Potluck ca Food Bar

Hire a caterer. They will bring chafing dishes with heating elements. It’s not your guests responsibility to provide the food for your wedding.

There's those butane stoves or catering heat trays

Potlucks are inappropriate for hosted events like weddings. If you invite guests to witness your ceremony, you need to receive them afterwards and host them with food and drink appropriate to the time of day. If you have a low budget, you can either cut your guest list or have an afternoon cake and punch wedding at a non-meal time, e.g. 2-5 pm (or do both). But any guests you invite need to be hosted properly, by you. They should not be providing their own food or drink.

I appreciate all of the advice. However I would like to clarify that potluck weddings are very common on both sides of our families. It’s not about expecting the guests to supply the wedding it’s about coming together with family favorites and it ties in with our theme for our wedding. 😊

View Quoted Comment Thank you I didn’t think of those 😊 I will check it out

Hi Kat! Congrats on the big day. You are going to get a lot of opposition for self-catering/pot-luck weddings. I'll save you that and just give you some questions to answer so the day goes as best as possible.

1. Do you have a way to keep hot foods and cold food cold? Outlets for crockpots, lots of ice for cold food.

2. How will you ensure there is enough food for everyone/variety of dishes/main course? What quantity should each person make?

3. Not sure about the exact area, but how will you prevent bugs/flys away from food?

4. Are you okay with your family "working" at your wedding? Who will take responsibility for this task?Taking out the trash? Refilling food? Clearing plates? They more than likely will not get to experience your wedding day as a guest.

5. Who is responsible for cleaning/tearing down?

6. Are you okay with immediate family members making their dish, setting up, etc. instead of being with you as you get ready for the day?

7. Who is going to bring plates, napkins, cutlery, cups? Will they know how much to bring?

8. Are you okay asking someone to make/bring a dish as their gift? Making food in large quantities can be very expensive.

9. What is the plan if food runs out? What if someone forgets their dish? Who will address the problem?

There are probably more, but these should be a good start. These might not all apply if your wedding has 25 guests, but often people have 150 guests and want to pull this off. I hope the planning goes smoothly!

View Quoted Comment Thank you! This was very helpful 😊 right now I’m just weighing out pros/cons of potluck and that gave us some new things to consider! It’s a small wedding so I’m not too worried

I was a guest at this type of wedding and was not happy. I left very shortly after “dinner” (it was meal time with mainly snacky food) and got dinner.
i know you said they are common in your family, but just something to think about.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! 😊

View Quoted Comment We are getting the chaffing dishes and renting hot soup dishes. We will be 90% self catered and we are buying one item at a restaurant because my fiancee liked how they cook their ribs. I think your idea sounds great. The chaffing dishes might work better than something needing an outlet. This forum is pretty against potlucks and self catering without considering individual families, friends and styles so I wouldn't worry about those responses that don't answer your question and just tell you not to do it.

View Quoted Comment Thank you october2019 💜💜

The catering heat trays sound like a good idea! Potluck weddings are common from where I am from as well. I’m sure everything will turn out great!

At my friends wedding that I was MOH at the groom's father supplied ham and cheese melt sandwiches on bun rolls, they were able to be left out for a longer time than other dishes. Maybe look into either making yourself or having close people make foods that can last a few hours without needing heat or refrigeration.

I've never heard of a potluck wedding, personally. I think you'll get a lot of negative feedback on this forum for asking about it. There are just a lot of issues with food safety, and it seems tacky (to some people) to ask guests to cater your wedding. But if it's common in your friend & family group, that's a different story (in my opinion). If you do a potluck, it seems VERY casual to me so I'd opt to have it in a house or someone's backyard if you can. I would think a fridge & ice machine & all that are requirements.

There are just so many issues with food safety and allergies - even if this is something your families do often I would encourage you to think about cheaper alternative options. Sandwich trays from a local grocery store and sheet cakes from Wal-mart or Costco would be very budget friendly but alleviate the catering burden/liability from your friends and family.

View Quoted Comment But it is about expecting guests to supply the food for your wedding. They supply (and pay) for food for your guests to eat. If it’s “not expecting them to provide the food” what are people going to eat if they don’t bring anything?

There are plenty of ways to do a wedding on a low budget that does not push the costs of food off to others. Many people don’t eat at potlucks because they don’t know the cleanliness or food safety quality of others’ kitchens. And if it is outdoors - how are you going to ensure proper temperatures? Do you have insurance in case anyone gets food poisoning and requires medical attention?