Family cooking for wedding day

There are too many people for you to self cater imo. Maybe if it was around 30 pp you could pull it off, but you shouldn't ask your family to work during a party that is being thrown to thank them. Also, do you remember that church potluck in Ohio, where a woman died...from botulism...yeah, I wouldn't risk it.

Oh God

Be prepared for this to blow up. Brides here are not into self catering. That said, we're having a very low-key backyard bbq with about 50 guests and "catering" ourselves. We have a large smoker that we're filling in the morning, prepping all sides the day before, baking pies instead of having cakes. We will also have a grill set up for anyone who wants anything else...but my FH is a chef with lots of expirence cooking and prepping for large parties. 200 people, though? We wouldn't be able to pull this off and would have had to get a caterer. Famous Daves caters BBQ (which is so good) for a fairly affordable price. You could also look into a pig roast. Good luck!

Thanks ladies! will keep looking for catering.

@gaga i was looking into a pig roast, my theme is rustic and i felt it fit in

You can't do this. For my sons college graduation party we had ~ 70 people. I made about 400 meatballs. It took two days! The rest was catered. And the party was at my house. I didn't even make salad. Find a cheaper caterer or invite less people.

This is a bad idea and there are plenty of threads explaining why. Some have escalated to the point of The OPs taking it personally. In general, what you're going to run into is:

1. Food prepared by nonprofessional a equals high likelihood of food poisoning (food has to maintain a certain temperature)

2. Yes, your family loves you, but cooking for 200 people is work. Real work. Work that caterers do for $$ because it's a labor. Why would you put your guests through that for what is supposed to be a relaxing celebration?

3. There's no nice, thoughtful way of asking. You're basically saying... Come to my party, I'll have the food, you cook.

4. If you're still going this route, self-serve is fine - that's how catered buffets work, but I think you're asking the wrong question here.

ETA: sorry for just reiterating what others have said. They typed faster than I did.

DON'T KILL ME LADIES, IT WAS JUST A THOUGHT

I would not burden family with this request. They will feel obligated to say yes.

I would look at cutting the guest list or maybe having a smaller reception (cake/punch).

I totally understand that thought haha, but have you looked into something like a food truck rental? The price isn't bad; we have awesome BBQ ones as well as crepes, super good tacos, etc.

That is the route we are going because finding a caterer that would work in our budget meant the food wouldn't be great, but the food truck we are booking is delicious (and we've eaten there a ton of times around town).

That being said, I am assuming my family will step up for the cookie table - it is a Pittsburgh tradition that you have tables full of cookies out at the reception, and pretty much all your family steps in and makes whatever type of cookie is their favorite/specialty. However, it is an enjoyable thing and a lot of the cookies can be frozen in the months prior, so it isn't too much work besides traying up the cookies the day prior.

It is just not practical or safe to self-cater for 200 people. Realistically, you need to cut down your guest list to a size wedding you can afford (aka catering). You don't NEED to invite 200 people. Nobody is that close to that many people. Heck, I didn't even invite any of my cousins to my wedding in an effort to keep things intimate and manageable. Guess what? They understood and the world kept turning. We found a terrific caterer on Thumbtack. First cut your guest list and then post an ad with your catering budget. Maybe a reputable caterer can figure something out and help you.

Nope.

It's a very bad, dangerous thought with more than one problem. Its not just that brides here look down at it; it's just not do able, especially for that many.

Your family does not want to do this; you don't want to do this.

Cut the guest list. You don't need to invite everyone you know if you can't afford to host them properly. Find a decent caterer or a small restaurant and go with it. If you can't afford a whole meal, do an afternoon party with hors d'oeuvres or desserts.

And for the record, Thumbtack charges vendors to bid on your business. Though in some cases you might find a gem, mostly they are vendors who cannot fill their own calendar and newbies.

@SunnyD, I highly recommend you not do this. Not because it is frowned upon on this forum, but because I went to a wedding where it was self-catered and it was a complete disaster. They did not have anyone to serve so it was self-serve. Several members of the bridal party and the couples immediate family were first to get food. Most of them made multiple plates. Some made as many as 4. You guessed it, there was not enough food for the other guests. DH and I shared 2 chicken wings, some mashed potatoes, a salad (with no dressing) 2 dinner rolls and an ear of corn. We left the reception to go to McDonald's.

If there is a cooking school nearby, see if you can hire the students. A friend did this for her son's college graduation last year and the food was delicious!

We self catered our rehearsal/welcome dinner in our home we have all the gear needed for a pig roast and I just went to costco and got everything else to make it easier. but our guest list was small and it was still stressful. I understand wanting to self cater yeah it looks like the ladies on here did chew you up about this a little. my only thought would be to find a cheaper caterer or semi self cater do really easy stuff that doesn't need to be cooked. you mentioned pig roasts. there are companies out there that will do the pig roast and provide some of the classic fixings and you provide salads and desserts (things that don't need to be cooked)

@mrs.bauer thanks! will look into it

If you start a new thread you might get more response but here are my suggestions. Find a non typically wedding caterer. Like if you have a mom/pop resteraunt u like to eat at ask if they cater. Or around here places like Lees/KFC cater a nice meal for around $10 per person. Another popular option in my area is grocery delis and BBQ joints. I lucked out and my caterer let me buy the food and she cooked it. That way I could buy things on sale and use coupons.

Good to see you're NOT going to self-cater. That's just missable for everyone involved. Many restaurants do offer reasonable charges for large parties. 200 is quite a bit but I've been in charge of events for 100+ where we used a local restaurant group and it was fabulous. I think our drop-off charge (people served themselves) was $1500 or so? Not cheap but not crushing. BBQ is usually popular for this type of event. Just a warning-no one is going to bother reading past "I want to do this on our own" and you'll be bombarded with negative responses from well-meaning folks. Just be prepared...

The best advice is to cut the guest list. Seriously. Kit and Kaboodle summed it all up nicely; even if you DON"T cook it, someone has to organize, serve and control it; you can't rely on family and your BP to do this.

Get some quotes for BBQ. I believe I had some places quote as low as $10-11 for 1 meat/3 sides which might be do able. And that was a chain BBQ place. Maybe a mom and pop local place would be able to do something for even less? Good luck!

Call restaurants to ask about their catering. Most places offer catering options where you just need stereos and chaffing dishes. Some places provide those. For $11 a person you can have Chipotle cater and they give you everything! That is a lot of people, but you said it's relatively informal. So maybe just ask a couple people (only close family and friends) if they would be willing to keep an eye on re stocking things. But try to make sure its it more work than a simple task. But in the long run, it's probably cheaper just to go to an all inclusive hall. So keep looking around.