Menu help -- DIY BBQ

PrettyInPearls23

Quick background since I'm fairly new...FI and I are having a laid-back casual BBQ 'reception' the day after our wedding. Due to it being a 2nd marriage for both, we're having a small, family-only ceremony the prior day.

We're paying for everything ourselves, so keeping costs down is key. We know we want to have BBQ themed food and will likely hire someone to roast a pig, prepare it, dish it up, etc. The thing I'm struggling with are sides. In theory, it would be nice to "assign" a side dish to family/friends who have already offered to help, but on the other hand, cooking a dish for 130+ people isn't a small feat. We'd be willing to pay for the cost of ingredients, but I can't help but wonder if it's cheaper to buy the side dishes from a caterer.

Anyway..I need help with my menu choices. This may aid in my decision to DIY the sides or order them through a caterer. Here's what I have so far. Do I have too many options? Do I need more hot dishes?

Mac & Cheese

Baked Beans

Cole slaw

Macaroni Salad

Pasta salad

Broccoli & bacon salad

Fruit salad

Kettle chips

For dessert we're doing cupcakes and maybe some other things like strawberry shortcake skewers w/ whipped cream toppings or a mini-fruit pizza station.

If anyone has ever ordered sides in bulk, is there a way of knowing how much I'll need to order per person? This could aid me in pricing things out and figuring out if it'll work into my food budget.

wcasar

I've never had Broccoli & bacon salad but it sounds delicious! The only thing you may want to add, but its more of a dessert is cornbread. Maybe you could do cornbread cups in your cupcake pan. Those are always good to wipe up your plate of BBQ sauce. I'm officially drooling and it's only 8:45am.

PrettyInPearls23

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2012-weddings_menu-help-diy-bbq?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:a464c18c-2e4d-469b-8eae-3865079cb9cfDiscussion:33c58719-7748-4d79-9d6e-bdb9a942e66aPost:5028e8d6-6352-454e-9197-b11834ba5af2">Re: Menu help -- DIY BBQ</a>:
[QUOTE]I've never had Broccoli & bacon salad but it sounds delicious! The only thing you may want to add, but its more of a dessert is cornbread. Maybe you could do cornbread cups in your cupcake pan. Those are always good to wipe up your plate of BBQ sauce. I'm officially drooling and it's only 8:45am.
Posted by wcasar[/QUOTE]

Oooh cornbread is a great suggestion, thank you!

adktd2boots

Wcasar- no brocolli salad?!  Oooh you're missin' out! 

lbarr088

Brocolli salad is the bomb.  I love it.  Also, ditto the cornbread.  I don't think you need more hot dishes.  Most BBQs have more salad type foods and you have plenty of those... I think what you have for hot dishes is great.  

QueerFemme

I think it would be easier to just buy the sides pre-made. Maybe not "cheaper", but probably about the same price. 

You should look into costco and places like that for those. They have the catering size containers of premade pasta & potato salad.  I don't thnk they have the brocoli salad, so, you might have to make that, but they have a lot of other options there.   If you have a restaurant supply place near you, look into those also.  They often sell bulk prepared foods. You can just add a little spice to them to flavor them a little more. 

smartlypretty

I think it sounds great! If you can afford it, I'd *highly* recommend getting the caterer to do the sides. You could always cut out a side or two if you need to. Making that much food for that many people would be a ton of work. Especially since you would be busy getting married the day before, so I'm not sure when you would put everything together. Then you gotta think about fridge space and about keeping everything within safe temperatures since you said you would be outside. The most amount of people that I would be comfortable DIYing my own food would be about 50, and I would definitely need my Mom and sister to help the entire day beforehand. 

PrettyInPearls23

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_september-2012-weddings_menu-help-diy-bbq?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:a464c18c-2e4d-469b-8eae-3865079cb9cfDiscussion:33c58719-7748-4d79-9d6e-bdb9a942e66aPost:8e51f937-f23a-44ec-b272-f041772a2600">Re: Menu help -- DIY BBQ</a>:
[QUOTE]I think it sounds great! If you can afford it, I'd *highly* recommend getting the caterer to do the sides. You could always cut out a side or two if you need to. Making that much food for that many people would be a ton of work. Especially since you would be busy getting married the day before, so I'm not sure when you would put everything together. Then you gotta think about fridge space and about keeping everything within safe temperatures since you said you would be outside. The most amount of people that I would be comfortable DIYing my own food would be about 50, and I would definitely need my Mom and sister to help the entire day beforehand. 
Posted by smartlypretty[/QUOTE]

That's what I'm really leaning towards....purchasing the sides from a caterer or something like that. I'm having lunch with FMIL next week, and she does event planning for the company she works for and I'm hoping she'll have some connections she can hook us up with :)

I have a lot of OOT/OOS family that's coming in for the wedding and party, and I want them to be able to enjoy themselves. We already have to put people to work to help setting up tables/chairs/linens/decor, etc. so I don't want to burden them with the task of making food as well.

entropicbeauty

Thanks for the list! I'm also doing BBQ type foods and I wasn't sure what I needed to fill in the gaps. 

DreamCLG7

we are having a similar type reception to yours. We actually found a great guy to come and do our BBQ for us - he's doing a pig, chicken and three sides  - coleslaw,  salt potatos, and a pasta salad. He's also doing corn bread and fresh rolls. I'll probably provide some chips and fruit salad

Dessert is going to be cupcakes and donut holes.

Are you doing apps?

if you can, i would only do 3 or 4 sides. Make it easy on yourself.