Outside Vendor Clarification

Most venues, even ones who allow outside caterers, aren’t going to allow self catering. It’s a huge liability.

I wouldn't think that they'd allow you to bring your own. They generally choose preferred caterers as not only business partners, but also for insurance purposes.

From the 10 venues here i contacted that where barns or nature centers all of them said no to the self catered option because of liability issues, if ur wanting diy ur best bet is a park pavillion

If they only allow you to use preferred vendors then they’ll have a list that you can choose from. You would not count as a preferred vendor.

Oof. Not the best news ever. But I can work with it! Seems like renting out a lodge or park pavilion would be my best bet from what I’m finding online. Any other ideas? Making our own food is basically the only thing my honey is excited about, and I’d hate to have to compromise on our vision.

Have you checked into community centers of VFW halls? They are generally more relaxed about what you can and can't bring in. Plus a whole lot cheaper than a traditional venue.

Besides continuing to research potential venues, unless your FH is a licensed caterer/food handler who wants to spend his wedding day working, please research the potential issues related to self-catering before you commit to this. There are a million past posts on the topic, so there are lots of chances to read up on it. First, it is a HUGE legal/financial liability (e.g., if someone is sickened by food that wasn't handled properly, you could be on the hook for medical and other expenses -- and "your good friends" don't have to be the ones who sue you, their medical insurance and/or health care providers will to recoup their expenses, without your friends even being involved) and second, it's a TON of work to prepare/store/transport/serve/clean-up food for a wedding. Do you and FH want to work for days before and the day of your wedding? (And, it doesn't make it better to ask your family and friends to do all that work either.) There are potentially low-cost catering options (e.g., BBQ, Mexican or Italian food, etc.), which then puts the work and liability on someone else. Good luck!

Self catering is also a huge concern for guests with food allergies. As someone with allergies I would not attend a large event (anything more than a dinner party of 8-10 guests) that is not catered by a licensed caterer during a meal time. I just can’t trust that someone who is not licensed knows how to properly avoid cross contamination

View Quoted Comment

I have to agree with this! You want to enjoy your wedding day, not have to rush to get ready because the food was taking too long/something went wrong.

For BBQ, Old Carolina, Dickey's, and Mission BBQ all have affordable catering prices. For Mexican food, Chipotle has really great catering services and pricing, or any local Mexican restaurant would too! For Italian, any local Italian place will have rigatoni for a good price, even Olive Garden will! Any local grocery store will have party platters for affordable pricing, and you could negotiate getting your cake for a discount too!

These kind of businesses want your patronage and will do whatever it takes to get your business, even if it means lowering their prices and doing something customized for you for a lower price. Even if you do your wedding at a park, etc, they will come to you and set up the food for you!

The reason to leave catering to professionals is so that the food is kept at safe temperatures at all times, making the chances of getting sick extremely low. If someone would, the company would be held liable, not you and FH!

No matter what route you take, I hope your day is amazing! Good luck!

PS, I also agree that a VFW would be a very low cost option, plus their halls are usually really nice and can be decorated really pretty!

It's most likely not including you if they don't even allow other caterers

I would ask the venue directly but we couldn't find even 1 venue that allowed DIY food.

View Quoted Comment Thanks for your insights! Yeah actually my family has volunteered to do this kind of work — that’s the family we are. It’s also going to be a family reunion in and of itself, so all that “work” will also be time well spent together. We aren’t super fancy or anything, so this idea works best for us and is near and dear to our hearts as we would be able to serve our favorite Alaskan foods here in Colorado and celebrate our roots. Our family is even willing to fly the fresh seafood down with them! We are pretty lucky to have so much support.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for this! I’ll definitely check out our local community centers and such to see if we have other options.