XP: DIY Food

jyoung888

My wedding is in July. It is very much a budget wedding, and my Mother and the FIL's are preparing our DIY meal. The ceremony starts at 4pm with the reception following pictures. The guest list is at 190 give or take (that is just those invited, no RSVPs yet). Our menu is as follows:

10 – 10lb Turkeys to be Deep Fried
10 – Hams to be Baked with Pineapple Glaze(Guests get a serving of either Turkey or Ham depending on how many people show up… if less show possible 1 serving of each)
Green Beans
Roasted Redskin Potatoes
Salad with Dressing
Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter

Everything will be pre-cooked, and warming in Roasting Pans before/during the wedding, so that it is at the proper temp for dinner. The wedding is aproximately 20 minutes from the Reception Venue. My mom plans to be in the pictures that she needs to be in, then take her and her serving gals to the reception venue. Mom and whomever she corrals to be her assistants will serve the food.

There is no coctail hour. Some pics will be taken prior to the ceremony to save time.

I know that the normal response is that the Mother shouldn't help with this, because she should be enjoying herself. She is enlisting the help of her sisters (which also might be frowned upon, but in my eyes them assisting would be a gift to us). We have a very CLOSE family, and my simple DIY wedding is rather big for us, so no one will be offended.

My main concern is the amounts of meats. Do you know of any good serving calculator websites? Does everything sound appetizing? Tips?

SD3194

I really enjoy DIY food receptions but 190 people is ALOT. Even cooking something simple like red potatoes is going to be a huge pain for that many people. Unless you have massive ovens and all the time in the world then I'm a little skeptical.

I run a catering company and I can tell you that deep fried turkeys are a logistical nightmare. We took them off the catering menu for this reason alone.

To answer your question though...if you have 10 - 10lb turkeys and 190 guests...that is is a total of 100 lbs of turkey (including the carcass and bones) which equals around 1/2 pound per person. I think 1/2 pound per person is plenty but you could always buy a couple extra turkeys just to be safe.

I don't know how much your ham weighs or if it's bone in but you would need to get 19 servings out of each ham. That might be pushing it.

I know you said that guests will either have a choice of turkey or ham but I think you should offer both to them.

I think you are underestimating how much food it actually takes to feed 190 people. I know you said you were going to keep the food warm but how? I do this for a living so I just want you to know what you're getting into. Feel free to PM me. GL

jyoung888

I msg'd u

trawas01

I agree with above that just warming the food could be a logistical nightmare with that much food. Potatoes pre cooked and then cooled ( a must if its more then 3 hours as they breed bacteria otherwise) are not easy to heat and take TIME. With 190 people your talking a huge amount.

Another cost thing to think about with your deep fried turkeys is the cost of cooking oil. We always do them in peanut oil which can run upwards of 30-40$ for the oil for one bird. Using the oil twice is an option but much more then that and it gets gunky.

Also, while you said you'll offer one entree per person, are you setting this up as a buffet? If you are its going to be hard to control who takes what so you might want to plan on enough for both.

kmmssg

OK, I know you said your mom wants to do this and I'm not knocking you here.  My question from a (MOB) is has your mother ever had a daughter get married before?  She is going to miss things she doesn't even realize by cooking and serving.  I have 3 married DD's and their wedding days are a treasure to me.  I would have miss so many one time special moments between us by heading up the food and serving.

At the very very least, would you consider hiring the servers?  I know you say your family is close, but after 3 go rounds of watching my DDs get married, and also DIYing the food at my own wedding 15 years ago, I'd really encourage you to rethink your mom being involved.

jyoung888

I have tried to change her mind, but servers are not in our budget. My MOH's boyfriend is helping serve. I really don't know what else to do.

tarafina32

Use sides that can be made well in advance- cold potatoe salads are amazing with turkeys and hams, cold pasta salads are great too.  Salad can be cut and washed 1-2 days in advanced and make your life easy go with a cesar salad - all you need is romaine lettuce, cesar dressing and croutons! no chopping and buying tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.  Most people love it too!

Lastly, for serving help, you may be able to call a local culinary school if one is near you and see if they can get some hands on deck for service hours or something.  Also, I bet if you put an ad out for volunteers in the local paper, people would come!

Good luck and enjoy the day Family Style!!