Any brides cooking for their wedding?

We are going to have beef tips, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, a fancy spinach salad, some meatballs and a mozzerella & tomato tray.

We (ok, not me really, but some friends and family under the guidance of MIL) are cooking everything but the beef. Honestly I was surprised at the sheer amount of food it takes if you are having a big wedding! It's something to take into consideration. It does come out *much* cheaper for us, but the stress would have been rediculous, so we are ging to have a proffessional do the meat.

FH and MIL also insisted that I not be involved past planning the wedding because of the stress and time it will take.

@ mrs s...the cheapest quote was 15.00 a plate. Ive researched a lot at this point the best bet will be to cook. We might change our menu around a bit not sure yet. We will be deciding that tifpday :-)

@yardiegirl...we r having our reception at a church but I was thinking about having apps only but our reception is from 430p-9p. I know people are going to be hungry. We also have a lot of kids n want to make sure they eat.

@ms linda...yes a lot of hands. My mother has chafing dishes so she will allow us to use yours n I have been looking at sams club n costcos that's actually my next thing to get on my list. Hopefully we will have some people who r willing to help clean. We r also going to try n revise our menu today.

@ms celia.....I won't be cooking the entire day just a couple of hours in the morning take the food to the church n have extra hands to finish or hand out.

How much are you counting on spending if you cook the food?

What about china and utensils?

I've cooked for several parties that large - it's all in your prep work and ensuring you have take charge people as helpers. Otherwise it is difficult managing.

The last party I threw I hired two waitresses to maintain the buffet, maintain guest tables & pack up the left over food. It was the best money I ever spent. I also hired someone to run the grill during the party - chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cobb etc.

400 including plateware n silverware. Our wedding will be very simple nothing big. It will be just like christmas except both sides of the family come together. My fh n I have this friend who loves to cook n he wanted to try n start a catering business with me. We also have a lot more hands who are willing to help. It will be a buffet style. So people would help themselves n have eyes on watching that it doesn't get to low.

You can totally do this Just make sure you have enough and some help (hired or friends, as long as they can do it and are willing). We catered our own wedding with around 100 guests. We prepped everything the night before and the stuff that needed to be cooked the day of we "hired" a former coworker of DH's. We still get compliments on our food. It went better than I expected. It was so much cheaper than hiring a caterer. That's not always the case, but we were able to get some good deals through the restaurant we worked at. Good luck!

You truly are brave lol.

Are you cooking the day before and just have heaters day of?

I'm just thinking about you getting ready the actual day

I'm cooking what I can the day of. Prepping everything the day before. Taking the food to the church early sat morning n start what needs to be cooked or finished. So the foodwill be cooking as we r there setting up n getting ready. But I won't be cooking friends n famiky will be overseeingbthe foid. I'll just start it off. Which is not a big deal to me. Lol I'll be able to enjoy my day. :-)

We're cooking our own food (mind you our guest list is very manageable - 20 people). We're doing fillet mignon, grilled salmon, roasted potatoes and asparagus. We are hiring someone to help out the day of and doing any prep that we can the night before. It sounds like you have things under control! Good luck!

Here's my concern with that plan. I know your family has been very unsupportive to your wedding. Are you absolutely sure they will help with the food? Are you 110% positive you will be able to get ready without worrying about food?

Monique it is good to hear you have so much support and help to do this. I hope your day is a great one.

We're doing a taco buffet that's 6.75 a person! It's good too. Beef, chicken, beans, comes with homemade chips and salsa. Soft and hardshell tortillas also homemade. And Spanish rice. It may not be classy but we don't have to do it ourselves, don't have to have family help, and it's still good food.

Point is, if there is any doubt of help, you may be able to think unconventionally and find some cheap caterers in your area.

Dear Monique, I want to first say that I admire your confidence and like you, it is not even an option to get a caterer. Some people are not going to understand this. If you have lots of people helping and you have a plan and desire, you will be fine. You can do this. I was going to self- cater but I am not a food host type and I don't have a lot of for sure help. I have been having a lot of nightmare type feelings of trying to do the food ourselves for 80-100 people. First, we were going to do pizza, but I think that will be messy. We going to do cold food, but I really don't want to mess with food. I am already doing everything DIY. I really only want cake and move the time to 2pm, whom the MIL is making and have made wedding cakes before. I just don't want to be stressed. I raise my sister in heaven's son and I have sooooo much stuff going on. So, if you can handle all this with confidence, which it sounds like and you have lots of stable hands on deck, go for it girly

My post kept posting...so sorry...

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You can do it Monique,

Especially with the confidence you have!

Multiple post. >.<

Monique, good for you. Seriously.

I am right now planning on making the cooking vs catering comparisons with the full anticipation of cooking for about 60-70 people. I will be very interested to find out how it went for you and just how much you ended up spending on the food, china, linens, etc when all is said and done.

Good luck! You can do it and everyone will be able to help out on the day of. It will be great. =)

If this is what you feel you need to do and you have weighed the pros and cons I say go for it. You're braver than I am though - no way would I be able to cook for all those people on my wedding day.