diy catering for wedding

I know most people on here will give a LARGE thumbs down to the idea of self catering. I think in the long run it's just worth momey letting the professionals handle it so you have no stresses on the days leading up to or on your wedding day!

Covering medical expenses for guests who get food poisoning from inexperienced cooks is going to be significantly more expensive than just hiring a professional. Hire a caterer.

Save everyone the headache and potential of having a health insurance company suing if someone gets sick, hire a low cost but tasty carerer. Mexican, Italian, and barbeque restaurants are great options to look into.

Against most people's opinions we are doing our own. I'm guesstimating about 150 people will be in attendance and our event will be pretty casual. I'd say anymore people or if I was doing formal I'd get a caterer, but my family has already offered to help out. The likelihood of anyone going after us for food poisoning is very low - it'd be the same if it was a family reunion or whatever, so that doesn't worry me. We're doing a taco and baked potato bar/buffet so keeping it pretty simple. We have a budget and financially, it's a better option for us. At the end of the day, it's your wedding and you're able to do anything you want! How many people are you expecting? Formal or casual wedding? What food type are you thinking?

Hire a caterer. You don’t want to spend your wedding day cooking, unless you have food safety certification you can’t guarantee everything will be kept at the correct temperature, and someone suing you because they got food poisoning is not something you want. Get a professional.

View Quoted Comment So we are planning for about 270ish people but we are big in the ag industry so a lot of it is family, and close friends through out the ag industry so since we raise pigs we are going to have a buffet style of pork and then some sides and fruits and veggies and desserts. I highly doubt we will be “attacked” for a lawsuit? I’m sure I’ve seen most of these people eat food with out washing hands from messing with various animals lol we are country people

If you want to be spending the night before prepping food instead of spending it at your rehearsal or working to serve hot food on your wedding day or have family members miss parts of the ceremony or the photos so you don’t have to do it yourself (which is super inconsiderate) so that your guests can enjoy hot food then that’s your bad idea to execute. The fact is wedding catering costs so much because so much goes into it! Way more than people thing. And you have so many options for affordable catering. We did famous Dave’s for our RD. It was affordable (12$ pp though we added stuff so I think it was 15$ pp total) and delicious and we had so much leftover and I didn’t have to do anything. They cooked it, delivered, set up and served. I went to a wedding that served Moes Tacos. Also cheap and affordable and no one has to work. You have options that don’t include yourself or your family working.


My opinion is it’s way more work than you’re anticipating

View Quoted Comment It's not your loved ones coming after you if they get sick, it's their health insurance company. Insurance companies do their very best to not pay claims.

It just must be something about Oklahoma then cause I’ve never once heard of anyone sueing someone for food poisoning lol

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Yep, we do beef, but yes and yes. I would suggest if you do like BBQ pork or something to have a couple of buffet lines (if you have the room) so people aren't waiting 30 minutes in line for the food..or release them by table. My cousins did BBQ wild hog with baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and a roll. I think the fruit and veggies would be a great add on though! Also... Go Pokes

You'll get a lot of negative feedback about DIY catering. Honestly, I agree with most people. It's not worth it, just spend $10 pp for something like BBQ or Mexican food. If you DIY, can you ensure your kitchen is up to food safety standards? Do you have a place to store the food prior at a food safe temperature, during transport, and before it's served, and while it's being served? Who will set out all the food, who will restock & serve? Who will clear plates? Who will box leftovers? How will you deal with food allergies or preferences? The one DIY wedding I went to food-wise, I got a hair in my macaroni salad and we left 10 minutes later. Before dinner was over, before dances, before dessert. I didn't care. It was disgusting and I wanted to leave immediately.

So my cousin had a wedding really close to your size. She had 300 people and my family did all the food. It was a living nightmare. I think my aunt waaaay under estimated the amount that people eat at a buffet because it was astounding the way people were taking huge amounts of food. Some of her guests that were family we literally cooking during the wedding. Also remember that someone that isn’t you will be in charge of it all, refilling the food items, stocking up plates etc, and it’s going to leave someone feeling more like a servant than a guest at a wedding.

To me, the amount of effort does not live up to the savings. I was adamant that my wedding was going to be self catered until my cousins wedding and I realized what a huge mistake that would be. It’s costing me $4,000ish to cater and there is no way I’d ever consider going back to self catering, especially when I honestly think for the quality, self catering isn’t as inexpensive as it appears.

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My family owns a huge sheep and cattle operation in Colorado, as well as a hunting ranch. We did consider serving elk & lamb for awhile, but still planned on hiring caterers and just supplying them with the meat. That's what all my cousins have done. We were never worried about being sued. I was just worried about getting someone sick in the first place, and the giant pain it is to DIY.

I would do catering, I think it's worth the money to have something less to stress about.

Also, I don’t think you fully understand what goes into catering something for 270 people. Think of how you’ll get it all cooked and how it will all stay hot. So for instance, my cousin did mostaccioli, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans. So it takes about 30 minutes minimum to cooke up ONE batch of mostaccioli that feed 8 people in our big pots. Then do that again 38 times. That’s 19 hours of just mostaccioli. Now imagine how many hours it takes to bake 1 ham, and repeat however many more hams you need that can’t fit into the oven on try #1. My point in all that math is to be truthful with yourself about whether you have the resources and help. Because my cousin did have the help, she didn’t have the resources and she didn’t make a single food item for the wedding because she was too busy with other wedding stuff. So you’re expecting your family/friends to put in a lot of work for what is supposed to be your wedidjng and your responsibility. Just things to consider.

Please do catering! My 100 something person wedding is about $1900. And it's worth it. Sure, I could make basic pasta and roast beef myself, buuuuuuuut it would waste my time, waste my energy, and wouldn't taste nearly as good.

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As an attorney who handles litigation on a daily basis, this statement amuses me. There are literally thousands of lawsuits filed everyday but unless you're an attorney or party to that lawsuit you won't hear about it. They are not announced nor are they in the news unless it is a very big lawsuit and even then it is usually pretty rare. Most lawsuits settle before going to trial and almost always have a confidentiality provision so they can't discuss the lawsuit or the result. So, just because you haven't heard of anyone suing someone for food poisoning doesn't mean it is not happening. In fact, as another PP said, if you have insurance and go to the ER or urgent care, they will demand that you provide the source of your illness to determine 3rd party liability for indemnification purposes. Thus, your guest may not directly sue you, but their insurance company most likely will. That is why it is advisable to have liability insurance when you host a large party such as a wedding reception if your venue doesn't include you in their coverage.

You will get a lot of backlash on here for doing the food yourself but my first wedding (1998) was backyard diy style and all the food was brought in by different family members. No one minded, complained or got sick. In fact, everyone ended up swapping recipes before the night was over! That is just how my family is, no matter the occasion, people will be bringing food. Super old fashioned southern folks.

I am having this wedding catered and have let everyone know that yet still have family members asking what they can bring. It will also be a buffet style but with the venue we chose, we only have 7 hours total in it and that includes setup, ceremony, reception and clean up so it just made more sense to have them deliver it and set it up.

At the end of the day, it is your wedding and your guests. That is a lot to take on without a lot of help on such an important day. There are inexpensive options, and of course this also depends on where you are located and the type of food. We are only having to pay around $6.50 a person for the place we chose and we are ordering way more than we know we will need and leftovers will be taken to the after party.

Good Luck with whichever route you ultimately choose.

My family did DIY for a small, casual pre-wedding picnic of about 35 people. We served two kinds of kabob, two pasta salads, and a green salad. Even THAT took like six hours of prep with three people...plus the hassle of transporting it all, storing it all, and grilling the meat during the picnic. We handled it fine, but it was still a bit stressful and took valuable time. It also didn't end up being cheaper than some catering options (our actual wedding, we did BBQ and paid $1,300 for 100 guests....after all taxes and fees). I really really really really really do not recommend trying to self-cater your wedding, especially considering the size of your guest list!!!

You can get insurance from progressive for la good price if you want to self cater. I haven't done it but am toying with the idea I will probably do a mix of self catered and stuff I get from random restaurants I like.