diy food for reception.

Oops I had that in a list format. Sorry now it's hard to read

Please save yourself and delete this. Self catering does not go over well here. You're already going to have so much to do why put that added stress on yourself and take the risk of making your guests sick? Leave it up to a catering company.

The menu is fine but please don't burden yourself with cooking for your wedding. From the posts I've seen previously, you will have way too much to worry about to undertake this. Kroger and Safeway have pretty affordable options. Publix, Meijer, Sam's Club, Costco and Walmart do to. Another bride had this issue and the ladies here helped her get a pretty great menu from a big box store near her hometown for $250 to feed 50 guests.

OK so don't make pasta salad and order the trays from the market. Is that what you are saying?

OK I can order deli trays of cold cuts,veggies, and fruit. What about salad? What can I order as a substitute?

I have a question about ordering trays. Is it still OK if I pick them up from the market in the morning and refrigerate them at the venue?

Yes pick them up and take them right over to the venue to keep cold. Everything looks great for a lunch reception,

Ask your supermarket if you can purchase pasta salad from them. Really any salad would work but you can try chicken or tuna salad if pasta salad isn't an option.

The deli should have picnic salads, too. Pasta, antipasta, macaroni, ambrosia. I always see them in the Safeway deli.

I dislike grocery store salad. What else instead? I can't find a caterer who will only set up food. I've been looking for someone to set up and I am not hiring the weirdos I found off of Craigslist (I called them and I couldn't hang up fast enough). The only other people that do this are wedding planners and want 500$.

Could you ask a local restaurant if they will make you a bulk order of something?

I'll chexk around thank you.

In CA you don't have to be certified to serve food. I've prepared and served food for a living before. To say people might get food poisoning and botulism from grocery store deli platters because it isn't served by a certified caterer is dramatic.

No one making and serving you a big mac is certified. All they have to do is watch a video on hygiene and common sense in the workplace.

@RideorDie it's also about serving food that's the correct temperature not just proper hygiene. Who would be monitoring the food to make sure it doesn't get warm or get too low? Surely you wouldn't want that responsibility at your own wedding and you wouldn't want to ask your friends and family to work at your wedding right? It's ok to get prepared food from a grocery store but it's not a good idea to set it all up yourself for an event like a wedding. Hire someone who is certified in food safety to do it for you trust me.

I think you must hire a good catering service. If you are taking the burden then it will only increase your worries and stress.You will be not able to enjoy the party. I know a catering service at Woodbridge known as Franco Freshy who we hired for my brothers wedding and I think that service can help you.

If you order from a deli or grocery store that delivers, they can set it up for you. They will charge a delivery and set up fee, but think of what your time on your wedding day is worth. That extra charge is worth it. Then hire servers to help serve, monitor food, and clean up. I'd ask at a local restaurant or catering company if they can recommend a place to hire servers. Like a nanny service for catering. I've never done it, but I know people who hire people to help prep, serve, and clean for small in-home dinner parties, so it can be done. I've also been to big casual parties at a place like a fire house where I'm pretty sure the servers were high-school aged girl or boy scouts. They were supervised by their troop leader and did a good job. I know, scouts aren't certified to serve food, but for a shorter lunch reception where it sounds like people are assembling their own sandwiches I think that would be fine.

First of all, that menu hardly qualifies as cake and punch, so don't undersell it. You are serving a full meal. On your invitations, I'd probably write, "Light lunch and champagne to follow".

I am always in the no self-catering camp, but I don't think picking up prepared deli/cheese/fruit trays really falls into the category of crock pot surprises from the home kitchen. We've catered several larger parties with prepared trays, and people love them. All we have to do is put them out. As long as they've been refrigerated prior to serving, they're great. A question about the cheese tray -- are you having the cheddar and swiss sliced to add to the sandwiches, or were you having them cut into cubes and pierced with toothpicks? If they're sliced, I'd add American cheese to the tray (lots of people love American cheese on a deli sandwich). If they're cubed, I'd add one more variety (maybe a creamy Havarti. It's mild and delicious). Oh, and don't forget your condiments.

f you don't like grocery store salads, consider going to an Italian restaurant/deli. We have one here with an excellent deli section. They make all kinds of delicious salads. It's not the same as the stuff Shop Rite makes.

You are going to need someone who can set-up the food. It shouldn't be that difficult to find a reasonably responsible person who can handle putting out trays of food, stacks of plates, beverages, and to make the coffee and keep the ice flowing. If Craigslist has been a bust and a catering service is just too expensive, here are a few ideas: ask a waiter/waitress at one of your favorite restaurants to set up the trays, check with the home-ec department (they still have that, right?) at your local high school and see if there are a few girls available, or ask someone at the deli section that's prepping your trays if they'd be interested in working for a few hours at your wedding.

There's a bride name Sarah on here that had a menu pretty close to yours. She was able to get it caterer to do it for her for less than $500 I believe. How many people are you inviting?

I'm inviting 40 people for a 2 and half hour reception. I'm thinking of cutting out the salad and sandwiches. I can put out a tray of cubed cheese and crackers. a veggie tray and fruit platter. the cheapest caterer I have found is 12.74 cents for sandwiches and salad. so that would be about 500$. So if I am closer to the wedding and have that in my budget I will hire a caterer.

to add: I can have a dry wedding and hire the caterer, duh.

We are doing a reception/cake toast with a very similar menu. We spent about $300 on food from a local grocery store and they are delivering. I would check with your venue and see if they have people who could set it up. Our venue helps with all of the set up.