Catering Question????

I guess my advice would vary. How big is your guest list and have you ever cooked for that many people? Have you considered all of the supply costs (including how to set up and keep food hot) plus the costs related to needing dinnerware and linens separate from a caterer. We had over 100 people so I never would have considered this for our wedding, but yearly I cook for 20-30 people at almost every holiday. Keep in mind though that for holidays I’m usually cooking right up until we serve, and you can’t really do that if you need to get ready and have the ceremony before people eat. Sometimes getting food from an Italian, bbq or Mexican restaurant ends up being around the same cost as doing it yourself and it’s way less hassle/stress on you.

I'm not sure how big your guest list is, but trying to cook for tons of food if you've never done it before just sounds like complete unnecessary stress on top of other stress. You'll have to be sure you're able to keep the food at proper temps, figure out how to best serve it (ie refilling things if it's a buffet, passing out guest plates if it is more plated, etc.)

Top tip: don’t do it. You want to enjoy your wedding day, not spend the whole thing cooking. How do you plan to keep the food at the correct temperatures so that it’s safe? Do you have enough cooking equipment (pots, pans etc)? Have you made these quantities of food before? Who will serve it? Who will clean up? What do you do if someone gets food poisoning because something wasn’t kept at the right temperature? Look into Italian or BBQ - you can often get those really cheaply and with none of the worry.

My FH wants to self cater our 25 person reception (I think he's crazy, but makes him happy). I would have preferred it catered. We're doing brunch buffet, so don't have many foods to keep warm. We're planning to rent chafing dishes for those. We'll do as much prep the week/ days before as we can.
As pp have said, it depends on how many people you'll be having and if you want to work at your own wedding.