diy Lasagna Catering

Your very courageous that's for sure. I love lasanga and make it for large groups alot. Not 250 ppl by any stretch of the imagination. I'm thinking of a free things for you like maybe you want to leave out the cream or ricotta cheese ...maybe make a few veggie lasangas and a few gluten free for your guest that don't eat meat or gluten. I think l would put them all together a day or two before and actually have someone (surely not you) cook them the day of. Sounds yummy!

Insurance so if you make your guests sick with food poisoning you are covered.

It's not the best idea to do this. You will be stressed out thinking about the food. Your bridal party and family will not be able to enjoy the wedding because they will be working.

There are plenty of catering options that are budget friendly that will not cause you, nor those dear to you to work.

I would really reconsider this. Look into Olive Garden or your local Italian restaurant for cheap catering. I wouldn’t eat at a wedding if I knew the food came from a bunch of different people without knowing the environment it was prepared in. Food safety is a huge liability. Also just doing a quick calculation you would need more than 40 lasagnas. Save yourself, your wedding party, and your family the stress and find a restaurant that does catering.

I would find it weird to attend a wedding with lots of different potluck lasagna, honestly. I wouldn’t eat.

How do you intend to keep it hot? That is a ALOT of pans of lasagna . How many ovens do they have? I would rethink this. Even large roasters of spaghetti would be a chore. Good Luck!

I honestly would pass and probably leave early because we needed supper

What if a non smoker gets a piece from a smoking hiusehold? What if there is a storage issue (fmil forgot and left her 3 out on counter but brings it anyway and everyone who has has a piece gets sick?

That is a lot of lasagna but I think it's a great idea if you guys can pull it off. You can make the lasagna ahead of time and freeze them also. Maybe consider making a day of it with family and/or friends so all the lasagnas will be the same with the same ingredients. If you were counting on people helping costwise by bringing some, you could have them bring some of the ingredients. Make sure you have plenty of people to keep them for you also. I think this is completely doable but make sure you have the ovens to heat that many also. Maybe ask if any of your family or friends have some church family or friends that might be willing to help with the cooking so no one has to miss out on the celebration.

Also.... lasagna is expensive to make! (Or make good anyway). I just cooked enough for 40 people and it was $100+ dollars. I wouldn’t want to ask my wedding party and family to spend $75 or so to make 2 lasaganas for my wedding.

You dont have a 10,000 budget. You have a budget that's riding on the backs of friends and family who shouldn't be asked to cater the party you decided to throw. I would look into something else and let your guests be guests.

I will tell you from experience: my cousin had our whole family cater her wedding, and had me do the cake. It was hell. We prepped for days and still didn’t have enough time. By the end of my cousins wedding, everyone was more happy that it was over than they did enjoy the time they had. It completely ruined the fun, exciting atmosphere a wedding is supposed to have. That’s why for mine, the food is 100% catered. I refuse to put my family to work the way my cousin did. It was awful.

Also. There are family members of mine whose cooking I refuse to eat. Some are careless, one person in my family has dogs and her food sometimes has dog hairs in it, and my gram tends to leave food out.

This is a story I like the share whenever someone is thinking about self catering/potluck.

had a Christmas party at work with about 15 coworkers. We decided to do a pot luck. I decided to make garlic mashed cauliflower. I grab the giant mixing bowl from the dishwasher, in a rush make my dish (it took A LOT longer than anticipated to go from cauliflower for 2 to cauliflower for 15, who would have thought?) and I’m luckily only a few minutes late to the party. Party goes well, people like the cauliflower. I get home and I start to unload the dishwasher, my husband stops me because hey! The dishwasher is actually dirty dishes, not clean. Which means I unknowingly served my coworkers dirty cauliflower. It happens to get best of us, with the greatest intentions. Moral of the story-pot luck is gross.

I commend your courage for sure and my family is really big on everyone bringing a dish to every party thrown, even when they aren't asked to so I get it. If you think you can pull it off, I say go for it. I'd definitely plan way ahead and prepare and freeze. If you have someone with a deep freezer, you can start weeks ahead. Give yourself and others plenty of time so all you have to do is heat and eat. Congrats and good luck!!

As much as I unrestsnd not being able to afford a big wedding being a budget bride. I do agree with how would you keep that much pasta hot? Plus reheat it for the wedding.

I mean this in the kindest possible way when I say: this is a bad idea! Beyond food safety issues, this is just a logistical nightmare and will lead to you, your friends, and your family working like crazy through your wedding instead of enjoying it. Self catering could work for a guest list of 30-50 if you’re an extremely skilled chef with prior catering experience. It will almost certainly not work out well for 250 for someone with no experience with this sort of thing. Please consider catering and cut your expenses in other areas to stay in budget!

I usually pro self-catering when the guest list is 75 or under. 250 ppl is A LOT of people. That requires a lot of food. Who is going to serve it? How will you keep it warm? (If you buy sternos and big dishes to keep it warm, at some point you should just get a caterer). Does your venue allow self-catering? (Although I think the food-poisoning liability is over-blown). How are you, your BM, your family going to get ready if you're focused on food? Where's the $10K budget going? About half of your budget should go towards food, so you could spend $20 per person (including tax and tip) and get a caterer. I live in DC, a VERY high COLA area, and even I could find something (Olive Garden, Mexican, BBQ, Panera) to cater for $20 per person.

There are many ways to save money for a wedding. This is not one of them, especially when you admit you have no idea what you're doing. There have been professional chefs/caterers on this forum that have considered this and decided not to due to the stress and logistics. If your wedding budget is $10,000 then you have approximately $5,000 that should be allotted for catering. Don't scrimp on your guests' experience/enjoyment to use the money on something that won't enhance their experience. The reception is a "thank you" to your guests for witnessing your ceremony so hospitality is key.

Inconsistent, random lasagnas served? No thanks. Many people are (rightfully) put off by potluck meals so plan on your bridal party’s hard work going to waste as many guests will likely pass on the food. If you do decide to follow through on this plan, do you really feel ok asking your bridal party to help fund your wedding or are you at least reimbursing them for the ingredients/supplies that they will need to prepare YOUR wedding food?

I have to echo everyone else here. How will you ensure everyone with food allergies is safe? As someone with food allergies I do not eat at potlucks. The risk is too high because I don’t know that everyone was good about cross contamination. I would have to leave the reception if it was self catered and would be pretty annoyed that I blocked off the whole day and couldn’t enjoy it with the couple.

View Quoted Comment As someone who has successfully sued to have my medical bills covered because of a food allergy incident I just want to say that the food-poisoning liability is not overblown. When severing food to larger groups like this someone has to ensure that it is safe for all to eat and be responsible if it is not