Self catering?

Hi Jeannette! I am in the same boat, and to top it off my FH is a trained chef who has worked in the catering side of things. We feel that we are definitely more than capable (with help) of handling our smaller weddings dinner. However, the further we've gotten into the planning process, we've realized that even if we pre-make all the food ourselves, we still need someone to manage the food at the event. I've ran through the list of people I can get to help but have come to the conclusion that I don't want to make any of them "work" at the wedding. We've decided to seek out a "ma and pa" caterer who will hopefully provide serving staff to work with a buffet that is partially of our food, partially of theirs. I'm sure if you can figure out fixes for little problems like these than you definitely can "cater" your own wedding! Good luck! Please update if you come up with some solutions!

I am the same type of person. love cooking, make the meals for family and friends parties etc.

there is NO way that i would do that on my wedding day. you will NOT have enough time on the day of. and on your wedding day, you deserve to relax and be pampered.

now like others have said. if you are going to do a potluck, maybe contribute a side or two. something you can prepare ahead. but that's all i would do.

I would say that it depends on how big of a wedding you are having - and how intricate the dishes are. If you have 100 people or less then it would be doable but any more may end up being more stress than it's worth.

I like the idea of maybe doing the late night snack!! It's a great middle ground, and if you want more perhaps you can also make something as the favours that is food.

At my cousin's wedding, her husband is a chef so he made their wedding cake. I would maybe do a pot-luck and if you want, you could make something for it. I wouldn't make a main course, but one of the side dishes so you aren't too stressed out with it.

Why dont you cater in/make a pot luck but still serve one or 2 dishes? I think doing the full menu on top of everything else is waaayyyyy too much!!! Might be a cost savings but not worth the stress that will come with it.

I was going to because I too, love to cook. The more i thought about it, the more i realized just how difficult it would be and when it came down to it and i budgeted groceries, i realized it really wasnt saving me all that much money. Our caterers are allowing g us to bring in some of our own food too, which is fantastic.

If your venue allows it, you could always bring homemade food to serve as a late-night buffet/snack table. That way, you can have a taste of home but not cater the entire night.