diy Reception Food

At my sisters wedding, we did DIY in the sense of just having finger foods. We bought fruit/veggie/cheese trays from Sam’s, baby quiches and other appetizer foods. It was a 1pm ceremony, so it wasn’t as though a meal was expected anyway.

We did not diy our reception but we diy our snack break/cocktail hour before it. We did make all the food the day or two before.

We are DIYing our apps the night before. Fruit platter, shrimp cocktail, various dips and breads, and another tbd. Not cooking so I don't think this is helpful.

I have not done DIY for a wedding but I have done it for large memorials and baby shower events. I think the other posters have the best advice, go with cold food. We filled about 3 inches of metal trays with water ahead of time and then placed a tray of food on top of the ice trays which worked out great. We also did a "kiddy" pool of ice that we placed on the counter top buffet and placed bowls of fruit and veggies in that for appetizers. Cold shrimp platters, cold sandwiches, cheese & meat displays can all be held in the fridge until serving and then replenished easily as dinner service moves along. I've been to a wedding that was DIY hot foods and I personally think that is more challenging. The family was running around like crazy taking trays from the oven to the buffet line. Since the food was cooked in a different tray than it was served in there was more labor involved. They ordered in the fried chicken (the main entree) and it was cold almost immediately. At the end of the day, we were all fed and the couple was married, but I will always remember the food and not in a good way. I'd go with as much cold food as possible.