DIY Food ??

scissotron · January 2012

We are planning on having our wedding and reception at my Fi's family's lake house. It is a big house with 2 full kitchens and we are paying for the entire wedding ourselves (he's the only one that works). I was wondering if anyone had any advice on cheap, easy food that we could make ahead of time and put in the deep freeze and re-heat on the big day, or any other simple, fast DIY food ideas you may have.

tldh · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_diy-food-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:6e6ccf88-156e-4674-ac82-fc91a90a9e56Post:b2084aab-eba6-450f-99f4-7d76cdcee567">DIY Food ??</a>:
[QUOTE]We are planning on having our wedding and reception at my Fi's family's lake house. It is a big house with 2 full kitchens and we are paying for the entire wedding ourselves (he's the only one that works). I was wondering if anyone had any advice on cheap, easy food that we could make ahead of time and put in the deep freeze and re-heat on the big day, or any other simple, fast DIY food ideas you may have.
Posted by scissotron[/QUOTE]

You might want to read through this thread:

<a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_self-catering-outdoor-wedding-near-dc?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special">http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_self-catering-outdoor-wedding-near-dc?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special</a> Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:fc3fd520-dc55-4bc8-b0b7-d28094abb3a9Post:0a304f5e-6078-4b39-8771-c7dbf87aa9c7

teralicious · January 2012

Have you thought of pizza? I went to a wedding where they served pizza from like Pizza Hut or somewhere and made salad. I actually really enjoyed it.

Peavy · January 2012

Pizza is really hard to serve to a group -- it gets cold quickly, and it takes up a lot of space on the buffet table. Pasta is a better alternative because it's easy to heat and serve in the same pan. Before you decide to do all the cooking yourself, you should investigate having a simple meal catered by a local restaurant. You might find out that the cost is close to the same as doing it yourself, but someone else is doing all the work.

NOLAbridealmost · January 2012

Definitely look into having it "informally" catered by restaurants that can deliver food right before the wedding and be kept warm using sterno lights or similar items. Many Italian restaurants do incredibly inexpensive large trays of pasta, proteins, salads, and bread sticks. Delicious! And a lot easier than DIY.

Seriously, start looking around when you go out to eat. Many, many restaurants have catering menus with trays of their items that serve 30ish people.

Sue-n-Kevin · January 2012

You don't mention what style of wedding you will be having, how many people, etc.

If it's casual (as a lake house wedding would hint at), you could do things like glazed spiral sliced ham, large boneless turkey breast and some side dishes, breads & sandwich spreads.

Something I've done a few times is to make large pot roasts in the oven with veggies and "pot roast seasoning packs" mixed with water that covers the roast, when it's finished cut it into sandwich sized pieces, put the water/seasoning/veggie mix into a blender & blend it to make a sauce, then pour that over the pre-sliced meat in a large aluminum serving pan, cover with foil and freeze (no longer than a week or two). You can then warm it in the oven the day of the event and serve with rolls (it's really good!)

You do need to keep in mind that you will need to probably hire people to take care of this for you on that day, to watch over the foods so they are kept at the appropriate temperatures. Ask family and friends to give you the names of responsible older teens, or adults, or check with local culinary schools to see if students would be willing to do this service for you. In spite of the fact it sounds pretty casual, it would not be a good idea to expect family or friends to do the food service on a day they should be celebrating with you.

Another option instead of DIY would be to look into gourmet food stores in the area near you. Many around us also do catering, and we've found that they were more than willing to negotiate within our price range, as their only profits are not from catering, because they are also a store. They can do large amounts of a few items for as little as $10 a person, do the delivery, and offer a person to staff the event. We had a more formal reception, but could have had something much less elaborate for less money.

Good luck.

vaneshwa124 · January 2012

I am doing DIY food also. I don't know if they have a Sam's or another buy in bulk store near you, but they generally have dome great thaw/heat & serve options. We found so many choices we liked that we had to puck just a few. Its a pretty cheap option we found.

mandctaft · January 2012

We're doing DIY food. We're doing baked beans, 3 kinds of meatballs(bought frozen, precooked) and salt potatoes. All three can be put in roaster ovens and let go on their own. We're also doing pasta salad, macaroni salad, and meat trays. VERY limited budget to feed 175 people, so we're going the picnic food route. My grandmother is making a large thing of cream corn and my step mom is making deviled eggs. That's pretty much it besides fruit tray, pepperoni and cheese tray, and a veggie tray.

Missy8688 · January 2012

Maybe barbecue? Make it like a family get together. Hamburgers, sausages, salad, deviled eggs...

Book Lover · January 2012

I'd love to throw some ideas out - can you first tell us if you're doing any food theme in particular? Or there are any special dietary requirements (vegetarian, etc).

artjrf · January 2012

we are making our own food also. We are asking specific family members to make things. Here is a list of some things we have decided on:

Various Ladies to make 4-5 dozen cookies for a cookie table.

Meatballs in various sauces

Green Beans

Salad

Rigatoni/Meatballs

Sausage/Peppers/Onions

Pasta Salad

Potato Salad

and uhh I'm not sure what else.

Renew2 · January 2012

I am doing DIY food. We cannot find a caterer who will accomedate my special reqirements (gluten free/ cross contamination free). A friend and coworker of mine has offered to help me with the food. I will be doing all the cooking and making sure everything is hot, clean up etc. So far what we got is:

Prime Rib roast or leg of lamb roast
Veggie trays (to be ordered from the store)
Pasta salad (made w/ gluten free pasta)
shrimp cocktail
mixed green salad
deli trays (ordered from the store)
fruit tryas (also ordered from the store)
array of cheeses w/ GF crackers
lasagna (also made w/ GF pasta)

Since we are having the reception in our own back yard I can easily put in the roast ahead of time, as well as the lasagna and have it cook through the ceremony. I've had some practice doing this kind of thing so it should turn out fine.

artjrf · January 2012

The people who will be in charge of food are mostly ladies from church and my aunts. They are all completely fine with it. Not only did they offer, but we have done this for EVERY wedding that we have had in our family. We honestly don't have money to pay a professional caterer and I refuse to go into an unnecessary debt when people are constantly volunteering.

Don't forget about the pans that you can put flames under to keep food hot (I believe they are called chafing dishes?). For people who are concerned about guests working the wedding, these do most of the work for you.

JenH404 · February 2012

We are going partially DIY on the food. We've got 2 bonuses though working for us. 1) I work in a grocery store that has offered me a hefty discount on smoked pork from our catering kitchen, and 2) my fiance's brother is a chef. The main dish is always the trickiest, so you might want to leave that to the pros and do the rest yourselves.

So far, we are planning on having the pork loin (hotdogs/burgers for the little guys), a fruit salad that we will make the day before, and some kind of vegetable dish, like roasted potatoes, sweet corn on the cob (it's an Iowa thing), salad, etc. I am also lucky enough to work in the produce dept of my store, so they will probably give me a discount on the fresh produce also.

One thing you might want to consider is asking your Hy-vee store if they offer a discount on cases. I see you are in KC so I know you are familiar with it. We offer a 10% discount on items ordered by the case. You may also be able to march right in there and ask the produce manager "How much of a discount could you offer me on a whole case of....?" They would probably be happy to deal with you. Price Chopper would probably help you out too. We do it all the time, especially in the summer when people are buying cases of peaches and such for canning.

Sam's and Costco do have some decent prepared foods that you can warm up, but you might want to try them out first. Some of their stuff can be kinda icky.

scissotron · February 2012

it will be an extremely casual, outdoor, country wedding.

the food can be kept inside, and there are 2 fully functioning kitchens in the house.

everyone in my family (and his) has offered to cook and would be glad to watch over the food at the drop of a dime.

i am mostly just looking for ideas for easy, home-made foods that we can prepare ahead of time and reheat or cold foods that we can just refrigerate until the day of.

we have pretty much NO budget. i appreciate your input, but i'm not even considering paying someone to come out and do it for us. it's out in the country, and far away from any businesses that do that kind of thing.

we are doing as much diy as possible to save money.

no special dietary requirements.

scissotron · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_diy-food-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:6e6ccf88-156e-4674-ac82-fc91a90a9e56Post:893256aa-4ea3-46f6-ad4a-95dcf64910cf">Re: DIY Food ??</a>:
[QUOTE]True, guests shouldn't have to work, but if it's your family and they volunteer, like all my aunts do, it's perfectly fine for them to contribute. It's a celebration of two families coming together, not a celebration of how much can I fork out to have someone wait on all of us. Family contribution is how a lot of people do weddings. Whenever a cousin was going to get married, we all just knew that we were on clean up duty and or serving the food and refreshments.
Posted by JacklovesSarah[/QUOTE]
<div> AMEN!</div>

RNMOMTO3 · February 2012

In my family, we all make our specialty and bring it. My family and I are catering all the food bc, well, we can COOK! I could have paid a caterer but we through pretty large parties all the time and the food is awesome! Plus, it is cheaper. If you ask several family members to make a certain special dish, you will love the food and it will save you money. Why not have just a punch and cake reception with money so tight? Your family and friends will certainly understand!

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