Self Cater???

Does your venue not have any preferred caterers or a list they could provide you?

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They don't unfortunately. I think a lot of people have self catered there. It's hours outside of town. So I've been looking into self catering or finding a restaurant I can p/u the food.

What if you did olive garden hell even pizza don't self cater

I would look into local restaurants, even family-owned small town restaurants near your venue, before ever considering to self-cater. It’s too much of a hassle and not to mention, could be a serious health risk.

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If I chose to go that route anything necessary I could obtain. I just heard of the idea and was wondering if anyone has done. Thanks.

Our venue requires us to go through a licensed caterer for liability reasons (which makes total sense.) I would never consider self catering because I don't want that stress days leading up to my wedding and I'd never ask my family to cook anything. Don't even get me started on potluck weddings.

Olive Garden caters, check local pizza shops for Italian catering. Italian and BBQ are always the cheapest catering options. If you can't afford to feed everyone, cut your guest list.

There used to be a lady on here who was a PROFESSIONAL CATERER that self catered her own wedding. She said it was awful and was her biggest regret of the day. She had no time to enjoy herself or visit with her guests because she was in the kitchen. In her wedding dress trying to cook and piece things together. Just don't do it. Does your venue not regularly host weddings? I'd find a new venue if there are truly none that you can work with there.

I wouldn't consider self catering a wedding... I do all our holiday family meals and am cooking for 2 days for less than 10 people... I can't even imagine the stress of doing that on my wedding day!

How formal is your wedding? # of guests? town/state? Budget PP? There has to be a better option than trying to self cater.

View Quoted Comment I’m planning on doing my own food, but we’re thinking of having our reception in the MIL’s back yard the next day. (Small-ish guest list) We want laid back and family oriented. That means we will have access to a kitchen to store and cook and keep to temperature. His family hosts these kinds of large parties regularly. We would like to do tortilla soup, so it’s like an assembly line type deal. Cuts cost, low risk because of timing and access to storage, but puts weight on those who help us put it together.

Downsize your guest list to afford catering. Cut out any extra fluff to afford catering. It can be done, I cut my guest list by over half.
My H's family has self catered. All the aunts cooked for days, big pots of rice and beans. The uncles made carne asada. From what I've heard from my MIL was no one was happy cooking all that food. It was a lot of work and the women didn't get to enjoy the wedding as they were busy in each of their homes reheating food in batches.

Absolutely, do not self cater. The stress time work for it isn't worth it. How will you get your hair and makeup done, take photos of your manning the food?

There has to be a better option than self catering. You do not want the stress of it! Plus you have to be really careful about temperatures of food etc. What have prior weddings there done?

Family and friends should be treated well as guests and not working a wedding. Your reception is to thank them for witnessing your wedding, not for them to work.

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Affording is not really the issue.

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I never said I would be asking anyone to help with anything.

Someone suggested the idea to me. Thanks for your responses.

Take the suggestion of self catering and please ignore it. 99% of WW will never recommend to self cater because it's just not a good idea for a wedding. I will recommend to look at the nearby restaurants and see what they can do for catering. If they won't, then i HIGHLY suggest changing your venue to one in town that will have catering nearby.

View Quoted Comment If money isn't the issue, hire a caterer. My mom and about five of her friends were hospitalized for over a month from horrible food poisoning from a self-catered event and it's complications. She and her friends had to sue the host for millions of dollars in healthcare costs.

Why risk making your family and friends health for the fun of cooking?!

View Quoted Comment Then I don't get it, if affording isn't an issue hire the caterers near your venue 🤷🏻‍♀️

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I think I might love you.

I would only self carter if your guest list is under 25, otherwise I'd get a caterer. Cooking for Lots of people can get crazy. If you're looking for inexpensive I'd try a bbq restaurant. They usually start catering around 15 a person.