how do you cater your own wedding?

Question

I want to have a wedding with 200 ppl at my grandmothers, but am trying to keep costs as low as possible. I dont mind elbow grease, and i would rent the necessary equipment and hire servers the day of the wedding. But I dont know if it is actually possible to do this. If you make the food the night before, how do you reheat it? or how do you keep the food that isnt in chaffing dishes warm? Has anyone ever done this before? how do you organize it?

I should mention that I will not actually be catering it myself. My family (and his) would be willing to do it, Im just wondering how I would work it the day of as far as food storage and the like is concerned.
I do not want to cut the guest list so I know Im asking a lot! But I really do appreciate all of the great answers that are being provided, most of them are going straight to my notebook! thanks!

Answer 1

Well I did something similar to what you are doing and it is SOOO easy to do! I bought chicken from Albertson’s they can do as many pieces that you need. Potato salad from Sam's, along with wings from there too and chips. It was a big hit! Plus my family didn't have to do too much work all they had to do was pick up the food and keep it warm. If you did make all the food yourself it depends on what you are making. I would try and make the food as close to the time as you can to have it be as warm as possible. Though a great food that tastes even better warmed up is lasagna. You could make it the night before in the trays that you get from the chaffing dishes, after baking it let it cool then put it in the refrigerator, then all you have to do it pop it in the oven and stick it on the chaffing tray to keep it warm. Make sure you cover it once it is warmed up. I would recommend re heating it before you put it in the chaffing dishes because all the food will already be warm so your food won't be cold once the wedding is over. Then have rolls, fruit and another good side. Plus you also have the cake so that will help as well. Look around for chaffing dishes the cheapest ones I found were at a Party store, but if you are a member of a church or are getting married at one they may have some you could borrow. Also as far as the sternos (the things that go on bottom to keep the food warm) I found 4 hour long ones at the family dollar and I got 2 for a dollar. Also they have the nice long candle lighters there for really cheap. With organizing it I would say the best thing to do is have certain people working on certain things so that on that day it won't be hectic. I hope this helps Good luck!

Answer 2

The cost of staffing, equipment, tables and chairs and linens is going to be very expensive too, and honestly, that REALLY is a large crowd to try to be catering it by family members. I applaud you wanting to do this but honestly the stress and logistics problems for a crowd that size, you're really going to need a professional, not a few family members.

One way to work around it is to have your ceremony and reception at a non-meal time of day. Therefore you will not be required to serve a meal-- just provide cake and punch, or just cookie and cocoa, or just cheese and fruit platters from an upscale deli or supermarket (approx. $6 a head for adults, from the pricing I have seen). Or, look into a boxed lunch option provided by some delis or by bagel places like Einstein's-- all the lunches will be packed for convenience, sort of picnic-style, and it won't be labor-intensive for your family members.

Serving a full, cooked meal to 200 guests, even buffet-style, is WAY more than non-professionals can deal with. I think it's much more of an ordeal than you're imagining. I really wouldn't chance it. For up to 50 people, I'd say take the plunge and go for it, but not 100 or 200.

Answer 3

You might call your local grocery store and ask the manager if you can use their coolers for one night for the food you make the night before. Also, may restaraunts who cater have extra coolers they might be willing to let you use for one night for your own food if they don't have to cater the day of your wedding. (especially locally owned shops)
Just start making a few phone calls and see what you can come up with. Some of your family members might be willing to go get the food the next morning for you. You might even get the caterer to bring the food back to the house for a small fee.

All you would have to do then is work on reheating your "hot food items". I think some of your rental supply stores may even have hot plates or hot food bars to rent out. Make those calls and see what's available.

A pot luck is a great idea for a home wedding! Just make sure you have notice who is bringing what kind of dish or you will end up with 200 deserts!

Answer 4

You have quite a project. Although you don't say if it is day or evening... or what your budget is, this is how you do it.

You don't. And you don't wait a year. Either you are getting married or you aren't.

What you do is organize your friends and family. You are the bride. It is YOUR day. The one day in your whole life that is truly about you besides the day you were born.

The one thing you don't want is to stress on YOUR wedding day.

Now that being said.

Spend the money on the cake, the band/dj, the liquor/champagne, the decorations, the set ups, & the help. The food is less important than you think.

If there is a Costco nearby, join. Or a Sam's. You can order stuff online. If it comes to over $200 they will deliver. So if they are anywhere ...order and get it.

Pair down the guest list.

Simplify the menu.

Have friends loan extra microwaves. get several. it greatly speeds things up. ask everyone or buy a few used ones.

No one will remember what you served.

They will remember the cake.

They will remember the dancing.

The will remember the other people somewhat if they are relatives.

They will remember IF you decorated not what.

They will remember if you had a good band or DJ.

They will remember if you run out of liquor and ice.

Hire a bartender because of LIABILITY. If someone leaves drunk and has an accident you could be liable for not taking precautions. The Bartender satisfies that problem and won't serve someone too drunk, which is good because who needs a drunken idiot at YOUR wedding.

For god's sake nothing with mayonnaise or you could kill everyone if the refridgeration isn't right.

Use chafing dishes for the main stuff... bite size bits. It looks like there is more than there is. Lots of things on skewers. People think it's fancy. You can get away with murder if it's on a stick.

Buy stuff to heat and serve. Heat it up the day before and reheat on the chafing dishes.

You can make piles of rice days ahead and store in tupperware until you use it. Nuke it to heat it up. Add tumeric, nuts, raisins, onions chopped, lots of parsley chopped and make it pretty. It's a bulk thing. Bulk it up. They will see quantity. The key is to make lots of inexpensive stuff.

Same story with salad. Make a huge salad in a huge bowl or bowls. Most of it is lettuce at the bottom which is cheap. But everyone sees plenty and it's visual. No mayonnaise based dressings.

Lots of crudities... carrots, broccoli florets, cucumber rounds with cream cheese and chopped olives, olives, sliced colored bell peppers, snow pea pods, etc. Piles of it. It is cheap and takes up the slack on volume. People eat with their eyes. So show lots of it, for the cheap stuff. Have plenty of Sour Cream or Salsa based dips...NO MAYONNAISE. You can make and platter all this the day before. Make platters which can be served by servers. Lots of this stuff.

egg rolls

piles of bite size cut fruit...arrange on platters the night before put flowers on the fruit platters and serve as dessert.

Buy bulk chocolates. Arrange platters two days in advance. You don't have to refrigerate them. Use the tiered pieces to serve and dinner size platters to pile them up to look like more. Put flowers on the platters.

Sushi is all pre done...talk to the grocery store or Costco has large platters or will make them on order.

Walmart does an ok wedding cake if you are really pressed. Otherwise, order from Costco/Sam's/BJ's or the grocery store.

Cookies can be bought in big tubs. The little butter Danish cookies in the big tins are really cheap and everyone loves them. They look good on a platter. If your area doesn't have them, go online. Everything is available online. You can get 5 pounds for $10 or less.

Flowers on everything. Use lots of parsely for decoration.

Now, if you really want some good advice?

Here it comes...

Screw the big wedding. I had one. Fancy... the works. Wasn't worth it and I see next to no one anymore.

Options:

A. Spend the money on a wonderful honeymoon or if that is covered, use it for a downpayment on a house. Then have a garden party open house on a day when YOU are not the bride and all stressed out.

B. Take Grandma, nearest four relatives (parents or bros. sisters), and hubby with his parents and go on a cruise or somewhere beautiful like Hawaii/Florida and get married in the hotel garden. They've already spent a fortune to make it nice. These are the only people that really matter anyway.

There are so many cheap deals on cruises you can't believe. I found a glorious 7 night cruise on Norwegian out of New Orleans for $290 ppdo inside stateroom plus $200 in taxes. So for $500 a piece you can take the party with you. They do it all nicely and the food is included anyway. All you have to pay extra is for the liquor and the actual official. Contact the cruise line or do it at home and then leave for the cruise to party for a whole week.

Seven People... you, hubby, mom/dad, his mom/dad, granny will cost $3500 plus air. If the mom/dads are chipping in for the wedding anyway, they pay for themselves and you. That includes the honeymoon. It's a better deal all the way around.

www.cruisedeals.com
www.priceline.com

Seriously, screw the big wedding. Make the memories with the most important people.

Answer 5

Skip the hot foods if you can. I catered my own. The in-laws all helped out the night before, and it was all cold or room-temp foods. If you must have hot foods, go the crockpot method, and a lot of them! You will need help, because you will be stressed that day. So prep everything the night before, then have the family/friends start stuff in the morning while you're getting dressed and such.

Best wishes!! :)

Answer 6

get 3 microwaves -- borrow some and plug them in near the table where you will be serving. use chafing dishes serve things that for the most part do not have to be heated. limit yourself to 6 heated dishes. suggested menu is ham can be served at room temp, possibly turkey, have huge bowls of something like riggatoni, potatoe salad, macoroni salad. Do coleslaw, cucumber salad, large trays of relishes including olives and pickles, trays of 3 kinds of sliced breads. The hot dishes can be green beans, casaroles of chicken and aspargus, corn, baked eggs and ham dish, minature hotdogs and beans, miniture egg rolls, meatballs in burgandy, saugage and peppers, or any vegetable you prefer.

Set up a table with white wine, ginerale, diet 7-up and pitchers of water.
Have a pink champaign toast served at the beginning of the party.
rent tableware, serving dishes and buy festive napkins and paper plates. Hire 6 servers. 1 stays in kitchen, one servesd the beverages, start the clean up by those two washing and setting the cooking pans out to be put away later.
the other 4 serve the buffet and help children and older people to their place and bring them a beverage.

Have a separate table for the cake and have 2 of the servers cut and pass it. The other two can start throwing out the paper plates and putting away the leftover food.

Be carefull of spoilage. Leave nothing sitting out. have the food brought out just before the guests are ready to eat.

Coffee may be served. If you want to have it rent a big coffee maker and have the servers put the coffee into smaller pots and take it to table with the cake. Milk and sugar on each table. It is alot of trouble and I recommend you skip it.

I have helped many times do this for a church group.

Answer 7

I attempted this myself. It ended up being way too much to do. Getting married takes alot of work, without having to cook it all yourself. I gave up and cut cost in other ways, like making my own wedding cake, doing my own table decorations, ect.. If your heart is set on doing this, I would make it more of a cold buffet kind of thing. Finger sandwichs (there are several good receipies on the web), maybe chicken wings, things that can be made up in advance, and don't need to be reheated. 200 guests is going to require ALOT of food though. The days leading up to your wedding are going to be busy. I hope you will have help with ths task.

Answer 8

I had a very small wedding, with only immediate family invited. It was very, very informal (city hall). We had the "reception" at our apartment later in the day, and it was a pot-luck. It worked out great.

We used the money we saved as a down-payment for our first house.

With 200 people, a pot-luck may be hard to swing, but that's the best suggestion I have for "catering" your own wedding.

Answer 9

i wanted to make my own wedding cake and was denied, i'm happy cuz it would've stressed the hell out of me. I do NOT reccomend you do this, but ask your family to take care of the arrangments, put them in charge and you don't worry about it. You can ask everyone to bring a covered dish (I've seen this at plenty of weddings, and since it's a happy occasion everyone's usually pretty good for it) but do not bring this stress upon you, its your happy day and it will only make it so much more stressful!

Answer 10

Martha Steward wedding magazine always has ideas on self catering.... but it won't really be YOU doing it. I think you need to sit down and talk to your family and see who can do what.

And I would cut the people down.... 200 is a lot for a unformal wedding.