Advice on catering your own Wedding

Have you checked into Italian and BBQ places near you. Or get a restaurant that also does catering since they'll be cheaper than a catering company. You should be able to find a place that can do $15/person if not cheaper. You're not going to get suggestions on self catering on here. Just a heads up.

Have you checked into italian or bbq for catering. They’re usually cheaper. Self catering isn’t the best idea. Between the amount of time, food safety issues and other associated costs it’s better to go with a caterer.

This is not the place for self-catering advice. Most people, including myself, are going to tell you it's a bad idea. Find a cheap catering option, or cut your guest list until you can afford a caterer.

You may want to search the site for past threads on self catering...

Self catering is not a good idea, and 100 people is a lot of people to feed. PPs have good suggestions on Italian or BBQ catering as they are usually less expensive.

I think with a year in advanced you can find someone in your budget or save a little more to find the right caterer for your group. Try local restaurants and send various quotes. I find it difficult that there isn't some group coming in at a close to reasonable amount. If not then you may want to consider limiting your guest list.

Not knowing the style of wedding you are planning, what about food trucks?

Don't self cater. You will be too busy that day to want to worry about making, peeping and serving all of the food. And your friends and family should not be turned into free employees to help with that stuff. Contact a few more nontraditional catering places. Try Italian restaurants, bbq places, pizza places, etc. It doesn't have to be fancy food bit it will be better to leave all of that to professionals. Also think about the food safety aspect of it. Professionals will be able to ensure that the food is made and stored properly to avoid anyone getting sick.

Please do not self cater. It is a bad idea in terms of people getting sick, buying, prepping and storing the food plus getting people to serve it. Please do not ask family to help. Look into BBQ or Italian buffets, or a lunch time buffet. I will be blunt: If you can't afford to host people without having it catered (be it 12 people or 112) you can't afford to get married.

Find a local restaurant that you like, talk to the catering manager and tell them your budget and they can work with you on a meal plan.

Edited to add: 100 people? Please in all that is good and holy....don't do it. Just close your eyes and think about serving 100 people at the SAME TIME. Now go call a caterer!! LOL!

You can search self catering in the forums and you will see many advising against it for many many reasons. Look into cheaper options, like Italian, BBQ, maybe sandwiches?

We're going to have BBQ from a restaurant and it was the lowest we found in our area ($17/person). It's something I'd definitely look into instead of self-catering. It'll save you a lot of stress, and prevent problems the day of. And on top of that, your friends and family and yourself can relax instead of worrying about food.

Please don’t self cater. As others said, Italian and BBQ are your best bets for affordable catering. Also, cutting your guest list will greatly reduce the catering cost. By trimming down our guest list by 20, we are saving nearly $4000. Easy decision, lol.

Definitely spend the money and get a BBQ or Italian buffet.

Self catering is strongly disliked on here. Not only are you putting stress on yourself and anyone helping you to make it the morning of your wedding, but you also have to keep it warm. Let me tell you, hot cases make food gross of they sit more than 2 hours, which is a guarantee if you self cater. It's not worth the stress and you'll probably end up spending the same amount as a caterer anyway because of all the equipment, dishes, and food you will have to buy.

Also, if people get sick from food poisoning, it's all on you. People have sued or even died from self caterers. If you hire someone, you'll at least be in the clear if something extreme happens.

I hope that sheds some light on it other than "don't do it!" Save yourself some serious headache.

Don't do it! Check into some Mexican restaurants in your area for pricing. They shouldn't be too expensive and everyone loves Mexican food!

Everyone is going to say don't do it. And there are plenty of reasons why you shoukdnt. Its too much going on for you to worry about that set up there are ways to cut the budget. You can go havr an early ceremony and reception if it's that important to have more people. Just do a luncheon or cake and punch. You have more than enough time to figure it out though so good luck.