DIY reception meal

abysmom25

I'm considering doing my own catering. Well, my mom is trying to talk me into not hiring a caterer and just having my family cook the food instead and serve it buffet-style and my guests will serve themselves. She's wanting to do things like cocktail wienies, meatballs, chicken salad, and maybe a big pot of gumbo or jambalaya or something. I'm having about 75 guests and am freaking out that there won't be enough food. She told me today, "when was the last time you went home from a wedding full?" Well, I don't want to send my guests home hungry! So, if I do decide to do this my mom's way (she's paying for the wedding, so I may not have a choice), what can I serve that will be cheap, good, filling, and still look elegant and sophisticated and not like I just threw some stuff in the microwave and served it?

jessicabessica

I think if I was doing our catering, I would make a bunch of different kinds of lasagnas--a traditional one, one with roasted veggies, one with bechamel, etc.--a big green salad, and garlic bread.  The lasagnas could be prepared in advance and could be made in large enough pans that you weren't having to bring out a new one quite as often.  Plus appetizers, including a big raw vegetable tray with dips, cheese and crackers, and hot items.  

You might want to look into the liability that you and your mom could incur by self-catering, though.  What if people got food poisoning?  You should be able to get insurance to cover yourselves, but that will make the cost of self-catering higher.  

Also, have you looked into the prices of caterers in your area?  We are having a bbq catered for our RD, and the caterer is charging $11.50/person or less and is providing hot dogs/hamburgers/veggie burgers, bean salad, potato salad, corn, peas, cornbread, 2 desserts, and iced tea/lemonade.  I was surprised by how reasonable she is (and we've tasted her food, it's great), so you might want to see what's out there in your area.  

Ashes_3

As pp said - pasta is the cheapest route to go!! We are serving chicken parmigina at our rehersal dinner!

GoodLuckBear14

No.  Just NO:

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_potluck-reception-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:1671b5c3-d991-487a-b4c7-ee26d47fc875Post:2e3684fd-3bcd-4e5c-9854-54a773aebdb3

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_food-6

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_budget-weddings_pigs-potlucks

GoodLuckBear14

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_diy-reception-meal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:0622bb44-7256-4fe5-b971-22299dfa5279Post:1c25775d-1008-4053-b967-23902dbaa71d">DIY reception meal</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm considering doing my own catering. Well, my mom is trying to talk me into not hiring a caterer and just having my family cook the food instead and serve it buffet-style and my guests will serve themselves. She's wanting to do things like cocktail wienies, meatballs, chicken salad, and maybe a big pot of gumbo or jambalaya or something. I'm having about 75 guests and am freaking out that there won't be enough food. She told me today, "when was the last time you went home from a wedding full?" Well, I don't want to send my guests home hungry! So, if I do decide to do this my mom's way (she's paying for the wedding, so I may not have a choice), what can I serve that will be cheap, good, filling, and still look elegant and sophisticated and not like I just threw some stuff in the microwave and served it?
Posted by abysmom25[/QUOTE]

JIC

LauraT25

I've never left a wedding hungry.  I am always surprised when people write stuff like that on this board, because every wedding I've been to I have eaten WAY too much food, including my own.  I definitely wouldn't use your mom's logic as an excuse not to feed your guests enough, even if it's true in your area - if you decide to go this route, make sure there is plenty of food for the type of event you're hosting.

Aside from all that, I agree with PP's concerns.  Catering a meal for 75 people is a lot of work, and you will be responsible for lots of little details like serving, cleaning up, and maintaining the proper temperature for food.  If guests get ill, you are liable.  Your venue may not even allow it.  Keep in mind that it's also impolite to enlist your friends and family to help out with this adventure, so unless you get some volunteers you're going to have to hire some people.  I'd recommend at least hiring servers anyway, just because it's really no fun to have a 'job' when you're a guest.

If you do it, though, I agree that a pasta bar with a variety of sauces, julienned veggies, and proteins (meatballs, grilled chicken, maybe shrimp) is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to provide a nice variety of entrees for your guests.  You could throw in a salad and add some sides like garlic bread and steamed brocolli to round it out.

doeie04

There needs to be enough food for all of your guests.
 
If you need an idea on how to figure it out. (or look up a calculator somewhere.) Take your usual group of family or whatever, figure out how much they would eat, and multiply it. That is the easiest way to figure it out. Over estimate so you have enough.

abysmom25

I don't know if everyone is just pointing out or what, but I'm not the one that said I'm bringing my family in and making them cook. My mom mentioned it and said that they are volunteering. And I'm probably having my reception at what used to be a church gym, now it's kind of a rec hall type thing where people go to have things like receptions or banquets. So I shouldn't have any problems bringing in my own food, and I'll check on a waiver thing so I won't get sued if someone gets sick. Thanks, everybody!

jessicabessica

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_diy-reception-meal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:0622bb44-7256-4fe5-b971-22299dfa5279Post:212839c5-5ad9-4294-baee-7b63a75dc4d6">Re: DIY reception meal</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't know if everyone is just pointing out or what, but I'm not the one that said I'm bringing my family in and making them cook. My mom mentioned it and said that they are volunteering. And I'm probably having my reception at what used to be a church gym, now it's kind of a rec hall type thing where people go to have things like receptions or banquets. So I shouldn't have any problems bringing in my own food, and I'll check on a waiver thing so I won't get sued if someone gets sick. Thanks, everybody!
Posted by abysmom25[/QUOTE]

<div>Wait...a waiver that they will sign before the wedding?  Or are you going to look into insurance?  </div>

FutureJilliannD

Sorry, but I LOL'd at the idea of someone being like welcome to the wedding, now please sign this waiver before we feed you.

i have the feeling the stress will not be worth it. Do you have anyone in the family with catering experience? Will you have to rent something to keep the food hot? What about plates, etc?

abysmom25

No, I meant insurance. I don't have any family with catering experience, and I will have to rent extra tables, chafing dishes, stuff like that. That's why I'd rather hire someone , but my mom is set on doing it ourselves. I don't know what to do!

jessicabessica

Have you looked into caterers in your area?  You might want to post on your local board to see if anyone can suggest an inexpensive caterer in your area.  If you break down the costs for your mom--food, renting equipment/dishes/seating/tables/etc., insurance, servers (you might at least want a few servers to help you out)--and present her with some catering options, maybe she will be persuaded.  Besides, are you paying?  If so, can't you just tell your mom, "thanks, but no thanks"?

LauraT25

In your OP, you didn't say that people volunteered, you said that your mom wanted to have your family cook.  That's why we mentioned that it must be on a volunteer basis - you left that information out.

I agree with PP, price out what the cost of rentals will be, and then see what catering would cost.  You might be surprised how much the rentals add up, and there are some really inexpensive options for catering out there.  Your local board is definitely a great resource for this. 

FayeValentine69

I think people are just pointing out all the potential issues, not assuming that those will be the way it goes.  A lot of times, brides (or mothers or whoever) see an initial money saver idea and jump on it, and so bringing up all this stuff may not be relevant to you, or it may just be something you (or your mom in this case) haven't thought of yet that WILL effect you.

Definitely price rentals to see how much you will really save.  And regardless of if they are volunteering, I would decline having a bunch of family working for my wedding.  But that's just me.

jsquared62009

My brother (NOT a cook) prepared all the food for my graduation party (about 50 people) and it turned out fabulous! He got a pasta bake recipe off the internet (I think it was Jamie Oliver's site). Anyways...it was super cheap, delicious, and since it was just pasta and cheese there was basically little to no risk of people getting ill from it. Pasta is definitely your best bet for keeping it cheap, and doing a lasagna or baked pasta recipe still makes it a bit fancy! hope that helps

rosesarefree

It's possible, we've done it in our family, but it is a ton of work. I agree with others that suggest if you do this you will want to hire someone to help keep food refreshed and make sure that is stays at a safe temperature. You would also want someone clearing tables so there are not dirty plates everywhere. I would still look into catering- I haven't looked into grocery store catering but I've heard you can find good deals there. We are considering a pig roast- the caterer will roast it mostly off-site and finish it at the venue. With the pig, chicken, and 3-4 sides plus bread we would still come in at about $10-11 per person. This is in West Michigan which is a relatively cheap place to hold a wedding. We found another caterer who could do a buffet or heavy apps for $10-12 per person. Both would provide dishes and staffing.

We figured by the time we rented/bought dishes, hired some staff and consider all the time we would have to put in we wouldn't be saving much at all. So I guess a lot of this depends on what you can find for catering in your area, and the facilities available at your venue. When you are making a comparison do keep in mind that catering companies usually add a gratuity of around 18% on average.  Another downside is that some caterers require you to buy your cake from them if you have one. I'm all for DIY if it's going to save a substantial amount of money, but since we can get such a good deal on catering in our area it's not worth it to us, but you may find in your area that it turns out to be worth the savings.