Cater your own wedding

View quoted message Cant do potluck, the venue is 2 hours away from everyone, and my family would be flying 23+ hours to get here and staying in a hotel.. not really ideal for them.
Even tho I dont mind bbqs, we have a lot of ppl who would not be able to eat due to dietary restrictions.
We are wanting to do high tea/charcuterie style (abundant tho) so its also a bit of an entretainment

Creating a menu yourself is just like home planning meals for the week. This takes the time to know what your wanting to do and what you would want to serve. Putting a menu together means meat, veggies, sides and bread required and how many people. Barbeque theme can include choices of 2 meats along with condiments that will be needed. Sides such as salads and veggie platters can be made the day before so it will be fresh and ready to go plated. Buns for burgers/hot dogs/mini slides. Pot luck is another great way to cut down cooking time and asking family to bring something to the reception so you can enjoy yourselves providing the meats and beverages/glasses.

Yeah this is a great idea. get the fav foods you like from all your fav places!!

View quoted message We're going to do a barbecue, and soon I'll be going to a local butcher shop to get a quote and put down a deposit if needed. I'm not sure if my plan is going to work, but I'm going to make a list of what food items we need help preparing, and get people to sign up for each one. I will pick up all the ingredients and things needed from Costco, and have them at the hall the night before, then whoever is prepping it can do it the day before or day of.

View quoted message How did they and you will go abouts it?
Prep, shopping?

View quoted message No packing needed
And it wouldnt be a family member or friend but the servers. We would save about 1500 if we do it this way, hiring them for prepping too

View quoted message We would save about 1500 if we hire servers to do food we like, instead of getting a very cheap catering.

We have decided to hire the local meat shop to cater the meat. which they cook it and get it ready for pick up. Then the family members who offered to help out with the rest of the meal, I will be assigning a dish to each of them, they just have to make enough to feed 100 people ( said family members are use to cooking for large crowds) . and hubby and I will buy all the extras like buns, beans, toppings, dressings, sauces, ext. and we will be providing some simple desserts, and for app we are just going to have fruit, veggie trays, crackers meats and dips then popcorn station for the kids .

We're making the food ourselves for our wedding, but I would have considered catering instead if there wasn't enough family members offering to help. My FH's brother did the same thing for his wedding, so I know his side will probably help with the food. My family prefers it, as we've had family reunions where catering was hired and they did a bad job, so everyone has trust issues against hiring caterers now.

I would be worried about the added stress in the days before the wedding. To me the idea of needing to arrange people to chop and prep food or to do that myself would be too much at the last minute. I would rather pay someone for the convenience.


If a family member is preparing the food I would consider if they have fed a large group before, and if they have and they don't require you to check in or chase them then it could work out. My inner control freak would want to set very clear deadlines of having things done, packed, etc by x date so you can sit back and relax.

We found hiring out staff was more expensive than just hiring a catering company to do everything for us. At least in Ontario. Does your venue not have in house catering?


I know some of the ladies have done food trucks that they have had lots of success with!

I think for me personally making all the food for my own wedding would be stressful for me and those helping me.