do-it-myself catering...what do you think?

Question

We have this great service in our area (its actually a chain that's catching on...www.supperthyme.com) Here you prepare the foods (mid-gourmet type) and cart them off in freezer-friendly trays. Each tray = 6 servings

My fiance and I are paying for our wedding ourselves, so are watching our pennies...I really think this will be a good idea- BUT am I biting off too much?? It will mean enlisting the oven's of everyone we know on our big day and renting the serving dishes.

I have a tendency to get all excited about something before I have every detail...we will be able to have 12 different dishes (getting 3 trays of each dish)- all for 645.00. This will allow our guests to have 2-3 trips to the buffet if they want (we have 125 guests)

obviously we are still looking at appetizers, drinks, etc...but how does this sound to you?? do you think this is do-able?

thanks!

Thank you all so much! as I was afraid, I was getting ahead of myself with this idea- for budget-sake, I will reserve this as my "Plan B" (as this is at my home, I've hired a wedding coordinator for the day before and day of our wedding to oversee decorating and food set up- I COMPLETELY AGREE with keeping our day as stress-free as possible)

Its hard to pick a best answer- thanks again.

Answer 1

While I understand the need to save money, I think this idea is highly problematic. If you are enlisting the ovens of everyone you know, you're going to be putting people to a lot of inconvenience and responsibility. As someone pointed out, these folks will have other things they need to be doing, like getting ready for the wedding: makeup, hair, picking up the babysitter, etc.

In addition, food safety is a huge issue. The guests will have to get the hot dishes wedding in a certain time-frame and in a safe manner. There will be no way to guarentee that the food reached or stayed at a healthy temperature to avoid food borne illness. I think this is too much trouble and responsibility to put guests to. And it's a small matter, but they'll be paying for the electricity or gas to heat up the food.

Unless you have an enthusiastic, trustworthy friend or relative (with several helpers) who knows how to safely cook for a crowd, I highly recommend leaving the food to a professional caterer.

Answer 2

If I'm doing the math correctly you'll have 12 dishes but only 18 guests get to taste that dish. 3 x 6 servings = 18! If you want to do this rent the chafing dishes and focus on creating your main dishes like chicken, beef, lasagna. You'll need at least 4 deep or 8 shallow hotel pans of your main entree for 125 guests. Much easier to heat the food in the one large container it'll be served in . Supplement this with purchased salads, salad dressing and breads from a big box store or a good deli. keeping hot food hot and cold food cold is very important. So you'll need to rent cambros. (Insulated food boxes) to put the heated food in to transport and hold it. Unless the guests who are volunteering their ovens are skipping the wedding ceremony your food will probably be two to three hours old by the time you and your guests eat it. An oven at your reception site would make things easier however you need someone to watch the food. Having all cold food might be easier though you'll still need adequate cooling space. We use over sized coolers with ice since cold storage is often inadequate at a lot of reception sites. You might also consider having the hot food prepared and delivered by one of your favorite restaurants. You'll need to have the chafing dishes set-up and ready with water and heated. Some caterers will provide drop offs. Most caterers don't like to tie up their lucrative Saturdays for smaller jobs.

Answer 3

It's not that bad of an idea, but you definitely will need to assign the responsibility to someone else. (Someone not in the wedding party.) Also if you are renting a hall, it should have a kitchen so that may save you from trying to borrow peoples ovens. You also may want to look into renting some catering equipment like chaffing dishes etc.

Like I said not a bad idea, but you definitely need to work out all the details, and if it seems like to much work then get a caterer and have them do a buffet!

Answer 4

Your intentions are great; however, you're going to stress yourself out so much that you won't have time to enjoy the wedding. My sister got married last year and it was the most stressful thing I have ever been a part of. Fortunately, my parents footed the bill, but even so, the amount of planning and stress that goes into a wedding is absurd.

The most mundane details get magnified and suddenly are of utmost importance to a bride, like the table numbers being in a certain font. (I kid you not.) I realize that you're trying to save money, but this is a special occasion that you should enjoy, as should your guests, who should not have to turn over their ovens and stress with you. Try to find a professional who isn't super expensive and save yourself a migraine instead. Good luck and God bless you on your special day!

Answer 5

All I can say is, the day before my wedding and my actual wedding day, if I'd have had to worry about heating food, setting up serving dishes, or setting the tables, I would've had a nervous breakdown. It may be possible for you to do, but keep in mind how busy you'll be. Cooking for 125 is a LOT of work! Unless you're SUPER organized and have a LOT of help, it might be better to leave it to the professionals.

Answer 6

A friend of mine's mother did something similar for her wedding, and honestly it was too much for her to handle. As well intended as it was (and she did have a lot of help), some food was cold, burnt, or just plain bad because she did much of it herself.

Realistically, you're going to be asking people who would otherwise be getting their hair done or doing their make up, or getting ready for your big day in general to stop and make sure the food gets taken care of. I would take a good look at the budget, the time table (after all, you will really need time to get ready and not slave over hot ovens and stoves) and see if you can't afford to compromise in some areas.

Maybe your reception hall has several ovens?

good luck though

Answer 7

I think price-wise it's great, but in all reality probably won't work. you're going to be stressed and excited on your wedding day, and spending all your time getting your hair done, doing your make-up, taking pictures, etc .... you won't have the time or patience to deal with worrying about your food. I say if you do decide to do this, put a trustworthy friend or two in charge of taking care of it so you don't have to think about it on the big day. Believe me, you do not want to have to be running around worrying about the food or anything on the big day. You want everything to be ready to go, or have someone else worry about it.

Answer 8

my mom made all the food for my wedding. there was only about 40 people, but we had enough food to feed way more then that. she did it completely herself the day before the wedding and then a few things needed to be heated up the day of. it was easy and everyone loved it because there was a veriety of foods to choose from. I say if you can pull it off then go for it. you'll save a huge amount of money if you do.

Answer 9

I do, and I don't know about you but where I live home cooking is better than a 5 star restaurant. Besides, the people who join in the celebration should be there to show support and love, if they wanted to eat exotic, or extravagant they don't need to be there. Its about you and your man, not how everyone else feels about the food. Besides my hubby and me did a few trays of different deli meats, dips, vegetables, sandwich breads, and a lot of different fun deserts. Everyone was happy and full and besides they were just excited for us. Don't worry about it, you and him are happy that's what the weddings all about anyway, right!

Answer 10

I personally think this is a great idea to help save money. However, that being said, I don't think it will be feasible for you to be in charge of the food on your actual wedding day. So I would suggest you ask a good friend or family member who is realible to be in charge of getting the food ready. Good luck!