Caterers....

We've chosen an extremely popular BBQ restaurant in our state for our catering, probably the easiest choice we've made in planning. We're having a buffet-style dinner with pulled pork, fried chicken, hash & rice, mac & cheese, baby limas, corn, and rolls.

I would advise against making your own food for the wedding for many reasons, including the amount of work that would go into it. If cost is a concern, you could always have your wedding at a non-meal time and just host a cake and punch reception. That way you still host something for your guests without the full meal price tag and guests can get their own meals when they leave

I got thr catering through our venue. We're doing station style and will have a Buffalo style with wings and pizza (we're from Buffalo), pasta, a meat carving station, and a potato and salad one.


I advise against doing your own cooking as well. Enjoy your day! And if you're anything like me, I know my mind would absolutely be racing and I would prob burn everything on accident. Do you have friends or family who are good cooks? Maybe they can help. I've even heard of people doing potlucks, which sounds awesome. But depends on the style of your wedding though and how big. Look into different options for catering, you may find something cheap.

View Quoted Comment Our wedding time is 2pm to avoid a full meal. We do want a cocktail hour so light snacks was the idea. I’d love someone to come put the food up and then come clean up when it’s over.

View Quoted Comment

Do you have a day-of-coordinator? If so, they could be responsible for picking up some party platters or something from a local grocery store/deli and they would also handle clean up! We're getting our food for cocktail hour from Publix, just some meat, cheese, fruit, and veggies

View Quoted Comment

I do have a day of coordinator. She is going to have a lot to do and we have been pricing just veggie, meat, cheese, fruit trays from Costco. We will also probably do the beer and wine from there too.

I completely share in your attitude - I just want to relax (as much as possible anyway!) and enjoy the day! Watching my cousin plan and execute her wedding this past summer was definitely an eye-opener. She wanted to have a huge wedding, so she DIY’ed as much as she could to save money. In the end, yes, she was successful in saving some money. However, it was sooooooo much work! It became completely unmanageable in the weeks leading up to the wedding, and she (and her mom) were constantly tired and stressed out. They hardly got any sleep the 3 days leading up to the wedding. On her wedding day, both her and her mother said “thank god it’s over!” That really stuck with me. I do not want that to be how I feel on my wedding day. I want to be saying “ I never want this night to end!” So, in my opinion, it is worth spending a little more money to have somebody else executing the details for me (ie, hiring a caterer, florist, etc.) so that I can actually enjoy my special day!

Do not cook your own food. It's just way to much work and you'll already have so much on your plate.

Don't make the food yourself, you don't want to risk people getting sick. I'd find a local restaurant that can cater within your budget and that will handle drop off/set up for you!

That seems super stressful to me. Do you have a food safe kitchen to prep in? Do you have enough fridge space to store everything? How will you transfer & store at the venue in food safe temperatures? Who will cover, take away & refill bowls if needed during dinner? How will you deal with food allergies or undercooked food? I'd go with Mexican or BBQ. You can get that catered for around $10 per person.