Food Ideas

Yeah, when I was 16, and I'm not going back to anyplace that would hire 16 year old me to host my wedding guests because managers there have cleanliness inspections. Hahaha...cleanliness checklists? You have no idea what was fried on that grill when the manager wasn't looking.

@Rachel And you think that a private caterer won't have the same type of employees? Are you going to ask for a list of every employee that your caterer has working your event and personally interview them to ensure that they are completely clean

And following food procedures to the letter? No? I didn't think so. The argument of self catering being dangerous is valid if you have no idea what you're doing and leave raw chicken out all day at room temp. But when you have someone that is trained in food safety helping it is ok in my book. It at that point runs the same amount of risks as using any caterer.

Well that's 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

I can't wrap my head around self-cater, just because I don't even want to cook for 2 most of the time, I can't fathom cooking for 150.

Amanda, are you actually advocating not following food procedures? You need more than someone trained in food safety. You need an industrial kitchen and the equipment to save/serve the food at a consistent temperature.

@ Jacks No I am not. Not sure why you assumed this. Yes you do need those things. Why are you assuming OP will not have these things?

I think it really comes down to why do you dislike your guests this much?

Amanda, most people that self-cater do it out of their home kitchens. That's why.

Also renting out proper food storage utilities/equipment is expensive. Probably more than the minimal amount most self-caterers are willing to spend in total.

@Celia I think it really comes down to why do you assume that because I didnt want to spend $80 a plate on my guests or go thru a caterer that I dislike my guests. It was a good decision for me personally. I felt it gave them an awesome experience and they were happy. I'm not sure why you are so negative and unhelpful about ideas that are different than what you deem "proper etiquette". You can say you don't agree with it and that its not the norm but that's all you really need to say. There's no point in bashing brides that want to do their wedding different from the norm. Maybe its what's right for THEIR guests.But you just assume its not and start insulting and bashing brides.

Etiquette = / = food safety. No-one's bashing the brides and no-one has insulted anyone.

Do what's best YOU & YOUR budget. My family is doing the food ( well experienced like your family/church) also. FH & I are saving tons of money & we won't be disappointed by carters sometimes yucky food! FYI: my family suggested it too! Please don't let anyone pressure you into thinking you NEED a caterer because that's totally not true. Good luck hun!

@ Jacks Food safety procedures can be followed in home kitchens too. Not saying I recommend this unless you have someone with knowledge in making sure everything is clean and sanitized. But its not a horrible thing as long as they know what they're doing. OP said she has several people with that experience helping her. Chafing dishes are pretty expensive I will give you that. And good sternos are too.

@jacks I was replying to Celia because her comments today have been pretty insulting toward OP

If you don't have the right equipment (i.e. cooking for 100 in a home kitchen) then you're forced to improvise. By that I mean storing things in garages, on decks because fridge is full. Cooling things on counters or worse in a small fridge which lowers the interior temperature to unacceptable levels for the cold storage needs. Which is WHERE the risk of food borne illness is introduced. I could write a novel but that's the precis.

Amanda, Celia's entire reason for even posting is not to be mean. It's to prevent other brides from making mistakes. She'll be the first one to tell you that catering her own wedding was difficult.

@Amanda $80 is just not the lowest possible catering price and no we assume you don't respect your guests because you show no concern for their health and wellbeing, not to mention their enjoyment of dinner. Not because you have a budget. There is good quality properly prepared budget catering to be had out there if you make any effort whatsoever to shop around

The venue for the wedding has 2 fridges 3 freezers and 2 stoves and there not your normal size stoves

Well Penny, maybe you'll get lucky. I hope you do.

I wouldn't be doing this even I didn't Think I could handle it and have the stuff I need to make it safe. My wedding doesn't start till 6:30pm I'll have all day to help cook we will prep 2 days before my hair and makeup person won't be doing my stuff till 430 5 pm. And there coming to my venue to do all this stuff and my girls it's not mandatory for them to get there hair and makeup done

@Jacks that is true but that's why if you have an experienced person helping you this wouldn't be an issue. They could tell you what you need to properly accommodate that amount of food. I understand not doing self catering if you don't know squat but if you do or have someone who can inform you and you're willing to put in the work it shouldn't be that huge of a deal.

I get that shes trying to warn other brides about this and she may of had a bad experience with her own wedding but she seems to always write comments that are borderline condescending if it doesn't match her opinion. If a bride is dead set on doing something like self catering why not help instead of bash.

@Amanda because it's never a good idea - offering suggestions other than "don't" is enabling dangerous and rude decisions