DIY meal

Shaundra3

Has anyone is or is anyone planning on doing the meal.  We are having around 80 people and are thinking of doing finger food rather than a sit down dinner without a caterer but have a person(not family) look after the layout and clean up.  We are probably going to get married after 6pm. How much would you make and when?

SD3194

If finger foods are replacing dinner then you should have 10+ options and probably serve 20-30 pieces per person.

80 people x 30 pieces = 2400 pieces total
2400 pieces/10 options = 240 pieces of each option.

2400 pieces of finger food is a lot to DIY. I ran a catering company for a few years and fingerfood receptions were usually the most labor intensive and the most expensive. Fingerfoods also take up a lot of counter, fridge and oven space. Just some food for thought.

Also, consider having some stuff catered and then DIY some of the easier and less time consuming things. Just make sure your caterer is okay with it. We are having our dinner catered but I will be making all the platters and stuff for the cocktail hour. It ended up saving us about $400 in catering costs.

If you started your reception after dinner time (8 or 9 pm) or before dinner time you could get away with serving light finger foods or just cake and punch.

shellyamf

We are doing our own meal but we also have a lot less people.  there will only be 30 people wedding party included.  We are doing steak, baked potatoes, salad, and probably veggie trays to munch on beforehand.  Followed by cake! 

Not to say you can't do it for 80 people, but I'd look into something other than finger foods.  I'm not sure what your wedding will be like ie) formal, informal, indoors, outdoors, ect.  You could always do burgers and side dishes if it's more informal or outdoors.  If you are going more formal and indoors, maybe grilled chicken with sides.  When I say sides I'm thinking potato salad, pasta salad, dishes that usually get made for a large crowd and keep really well for a few days since I would want to make them in advance. The problem would be having frig space for all of that.  Unless you have a bevy of helpful ladies who are willing to stand in a kitchen all morning the day of your wedding putting together finger foods.    And if you do, can I borrow them.