Potluck?

That's amazing! Thank you so much!!

Hey Jenn Thanks so much! That's such a great advice to put in here! You should click reply on Cheryl's comment to make sure she gets a notification about your reply. How are you organizing your potluck? Are people choosing what food they want to bring? Who's bringing the cake?

Awww I'm glad Cheryl. You have to ask the shelter about rules if your not knowen they may not allow it but we had packages of cheese not opened and pickles etc which we all donated. My aunt is well known at the shelter so that is why they accepted it. A lot of people think that potluck is tacky but i prefer people to bring food than gifts. And the food tastes wayyyyy better.

Agree! I think pot luck might get tricky and pose some concerns for a large group. Smaller family weddings might be different.

I also think Amy made a good point- if you do decide to do this, a coordinator (with a food handlers licence?) would be a good idea to help. You don't want to have that stress on your wedding day!

I do hope you'll keep all the rest of our earlier comments in mind. Yes it is possible to do, but there are many possible complications that go along with it.

Though it would depend on how many guests you have. If it's small (I'd say less than 25), I think a potluck could work if you have your heart set on it.

That is an extremely helpful comment! You have officially resparked our want to do one, and that is such a great way to use leftovers!!

Hi Cheryl,
Pot luck is huge in our family and I plan to do pot luck Wedding as well my sisters both had over 100 people at there wedding and there was plenty left over that we ended up donating to the men's shelter afterwards. I find the food way better than catering and so many different varieties. I haven't planned that part yet but my sister told me she asked for everyone to bring something and to let her know and a lot asked what was needed.

Our immediate family will be bringing food, and our guests will barbecue or grill any meat that they would like

You are welcome Cheryl. Hope all is going well with your wedding planning!

Thank you all for your opinions, we both went over them and appreciated each and every one. We're definitely changing up our ideas!

Hi Cheryl

I think you're raising an important point, a potluck is a great way to cut down on cost and have everyone contribute. It also depends on what kind of wedding you are going for... Will you wedding only include family members, how many people will be there, will everyone contribute to the potluck?

As most people commented, I wouldn't personally recommend it if you're inviting more than your close family members and a few friends (more than 15 people), for the same reasons that have been raised by other brides.

You could always go for food stations though and have people prepare their own meal from ingredients you bought or have guests contribute with a donation

Food Station Idea

You could have a Mac & Cheese station like in this picture, a "make your own" taco station, etc.

And something like this for money contributions:

Cake in face bet to raise money

How do you like these ideas?

Hi Cheryl,I like the idea as I think it is very unique and I can see if you were having just family attending only. I won't not recommend it as liability issues with health. If you do plan to go those route find out from your province how to obtain a food handlers certificate or permit because in most cases you will need this when it comes handling foods for events.

I agree with Valerie and Nelly. I don't think I'd recommend it for a wedding.

There are a lot of health concerns when it comes to a potluck, especially for a big group of people.

I wouldn't recommend a potluck reception, but maybe a potluck rehearsal dinner, or a potluck brunch the day after. I wouldn't feel comfortable expecting guests to our wedding to bring food for the day

Pasta is a winner with most crowds!

Valerie makes a good point about the food safety issue- you might need to get a special permit. Might be worth researching before you commit to that!

Hi Cheryl, as nice as the thought is I would advocate against it, especially if you are having more than say 20 people. I know, as a guest, I would hate to have to be worried about preparing food while also trying to look nice and get ready for a wedding. Your guests should be relaxed and be able to truly enjoy themselves. Also there is a very big health risk with doing this as foods need to be kept and various temperatures so that guests won't get food poisoning (a potato salad left out without proper refridgeration for travel time, plus the wedding ceremony and then the night as people are eating can go bad very easily).

If you want something less formal and inexpensive, you could always look for bbq places or italian restaurants. It doesn't have to be from a formal catering company.

If you wanted to incorperate family recipies into your wedding, maybe have your dessert table be homemade items (cookies, tarts, etc). It's still worth keeping in mind though that people may be excited for this idea up front but when it comes time to actually cook/bake while getting ready/thinking about what they need to bring, it can be very stressful on your guests (especially parents and your wedding party who may have other things they also promised to help with). But you know your group and what would work best in that case.

We're both pasta lovers, any type we can make will be there! I'm also a big salad person, definitely going to have a lot of both. I will definitely send those in tomorrow!!

Then I think a park pot luck sounds perfect for you!!! What kida of dishes will you make?

Maybe take some pictures of the park you choose to show us?

I would love for it to be less formal, neither of us really are formal that often. Just family, we'd also be making some dishes of our own as well. It's either going to be at Cultus Lake or Sardis Park, we're deciding tomorrow!

Hi Cheryl, nice to meet you!

I kind of like the idea of a pot luck with good music and friends. I think that will mean your reception will feel a bit less formal- are you ok with that? Are you thinking to ask just family to bring a dish, or all of your guests? How many guests are you having? Personally I might only wan tot ask my family to bring a dish.

Where are you hosting your reception? I have so many questions! But I think you could make a pot luck reception very lovely, and save money while involving your family.