Catering?

We're doing a barbecue buffet, very common for a wedding in the South. We didn't even consider doing anything else, EVERYONE loves what we're serving. We're also going with the most popular/loved restaurant and the few people we've told are so excited for it. Not to mention it's way more affordable than a sit down dinner with food our guests just wouldn't be nearly as excited for. It's definitely a know your crowd decision!

A buffet for 100 people with fried chicken, pulled pork barbecue, hash & rice, macaroni and cheese, corn, lima beans, rolls, and sweet tea is just under $1300. It'll be lower with our final count because of course some will say no.

I’m not sure I understand specifically what you’re asking. In regards to catering, we went to a wedding that had stations of different types of cuisines so we knew we wanted that, found a caterer that had great reviews and was really nice and did a tasting. In regards to how many people, we just created our guest list as usual for who we wanted to be there. If you asking how to cater to the number of people you’ll have the the caterer should take care of that for you! They know how many portions to make of each item. Hope this helps!

We're having a served salad at the table with 3 different types of dressings: ranch, french and raspberry vinaigrette. Then doing a buffet with chicken picata, roast beef with beef gravy, mashed potatoes with I think chicken gravy, steamed green beans, and rolls. We might be having another potato option with scalloped potatoes. Then we are having cupcakes, cookies and pecan tasies for dessert along with a s'mores bar for a late night snack. We choose a buffet that way people could have 2 different dishes for dinner if they like. We choose to do the seated/ served salad just to make it easier for guests so they didn't have to carry 2 plates from the buffet.

We’re doing a plated service with chicken, fillet and a vegetarian option. Our venue has a caterer on site so we’re just going to use them. We are planning for 100 guests. And I’m hoping to get pizza for the kids but we’ll see lol

We are having a pig roast. Our sides will come from a local market.

Our venue offered catering. Their preselected options were all plated, but they offered custom options so we had buffet/stationary style. We also had passed apps during cocktail hour and a late night snack that was a nacho bar. We picked stuff we knew we liked and thought our guests would enough. The venue knew how much food to provide after we gave them a final guest count so making sure we had enough food wasn't something we had to be worried about. If your venue doesn't offer catering or have preferred caters, my suggestion is to decide what type of food you want then look for a cater that offers that type of food. I would read reviews of the cater before meeting with them. A cater should know how much food to make once you give them your final guest count.

Our venue has in-house catering that we are required to use, so that was one less decision we had to make. It was a relief. But our venue does offer a wide variety of foods, so we were able to choose the menu that best suited us. There will be 6 or 7 appetizers passed around during cocktail hour, then a buffet for dinner, featuring lamb chops, halibut, 2 salads, a potato dish, a pasta dish, and some roasted veggies.

If your venue allows you to choose your own caterer, then I would sit down with FH and talk about what your favorite foods are. Then jump into your research of caterers in your area. You can usually schedule tastings when you talk to them about booking your wedding. Also look into local restaurants that you love. Often times they can cater a wedding more affordably than a traditional catering company.

We specifically went with a hotel because we didn't want to find a caterer separately. My FIL had been to events at said hotel before and knew the food was good (it was amazinggg).

We knew we wanted something fairly traditional, and the hotel was totally willing to work with us on totally customizing a menu—we had a cocktail hour with a few passed apps and mashed potato and slider stations. Our dinner was a buffet—garden salad with a few dressings, more mashed potatoes, fish, chicken, steak, roast vegetables, and mac and cheese. We had 44 people at our wedding and the hotel was great at making the appropriate amount of food.

Off of your guest list by x date you should have a final count from all the RSVPs. I always knew I wanted Asian family style catering. In my culture that's ten family style dishes or so. And thats specific. So maybe think about what kind of food you like.

I wanted to do a sit down dinner - and i definitely wanted to find a venue that did the food for you. Less stress that way in my personal opinion. How many people that will come is never an easy answer. I invited 200 (including children) and only have 107 attending. Sometimes its better to find somewhere that has a decent minimum guest count for what you're looking for.