Food Ideas

ALSO, Most venues recommend you getting event insurance and it is still recommended to get it at a private event. Some venues offer it with their package, some don't. Personally, were having it in a backyard so we are getting it for that reason.

I like how in addition to self-catering, OP slipped in that she is having a dry wedding because of "our personal preference." Do your guests' preferences come into play anywhere in your "thanks for joining us for our wedding" reception?

@Amanda why would I provide tips when I am not a professional caterer with the expertise to provide her said tips? Oh and tips would mean that I am pro-self-catering, which is FAR from the fact.

This is a lost cause. Good luck to you @OP and I sincerely hope everything works out well for you.

Wow is this still here? *facepalm*

It should be your biggest expense and you should be hiring someone to do it.

Italian and BBQ are less expensive, also check around local restaurants! We hired one of the local restaurants that does catering but they don't really advertise it (they have business cards at the restaurant but no signs or anything), so they were incredibly reasonable pricing. The food is also great.

Your wedding guests are supposed to be the people you value most in your life, not every tom dick and harry you know. Show them a little respect with a catered meal. Of course other responsibilities don't stop, that's why you have the wedding you can afford while also keeping those responsibilities in check, or elope.

@FB99 LOL a pretty pretty princess? If it wasn't clear, I'm in no way high maintenance and either is my family. There is nothing wrong with family OFFERING their help, and as mentioned, we have experienced caterers and cooks in the family. Cooking your own food is not DANGEROUS if done correctly. I care about my family, and my family cares about us and our day just as much due to their outreach of love and help through all of this. If you want to go in debt and spend $50+(I've seen some posts where people are spending $200+ PER PERSON) per person for them to eat mass produced food, by all means, go ahead. But the great thing about life is that we all get to make our choices for what we want, and that's what makes us different. OP was asking for ideas of foods she can make- if you don't have an idea don't make a special post to bash her plans she didn't ask for that.

Look OP. The nay Sayers really are right. Some are being kind of mean but they are right. I work in a professional kitchen and it really does take a lot to do food on that scale. And then you think about safely too. There are tons of guidelines and safety precautions. I am planning on doing my own food but with the support of several others experienced in food safety, prep, and service.

So, while I doubt you will change your mind, please please really do think about if this is the best idea. The about the stress on you and your guests, look up food safety guidelines and the things restaurants must do to keep food safe, weigh the risks, think about the logistics of keeping everything hot/cold and how you will meet safety standards, and please at least speak to a few caterers for quotes. They are right that Italian and BBQ are less expensive options. Maybe shop around before you make that final decision.

If you don't change your mind, be sure sure sure to look up food safety guidelines and have a thorough plan to follow them. Please also make sure your support is all familiar with those guidelines and is 100% up to speed/on board with your plan to follow them.

Best of luck.

Some people on WW are very negative. Op didnt ask your thoughts on self catering. She asked for simple dish ideas. Not everyone is the same. People have different weddings. People will go. Anyway - here are some ideas...macaronni salad, potatoe salad, lasagna, green salads, vegetable noodle salad oh a salad bar! Umm...rice. try pinterest!

@Laura K. Loads of people helped with my sisters wedding and we didn't hear a single person complaining and everyone had an extremely fun night. If my family wants to help and is going to, then more power to them, we're not forcing anything on anyone, far from selfish. Our families aren't about having a catered or prepared meal, and we aren't self-catering for finance reasons- we could afford whatever we wish if we wanted, but for food we want to self cater it and that's our choice to do so and our families choice to help us, just as it is your choice to pay for outside help. But people coming on here and bashing her for her decision is completely wrong, as she is simply asking for food options.

Why do you want to work and make your loved ones work on your wedding day?

There is so much going on that day anyway, slaving over a stove was not how I want to treat my mother and other loved ones.

@Penny, your wedding is not a priority. If you have other responsibilities like saving up for a house, then you should've waited on the wedding if you can't afford to have a proper wedding.

Self catering poses many risks, food poisoning is the most stressed. If you are not a professional caterer, you probably don't understand this: food can get easily get contaminated with bacteria if it's prepared in a dirty kitchen. And no matter how clean you think it is, it's not. Germs spread like wildfire in kitchens. If you have a pet in the house, it's not sanitary, if you touch your phone, you are spreading germs, etc. did you know that if you don't fully dry your dishes before putting them away after cleaning, you are spreading bacteria? And how are you going to transport the food? Did you know that if food is not kept at the exact temperature, it can get contaminated?

I contacted food poisoning from potlucks a couple times, close to death once when I was 12. I bit into a chocolate cake packed full of cat hair at one event. Please, rethink this! If you cannot afford food, you cannot afford your wedding!

If you still go with this plan after reading this, then clearly you don't care about anyone but yourself. Also, self catering for 100 is not cheaper than a professional caterer.

Bad idea...

National foodborne disease outbreak surveillance data include some information on the association of restaurants with reported outbreaks. From 1998 to 2004, an average of 1290 foodborne disease outbreaks each year (involving an average of 25,600 ill people each year) were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [4]. Of the 9040 foodborne disease outbreaks that were reported to the CDC from 1998 to 2004 [4], 4675 (52%) were associated with restaurants or delicatessens (including cafeterias and hotels; figure 1). Of these, 622 (13%) had a bacterial etiology, 535 (11%) were viral, and 3377 (72%) had an unknown etiology (table 1). Furthermore, when stratifying the 9040 reported outbreaks by etiology, restaurants were associated with substantial proportions of outbreaks associated with all etiologies, including bacterial (39%), chemical (47%), parasitic (24%), viral (48%), and unknown etiology (56%) outbreaks.

@Olivia P we will be, yes. Any other questions?

@Ellaenchanted hence, why I recommended event insurance. Restaurants suffer repercussions cause they're a food establishment that serve food on a daily basis- not getting repercussions can lead to poor workmanship every day. If you read my whole post you would know we aren't paying for a DJ or a band, we are creating our own playlist and having a coworker friend (for pay) run it and MC for the night. My guests will be fed nicely and plentiful

This is wrong in every way. Your family does not want to work. You do not want to work You cannot make food for 100 guests and have a good time at your wedding.

Everyone here has heard the sad story of my own wedding. I catered with my chef husband. We were prow, we had the equipment, the staff, the refrigeration, the insurance and the training. It was horrible for us. I remember getting in our car to leave (after cleaning up) and we realized neither of us had eaten one thing all night.

I would never use my professional background to help anyone self cater because it's dangerous, irresponsible, and if you want to do that to yourself, do it without me.

Oh, and everyone who said they're going to help? They won't. Or they will and they'll bitch about it. And they'll take four times as long to get anything accomplished. I see it. Not often because my clients are smarter than that. And if you've eaten 'dry run of the mill wedding food", it's because the hosts cheaped out.

I am defending not having a caterer.

Okay so here's a little honesty both of my little brothers weddings were self catered by family. Luckily for them they had family members who were willing to do these things and came thru but think about this.

What do you do if last minute your family members decide they can't/won't help? If someone doesn't show you'll have to pick up the slack and not have time to actually enjoy your wedding.

Do you really want your future in laws stuck making and serving good at your reception and not actually enjoying the fact their son/daughter (don't know your sex or orientation) just got married?

Plus many venues will not even allow you to self cater because if the risk associated.

So given the fact I am much older and more financially able to host a proper wedding (both my brothers got married before they were 20 and I'm nearly 30) my mom will be sipping mimosas with me all day instead of stressing about the food like she was for their weddings. Literally with one brother she didn't even have time to fix her hair she was so overwhelmed.

Just putting that out there.

So 100 people are touching portapotties. Then touching food.

That's absolutely disgusting.

I worked in restaurants and for a caterer and honestly it is never as clean as you all want to believe.

People that get payed little and are stressed do care less about standards than i would.

And that, Sam, is why we had paid over minimum wage (as in way over) for 15 years.....

There is no defending self catering. There isn't one good reason to do it, and no, you won't save the kind of money you think.