Crunched timeline and budget...when do i hire a caterer?

For the love. Pleeeease don't try to self cater your wedding.

If you really don’t have strong preferences and aren’t looking for anything fancy, there’s definitely no rush. Restaurants and grocery stores are able to cater on short notice (and I’m not talking like grocery cold cuts— I’ve gotten drop off food (plus set up with chafing dishes) from my grocery store for a small party with about a month of planning, and had an awesome Italian feast— eggplant parm, chicken parm, pasta, salad). It wouldn’t hurt to look around now and if you find places you are interested in, ask them what kind of timeline they need, and then go back way later when that timeframe approaches. That can also help give you an idea of what relative costs may end up being.

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I used to do events for a plastic surgeon's office I used to work at. About 4x a year we would host events trying to spoil current clients and gain more. Some of the more affordable events we had were brunch events and they were fairly simple. If you are comfortable with hosting your wedding a little earlier in the day this may work for you:

Check out your local grocery store. This sounds odd. But just trust me. Call the deli/bakery or check out their website. With about 3 days notice you can have them whip up some pretty affordable trays that can feed 25-30+. We would often order bagel trays, parfaits trays, fruit platters, croissants, etc. You can easily serve mimosas and/or have a coffee and cocoa bar (check these out on Pinterest).

The trick is to get yourself some nice serving trays, plates, and glasses (even the sturdy disposables will do). Presentation is everything and it will elevate the entire experience. It will look like you spent so much more time and money than you did.

The office I used to work for was LA based and had some pretty pretentious patients -- all of them loved our events, even the brunches. They would return with no complaints on our grocery store meals and didn't even know that that was where was from.

I hope this helps.

Noooo don't self-cater or potluck your wedding PLEASE. Italian or BBQ will be the least expensive, and obv keeping your guest count as low as you can will be the biggest factor. I'd start calling around now to get quotes, at the very least. You can ask them at that time what kind of deposit they require and how much advance notice. Good luck!