Family-style take out dinner?

You could also simply get a normal restaurant to cater it, not a catering company. I would check with your local restaurants as most offer catering and definitely need the money from COVID shut downs. Family style would also be fine though!

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That's a great idea, thanks!

I think many restaurants have catering options such as chipotle, most pizza shops, most italian restaurants near me, even giant eagle has catered food you can order. You would still need to find people to serve the food, but I think this is a great alternative option!

Lots of independent restaurants around us do catering like that. If the bbq guy can’t do our rehearsal dinner, I am going to have the local Greek place do it.

As long as you are providing food and drinks you're golden. I would make sure the venue or wherever you're having the event is ok with it.

Many local restaurants offer catering services at a discounted price because they are providing food without all the “mandatory wedding extras” that a catering company charges you for.


What most of them do is have large foil pans that are often served buffet style over a chafing burner. I would go that route before I consider family style. Unless you have huge tables and lots of waiters (more than just a couple) family style doesn’t work that well because platters are heavy and awkward, which is not a good combination with guests in fancy clothes. Plus there may not be room for that many dishes on each table.

But the food delivery is an awesome idea. One of the best weddings we attended as far as food was delivered from a local Chinese restaurant and the food was such a hit that people were still eating it at the end of the night and took home leftovers.

Be careful with food trucks because they are designed to only serve 1-2 people at a time.