Food

shanding4787

My fiancee and I are paying for our wedding ourselves and are trying to make it as cheap as possible. Trying to find a caterer in our price range is a little tricky. My mom and my aunts (7 all together) offered to handle the cooking the food for our reception. I think it's a very sweet idea and would definitely be cheaper than a caterer, however we're having 300 people (we both have HUGE families) and I think that's way too much for them to take on, especially the day of the wedding. I want them to be able to enjoy the ceremony. Any advice?

LeiselEB

Can you see if some culinary school students would be able to do it for a lower rate than other caterers?

I agree that your mom and aunts shouldn't cook for that many people. I'd keep looking for caterers.

librababy

I answered you on the other board and I say you should go for it and take them up on their offer. It's a very generous offer and if they can really cook delicious food that everyone will enjoy, why not. 

7 people can handle catering for 300 people. FI's aunt 'catered' her nephew's wedding for 200 all by herself and the food was delicious (she is famous for her cooking in the family). She also cooked the food for my dd's birtdhay last year for over 50 people and another party the year before that for 100. She is the go to person in the family when you need good food

monkeysip

I would say do it, but ONLY if you made the food something easier for them to prepare.

For example, if you did an italian feast, you could have large pans of lasagna and pasta, lots of bread and salad.  This is a relatively easy way to feed a large crowd.  I saw on another thread recently someone suggest making some meals in advance and freezing them (like making a lasagna, freezing it, then baking it on the day of.)  I think that's an excellent idea for this kind of situation.

I don't think its a good idea to have your mom/aunts making something like individual roasted chicken breasts or steaks for 300 people for your wedding.  It's really difficult to coordinate temperatures and timing for those kinds of meals, and it would just cause a serious strain on them.

Rose March

My Dad used to do some from home catering when I was a kid so I've seen what can be done I think 7 people cooking for 300 is doable cooking wise as long as your not looking at anything too elaborate and formal. I would be more concerned about the serving aspect. I'm assuming a buffet, But I'm thinking reheating and stuff like that. Does your venue have facilities that can accommodate any day-of prep that needs to be don. If not Maybe you could hire a caterer for the hot foods and have family help with salads, desserts, etc. If they do I think maybe hiring a person or two for the reception to help with the task of reheating and serving so your family can enjoy the wedding. As far as trays of food that can be made in advance and reheated the day of and served buffet style I think 7 people could do it. 

PS I'd recommend getting some wedding insurance just incase and also some venues require licensed contractors for events check that out too. 

devilishangel61401

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_food-7?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:165ff508-ff45-44a2-b9e8-f4e2066bd5d5Post:ccafa0c6-4dbf-4312-ad19-1ede800799f4">Re: Food</a>:
[QUOTE]I would say do it, but ONLY if you made the food something easier for them to prepare. For example, if you did an italian feast, you could have large pans of lasagna and pasta, lots of bread and salad.  This is a relatively easy way to feed a large crowd.  I saw on another thread recently someone suggest making some meals in advance and freezing them (like making a lasagna, freezing it, then baking it on the day of.)  I think that's an excellent idea for this kind of situation. I don't think its a good idea to have your mom/aunts making something like individual roasted chicken breasts or steaks for 300 people for your wedding.  It's really difficult to coordinate temperatures and timing for those kinds of meals, and it would just cause a serious strain on them.
Posted by monkeysip[/QUOTE]

Have you looked into the possiblity of any of your local grocery stores offering catering services?  Hyvee does this and I belive County Market does as well.

We plan to have plated meals from Hyvee we're doing a small wedding 50 ppl or less and for a full ham dinner with all the trimmings it will only be about 350.00 and 15 dollars for a delivery fee.  I like the idea pp's mentiond about using cullinary students, they will not only be inexpensive but it gives them a chance to pad their resume tell them they can use you for a refernce. <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" />

sparent2010

I agree that you should keep looking. Unless your family has catering experience I don't think this is a good idea. I see 2 big problems:

1. Your family will not be able to enjoy the day

2. How are they going to ensure the hot food stays hot and cold food stays cold? You need to make sure food stays in a certain range to prevent food poisoning. The last thing you want is for you or your guests to get ill from the food.

Look at culinary schools, talk to grocery store owners or even restaurants.

ingramnusz

Are you dead-set on a sit-down meal?  Could you maybe bring down your price point with "heavy appetizers" or something?  We're doing cheese, veggie, and dip trays and two food stations (sliders and a mashed potato bar), which has really brought down the catering costs, and fits our style a lot better than a buffet or a plated meal. 

Also, have you committed to a venue?  Some are very strict about caterers for liability reasons and/or contractual obligations.  Just be aware of that--they may not allow the family to prepare food. 

[Deleted User]

Even though I have people in my family that could do some of the wedding stuff to lower cost (photographer, dj, etc), I don't want to because I want them to enjoy the day. We are cutting down caterer costs by having bbq for less than $10 pp. 

You can easily cut down costs by cutting down the guest list. I just read that you plan on having 300 so maybe 200 instead. To keep my wedding small, we picking and choosing the aunts/uncles and cousins that we want to spend the day with.