Caterer

You will probably have a very hard time finding a professional to do this, as caterers' insurance will not usually allow them to handle food they did not prepare.

Your best bet, if you really want to do this, is find some college kids looking to make some cash.

Honestly I would just hire some high school or college kids. I don’t think a licensed caterer would do that for food that they didn’t prepare for liability reasons.

That’s not a caterer. Caterers cook, they don’t serve other people’s food. That’s a huge liability.

Try looking into temp agencies in your area as well. There are temp agencies out there specifically for hospitality jobs. What you’d be looking for would be a server to do all of the things you listed, not an actaul caterer for the reasons everyone has listed above.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for the advice! I will look into it. I know it’s not a caterer I’m looking for, but I wasn’t sure what exactly to call this type of service.

View Quoted Comment I realize that it’s not a caterer I’m looking for. I just didn’t know what else to call it. Thank you

I would call it an event/wedding assistant, outline the details like you did here, and post it on Craigslist under gigs. I actually find a decent amount of work that way. You could ask them to send in a resume that’s specific to event coordinating to weed out people with no experience.

I know preparing food yourself would help with budgets and cuts costs, but my venue suggested that we don't even prepare our cocktail hour food ourselves (even though we are doing something as simple as cheese and crackers) because of the liability. If something were to happen or if someone were to get sick, that would fall back on you.

My fiance is an executive chef and this is exactly what we were looking for! We went to regular caters and asked about "drop off catering".

They are going to bring all of our food, set it up, and then leave it. They offered to keep the buffet clean and stocked but we hired staff already so we didnt need that.

By the time you bought all the food, pans, burners, foil, plates, cups, napkins, utensils, cups, drinks, hired servers/someone to watch food/set up/clean up etc. you could probably find low cost catering. Sometimes doing it yourself isn't always the cheapest option.

If I may ask, how many people are you having and what is your budget for all the food, drinks, staff, and everything else you'll need

We have about 215 invitations going out, and that equals out to around 450 people. Soft count of who has confirmed their attendance is at 200. My budget for food is not really a set amount, because I already have an idea of what I want, and how I want it set up. All the caterers I have spoken to are asking 3,600, and this is more than I want to spend. I can do everything myself for way under that, and I only have to find someone that will set it up, keep it stocked, and put what is left away so it doesn’t go to waste. As far as worrying about people getting sick from the food, we’re taking out an inexpensive policy that will cover this if this was to happen. The venue is a building that requires a lot of decorations to achieve the look that I desire. I’m even making most of them myself. I don’t have parents that can help share the expenses so I have to cut corners where I can.

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...the policy only covers you being sued if people get sick. What are you going to do to make sure that people don't get sick?

View Quoted Comment You’re welcome! I actually work in catering and we use a lot of temps for jobs where it’s just a buffet that the temp needs to keep the food/drinks stocked and be there to clean it up. Depending on what your budget is, this could be a good option!

We have some people that we're more acquaintances with, but like close enough to ask them to bartend our wedding (just an example of what we're doing), we're paying her $150 + tips. Maybe you could try something similar!

Thank you everyone for your tips and advice. A friend of mine has hooked me up with a lady that has agreed to help me out with this. This lady is verified in food safety, and works at a school in the kitchen. I’m so excited that this issue has been taken care of! Thanks again!

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That's amazing Jaime! Happy you got sorted!

How has your planning been coming along since? What are you working on at the moment?