Is anyone else catering their own wedding?

mandctaft · December 2011

We are thinking about it and have no idea what we are doing!

We're having about 200 guests and we're on a tight budget. I wish we could cut the list, but we both have huge, close families.

So far, we've thought about getting (buying or renting) a bunch of roasters for:
Salt potatoes
Mac & Cheese
Swedish Meatballs
Spaghetti type meatballs

Also:
Mac Salad
Pasta Salad

We're having a July 21 wedding, so some summer foods will be okay, but I can't stand the thought of hambugers and hotdogs for our main food. What else can we do that isn't going to take much "day of" effort.

Does anyone know how much food we'll need for that many people and a buffet style reception? Any help is appreciated.

lyndausvi · December 2011

It's funny, DH is an exec chef. Just the other day him and some of his sous chefs were at the house talking about weddings. The banquet chef said his wife wanted to self-cater because he is a chef and knows what to do. He said "HELL NO, I want to enjoy my wedding not worry if the food is heated up correctly or whatever. NEVER"

The other chefs were all saying the same thing. There were like "f' that". " I would never do that", etc.

Now these guys do this for a living and still didn't want to do it because they understand the task at hand and knew they would not enjoy themselves.

Can it work? Yes. Is it something we would have considered. No

mandctaft · December 2011

I do know proper food handling. I used to work in a few restaurants and have it pretty much engrained in my head. And I've worked with the Boy Scouts to good for their chicken BBQ and for the motorcycle run they cook for every year. It's not really the magnitude of it, and the reception hall has plenty of room for us to store things in their fridges.

I guess I'm just trying to figure if it willl cost less than getting it cheaply catered. But FI really wants to do it ourselves. So I guess we'll se how things go.

tldh · December 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_anyone-else-catering-their-own-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:1aebd0db-7519-44cf-8bbe-45eba993bba7Post:39a0a4ae-30ce-4264-baa8-2fd8712dc6b1">Re: Is anyone else catering their own wedding?</a>:
[QUOTE]I do know proper food handling. I used to work in a few restaurants and have it pretty much engrained in my head. And I've worked with the Boy Scouts to good for their chicken BBQ and for the motorcycle run they cook for every year. It's not really the magnitude of it, and the reception hall has plenty of room for us to store things in their fridges. I guess I'm just trying to figure if it willl cost less than getting it cheaply catered. <strong>But FI really wants to do it ourselves.</strong> So I guess we'll se how things go.
Posted by mandctaft[/QUOTE]

Why?

And when you say "do it ourselves", what exactly do you mean? Do you mean that the two of you are going to be doing every bit of cooking, setting up, making sure that everything that needs to be hot is hot and what is cold is cold. Do you mean that you will be refilling the food as it is running out. Do you mean that you will be doing all of the cleanup afterwards? Sounds like the dream way to spend your wedding reception.

Do not for a single second consider asking any of your guests to do any of this nor should you take them up on any offers to do so. A guest is never an unpaid employee for your wedding. Also, unless you were one of the cooks in the restaurants, you aren't qualified to make judgments about food safety.

One last thing to consider is what will happen if someone gets food poisoning at your self catered reception - there is a reason caterers are so well insured. People will sue over this, especially if there is a hospital bill involved. One of the knotties has a mom who got food poisoning at a self catered wedding, passed out in her bathroom after throwing up, hit her head on the sink and was in the hospital for a couple of days. This may be the extreme, but obviously it can happen and don't assume that nobody you know would sue you over this; they absolutely will.

Sue-n-Kevin · December 2011

I think everyone has pretty much summed up why you shouldn't do this.

Have you signed a contract at this venue? The reason I ask is because I was at a bridal shower this May at a VFW hall and was hit in the head by the 9' tall brass flagpole when a child ran into it. The large eagle at the top of the flagpole hit me in the head. The medical bills were $2300. Shortly afterward I communicated with the parties that rented the hall. Their contract states ANY INJURY is covered by the renting party. So now, my credit is going down the tubes as I fight to get this bill paid........the family members who rented the hall don't have the money. The parents of the child don't have the money. This wasn't food related, but you get the drift. The hall has insurance, but is refusing to submit it to their carrier. I am pursuing that option directly because that is WHY companies get insurance.

You don't say what time your reception is. Is it at a meal time? If so, take the following into account:

- our reception was at dinner time for 83 people. There were FOUR people from the caterer setting up, replenishing, and removing food, plates and utensils from tables when everyone was done eating. This was in addition to the catering manager and chef.

- A large chafing dish holds enough food for about 25 servings. You'd need 4 chafing dishes to hold enough food for EACH of the foods you mentioned, for half the people there. And then you'd be re-filling them AGAIN so each of the 200 get food.

- You will need roughly 1/8-1/4 lb of each item you mentioned per person. For main meats, which you don't mention as you want advice for it, you will need 1/2 lb per person at least, so roughly 50 lbs of your meat choice.

Regardless of the number of refrigerators there, you will need ovens. Lots of them for heating the food. You can't deliver hot foods to the venue and heat them with sterno cans. Each of the chafing dishes has to be heated and kept warm so when the food is replenished, you are giving your guests hot food.

Not sure what your budget is, but if you can find a caterer that will give you one meat, 2-3 sides and a pasta dish, you can hopefully find someone to do that for about $15-$20 per person. Your best bet would be on your local board.

Your other option would be to have your reception at a non-meal time, or cut your guest list, in spite of the fact you have large families.

The option we chose was a local gourmet food store that does catering. There are actually 4-5 in our area that do this. They are more willing to negotiate with you because their only profit margin is not from catering, they also are a market and sell great gourmet foods to the public. But we still had to have servers (at $25 per hr per person).

I agree with the prior posters this is something you really don't want to undertake, nor do you want to have your family or friends doing all the cooking and leg work on your wedding day.

Good luck.

NOLAbridealmost · December 2011

It's really a huge task. I'd strongly take to heart the practical considerations raised by everyone else (ESPECIALLY the parts about food safety and it being rude to ask for help from guests).

But more importantly, I think that once you've accounted for the ingredients, supplies like chaffing dishes, sterno lights, plates, glasses, and utensils (whether disposable or rented china/silver), the little things like napkins, salt and pepper, and the man hours involved, it's GOT to be cheaper to get it cheaply catered. Around here you can get BBQ meats (pulled pork, ribs, etc.) and 2 sides (mac n' cheese, cole slaw, etc) for about 8.00 per person. You could also do sandwich/cheese/fruit/veggie platters from Sams/Costco, or do a cake and punch only reception at non-meal time.

All good ideas. All probably cheaper than trying to do what you're suggesting. And bonus: less work for you!

KatieK501 · December 2011

You're going to get a lot of negative feedback on this idea from a lot of people, but there are brides who do it and enjoy their wedding (who would think that's possible?!). I'd enlist a lot of help and consider hiring a wait staff, even if you do it buffet style, to set up as your ceremony finishes and keep everything refiilled.

There's a previous post on this (and a couple of brides at the end who are going for it; try to chat with them!): http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_catering-own-wedding

I don't know how good this site is, but I found this when I was considering doing the same: http://lotsofinfo.tripod.com/weddinghelp.html

Best of luck! I'd love to hear how it goes!!

PSUgus · December 2011

My mother catered my brother's at home reception for around 75 people. She had contracted with a catering company but balked at their $15/person price as she assumed she could do it cheaper.

Well after renting tables, linens, plates, silverware, going to Costco to buy the platters, spending the week before the reception baking and cooking, paying people from church to serve and replenish the buffet and man the grill, she determined it was more expensive and way more time consuming to cater it herself. If she could do it over again, she would go with a caterer.

So my family's experience is that you don't want to do this.

KatieK501 · December 2011

Where in the world do you find a caterer who will work with $15/person??? All the caterers I've talked to politely (well, some not so politely) tell me $30+!

$4000 for appetizers only? No thanks!

Sorry, off topic rant....

Is anyone else catering their own wedding?

Re: Is anyone else catering their own wedding?

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