Catering Your Own Wedding Reception

Giving your wedding a little taste of home.

Catering Your Wedding

There are a variety of reasons you may decide to cater your own wedding.

• If you are having a small, informal wedding, having a potluck reception may be just the thing.
• If you can’t imagine your wedding day without special cultural foods or some of Grandma’s famous recipes, then doing your own catering may be the right way to get the exact meal that you want.
• For most, the reason for self-catering is ultimately the cost. Hiring a professional caterer can run anywhere from $40 to $200 per person. By doing the catering yourself, you cut these costs by as much as half.

Planning Your Catering Success

There are some important facts to take into consideration before you decide that doing your own catering is right for you.  First, if you plan on the bride or mother-of-the-bride overseeing most of the food preparation, you should expect for this responsibility to significantly take away from the other wedding day experiences.  The stress of making sure that the meal is executed perfectly can also be a lot to handle.  If you have other friends and extended family willing to take on this responsibility, self-catering may be much more achievable.  You should never plan to cater for more than 125 people unless you have access to a large, professional kitchen.  The smaller the guest list, the easier it will be to do the catering yourself.

You should plan for about three cooks/servers for every 100 people.  If you are preparing the food fresh for the reception, then your cooks and servers should not be people who will want to attend the event.  You may want to consider ordering the cake, desserts, and even the main dish from a caterer and simply providing your own side dishes if preparing the whole meal seems a bit daunting.  A buffet-style meal will be much easier to self-cater than a plated meal, since a buffet only needs to be set out and replenished, rather than served to each individual guest.

Another way to keep things simple is to focus on cold finger foods.  Plates of cheese and crackers, cocktail shrimp, sausage slices, vegetables and fruits with dip, and a variety of salads are all menu items that can be prepared in advance and served with ease. If you want to add a few warm dishes, consider soups, stews, or casseroles that can be set out and kept warm in large crockpots.  If you are having a casual, outdoor reception, consider firing up the grill for a wonderful self-catered meal. You can marinate chicken and steaks ahead of time and all you’ll need is someone to man the grill!

The Proof of the Pudding …

Once you have selected the menu and assigned a staff of friends and family to cook it, arrange for a sampling. Your cooks may be tempted to try new and fancy recipes for your wedding.  This can be a fun idea, but your wedding day should not be the very first time the recipe is executed.  Leave plenty of time to adjust the dishes to your taste and try again if the dish doesn’t seem quite right at first.  Your best option is to select foods that have been prepared again and again and so are less likely to fail.  With practice, planning, and preparation, you can cater your reception like a pro!

Photo credit: The Vault Catering Company