-in-law's house since the wedding was on their property (which is very pretty), and it was easy to store it and access it on the day of the wedding. I spent a few hours that morning doing some finishing touches, then I got ready while they finished up. That was my in-laws gift to us, the wedding on their property, they paid for the food and helped prepare it, and they cleaned it all up. It would have cost us several thousand if we had hired a caterer and had to pay site fees.

If you plan on doing it yourself, you might want to think about renting dinnerwear, silverwear, glasses, serving platters, serving utensils, etc... You won't have to worry about running out of your own items or breaking them, and some companies will even clean up for you, no dirty dishes to wash.

Answer 2

Well there are really two BIG differences of each
Caterering you are really paying for it.
Doing it yourself it takes a lot of time.
So you have to think about it.
Are you having a small 30-60 guest wedding? Do you have parents and in-laws that will help you? If you answered yes to both of those questions then I would say do it yourself because catereing can cost you a couple grand why not spend this on your honeymoon. But if you are having a smaller wedding but you would be doing all of the work yourself you might still want to consider hiring a caterer: you could have the wedding at about 1:00 the reception would be about 3:00 and people wouldn't expect a big meal at 3:00 in the afternoon so you could just have some fruit and veggies and some appitizers to keep the cost down.

But if you are having a larger wedding I would consider hiring a caterer because you are going to be busy with other arrangements and not have time to feed 100+ people. We had 250 guests and paid 4,000 for our caterering. The food was good though. Even though we didn't really have time to eat.
Good luck and congrats.

Answer 3

I just celebrated my 3 year wedding anniversary yesterday and I still appreciate to this very day the company who did my catering. I would not have wanted to cook for 300 people. This was a sit down dinner also so it looked really good to see the servers in uniform serving dinners that were appealing to the eye as well as the taste buds. :o) Then knowing that my wedding party did not have to clean anything up and there more than enough food to go around.

That is the pro of catering. The con of cooking is you are not guaranteed that you will cook enough, feelings could get hurt if someone does not like the cooking and that you could safely store the food with out someone getting food poisioning and a possible law suit. I think it would be worth paying the extra money to have it catered.

Answer 4

Have you considered having the wedding at a restaurant? I got married in a restaurant. It was a lot easier than DIY but a hell of a lot cheaper than a standard wedding caterer. I had a really small wedding - about 12 people. We just ordered off the regular dinner menu. Everyone had an entree and most people split sides/appetizers. Came out to less than $50 per person with no work, no hassle, no clean up. The restaurant did offer group/event menus for a little more money, but still would have been cheaper than a traditional wedding caterer.

Answer 5

Pros of catering. You do not have to worry about cooking, delivery, setting up, finding servers and cleaning up after the reception. This can add on extra stress for the bride as well as make you tired.

Cons: Depending on what you are serving and the amount you are serving for can be costly.

Doing it yourself pros:This can save you a little money depending on the amount of people you plan to invite.

Cons: As stated earlier this can be a headache to the bride and family members of getting the food to the place, cooking, setting up and finding" reliable" people to serve the food. If bride, family and friends are cooking they can be to tired to really enjoy the reception or they miss out on the fun of the reception.

Sometimes cooking the food yourself can cost just as much as hiring a caterer. Think about it, the amount of food can be expensive (depending on how many people you are inviting), containers, utensils, plates and items that keeps the food warm can be costly. I say hiring a caterer is the way to go. good luck

Answer 6

My thought process on this is to hire a professional and let your friends and family enjoy the party as well. There are a ton of options you can do and not spend too much money. You may even save money by hiring a caterer, because once you buy the food, the equipment, the paper products and serving pieces you have already spent quite a lot of money. A caterer takes care of all the details and you save time and get peace of mind.

Answer 7

Main "pro/con" is liability. If you DIY, and someone (or everyone) gets sick, then you could have a major problem. Catering has experience in large scale, long duration, events, and knows more than you (unless you are in that business, of course) how to stave off these concerns. They know which foods need absolute temperature maintenance, which foods can induce allergic reactions, and other concerns which you may not have considered.

Obviously, as you are aware, your DIY pro is cost. Conversely, your DIY con is the logistical nightmares. For example: Depending on the number of people you are trying to serve, you may need to use multiple people's kitchens, to prepare multiple items simultaneously. This also means that you may need to worry about transporting those items, perhaps over significant distances.

Answer 8

Do you mean for a wedding?

Unless you have someone in your immediate family that can give complete attention to the food for the guests, it's best left to a team of professionals. No one wants to give up an evening or an afternoon and eat costco frozen finger foods after spening the time and money to attend and to purchase a gift for you. If caterers are too expensive, cut your guest list. The last thing you want to be worrying about on your wedding day is if you forgot to add the salt to the potato salad or whether you bought enough mini quiches because uncle ted is scarfing them down.

Answer 9

Just attended a planning meeting for an expected meal for 100 ladies. Cost for catering will come to $1,095. If the host club would just get together and prepare the meal themselves, there is no way the cost would be that much. People do not want to commit to anything much that is work. If you can't serve a luncheon for 100 people for less than $1,000+, there is something missing in your planning skills.

Answer 10

Depends on your style. We're having a small casual wedding (about 30 people), so we're grilling burgers, sausages, chicken afterward with some sides I'm picking up from a caterer.
Most people don't do it themselves cause it'd be too stressful. But I think the cookout is even less stressful than dealing with a caterer.