Hire Wait Staff

View Quoted Comment Jessie is not being mean, she’s being realistic. The opinions and advice you receive may not be the ones you want to hear, but are given for a reason; to help give you and your guests the best experience possible.

View Quoted Comment She’s not being mean, she’s giving you honest feedback of what could happen.

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I'm sorry if I'm coming off as negative. I am legitimately suggesting you check craigslist for servers. I know in my area many people hire all different positions of wedding staff on CL. Sometimes it is fine and sometimes it isn't. Ultimately it is a risk that you won't be taking if you hire pros, but I'm not saying it's not a risk worth taking in order to stay in budget. Just look really closely at what the total cost of buying all the supplies, spending your time to cook, and hiring a team of people to serve will end up. You might find it's really worth it to find a caterer that will prepare a custom menu, but maybe not. It's all just a suggestion.

View Quoted Comment I’m not being mean, I’m being realistic having worked in catering, restaurants, banquets, and events for well over 20 years. Never mind though, you would just like people to tell you it will be fine.

It’ll be fine, self-catering you’re own wedding is the best idea. Hire the cheapest people you can find, nothing bad can possibly happen, it’s your wedding day.

"But I want someone else's opinion."

You got exactly what you asked for. It's really generous of you to want your family to cook for 200 people but to give them the day off for the wedding.

So, I'm curious -- what would be some examples of kosher Jamaican food?

You can't call people mean, btw. Even if anyone was actually being mean.

Try a temp agency. Google temporary wait staff or something like that

Please do not self cater your wedding. Save yourself the stress! You don't want to be worrying about the food on your wedding day/week.

Food is a delicate subject. You generally can't just hire anyone. Culinary schools and such won't consider anyone without a proper catering licence. All your servers have to be food handler certified. And none of that matters if your reception space doesn't allow unlicensed catering. Which most don't, it's a huge liability. Not to mention the additional insurance you'd need to cover your serving crew in case of injury. It's not just food safety.

Leave the girl alone and stop trying to force professional caterers on her.

For my engagement party my moh hired wait staff from the culinary school and they did a good job (they did not give full serving though and we had so much food left since they never moved the empty trays and replaced them) but that was an error on our part because they were not advised too.

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I understand where you are coming from. My family is Belizean and Jamacian and I want to have only cultural food at my wedding. I am hiring a Belizean restaurant to cater and getting some catered sides from a Jamaican restaurant. Do you have any family that can help make the food, that does seem like a lot of work on the day of. Sorry didnt realize how old the post is and now I cant delete my comment.

It's important to hire a reputable event staffing company. You don't want to hire bartenders or waitstaff that may or may not show up. Your choice when choosing an event staffing company to go with are one of the factors that could make or break your special day. THE! Staffing Company | Event Staffing is by far one of the most impressive staffing companies I've had the pleasure of using.

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I agree with OP on this.

Majority of the time, people posting questions in these forums have already considered the alternative, and if they haven't, they specify that. Even if they didn't, it only takes a single comment or two to clarify that.

If OP has already made it clear that she is only asking for waitstaff service suggestions, then that is all that needs to be answered. Otherwise, it's really frustrating on this forum that all these "professionals" get on here and gang up on people trying to DIY, when most of the time what they're saying is a strong opinion and not always fact.

Stop wasting her's and everyone else's time with arrogance. Answer the question as it is or move on.

Now if anyone else is here asking the same question as OP, here is my suggestion from personal and professional experience:

Consider hiring youth from your local church. You could offer them a flat fee for a one-night gig. Train them beforehand, obviously.

You can also post to craigslist, as someone suggested. That might be a little more sketchy... but that's up to you if you're comfortable with it. I don't think I would be, but it IS an option.

Look to Temp agencies where you can hire waitstaff.

Again, I think your best bet is to make offers to groups and organizations you know and trust that you're involved with. Especially if you know any high school or college kids who might be looking for some quick cash from a one-time gig.

What I find frustrating is when people bump three-year-old threads to chastise posters.

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Oh! And what a surprise, here you are replying 3 years later as well - and with a very useful opinion I might add.

Luckily, if you're still feeling frustrated there are a handful of comments from 2019 that you can also reply to if you're looking to blow off some steam.

Why don't you go start your own thread, instead of resurrecting dead ones? If you're looking to be useful, that is. If you just want to post to scold people you disagree with I guess you do you.

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Well I really didn't think I'd have to explain this, but I'm on lunch and I did initially enter myself into the arena, so here goes.

People return to these posts because they are looking for information. If you google a question regarding weddings, posts from Wedding Wire pop up regardless of what year it is. People still read these older posts because there is a chance they can find information in the comments that are still applicable. Why do you think so many forums have comments ranging anywhere from a few hours to a few years old? Because obviously the question is still relevant. This is why I specifically said in my original comment that if anyone in the future stumbles upon this thread, here are some suggestions.

So, yes, I daresay my single comment may potentially be more useful than the whole lot of yours littered throughout this thread, because again, you were more focused on pushing an inflated opinion after OP disagreed with you, rather than sincerely answering her question directly and moving on once you had nothing left to offer. Wedding planning is already stressful as is, why attack people for doing something other than what you find to be normal?

This isn't the first time or first thread I've seen on Wedding Wire where "seasoned professionals" respond to questions by berating the OPs who are trying to cut costs, DIY rather than hire vendors, or simply taking a different approach to an aspect of their wedding - in fact, I have literally seen this on every post I have ever clicked on so far. I'm tired of it, it's not just you. Truly, to push that kind of message on people (that if they are going to have this or that kind of wedding they have to spend the extra money and have to have professionals) is just dishonest and lacks creativity. Some people cannot pull off some things, others can. Every situation is different.

I make this suggestion with all sincerity, you really ought to be more open-minded. And please, stop trying to fight with people trying to plan their wedding their way. If they were open to the suggestions, they'd take it. Beyond that is not in your control anyways, so to continue pushing your opinion just reflects an injured ego, not someone trying to be helpful. This goes to anyone else who behaves this way in the comments.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

View Quoted Comment Just for the record, your comment totally helped me in planning. As I googled a question and this post popped up so, thank you!

View Quoted Comment Thank you! I am in the process of planning my wedding. To put it bluntly, we cannot afford to have a caterer with plated option. But we can afford catering from a restaurant and hiring our own wait staff. Others on here seen to think everyone has thousands of dollars to spend, we do not and your comment really helped, so thank you again!