Catering for approx 120?

If you pre-book with your local Asda they will bake bread rolls to order so you can have as many of the 36 packs as you like.

You can hire soup cauldrons relatively cheaply which will allow you to keep your food hot. Also borrowing a heated hostess trolley would come in handy assuming your venue doesn't already have these things. Check your venue has enough electrical points as 6+ slowcookers may cause problems if theres only 1 socket in the area you want to serve food from. Also whilst 36 litres of slow cooker space sounds a lot it isn't enough for 120 people. See if you can get hold of a copy of Crackenell and Kaufman "Practical Profesional Cookery" from your library as it gives quantities for that number of people as well as a lot of time and money saving tips.

You're not a Jehovahs Witness by any chance? as their weddings tend to be like this only without a guest list as anyone can turn up to celebrate with you.

Yuo could try your local catering college and see if they have any students who would be available to assist with your prep, serving and clear up. It would make a great project and look good on their CV.

I think this is a fab idea.

Not knowing what kitchen facilities you will have available I think your choices are good.

My wedding reception - which was 40 years ago this weekend! - was typical of the time and simple.

There was a turkey and a ham which was carved for people. With that was salad, bread rolls and all the other buffet bits.

The dessert was trifle in those little waxed, oblong, frilled dishes.

It was simple but really nice.

I think that weddings have gone mad - though there always were people who spent a lot. Our friends wedding was smashing. The bride made the dresses herself, she and her sister made the cake, the reception was at their home and they made the food themselves. It was typical food for the time, simple and delicious. I don't think it would have been more enjoyable if it had cost an arm or a leg.

Congratulations! :beer:

I think it is a brilliant idea. A friend had a DIY wedding where they asked friends to contribute to the wedding rather than buy them a gift - they made it clear that they would appreciate 'effort' rather than 'financial cost', most people entered the spirit of things beautifully! The dress was altered by a guest, the cake, decorations and flowers were done by guests, as well as a big buffet by lots of us. Even the venue was a gift from the landlord, and I think that the only real expense was the registry office in the end. What happened with the food was, some of the evening guests gave an 'organisation' team as their gift and people took the food etc to them during the day. Then when the rest of the evening guests arrived, we chipped in with putting everything out. It was a wonderful ice-breaker for a disperate group of people as well. There was no little groups hiding in corners and families not mingling, everyone went round asking what others' contributions were, and trying to find who had made that delightful whatever and how did they do it?! And the cleaning up was covered by a lot of the older guests, who seemed to take great delight and satisfaction from it. Instead of wedding favours, there were chupachup lollipops (a gift) and postcards asking for tips and advice on marriage life, these made another album to go with the photos (taken by guests - the offical 'photos' by a photographer friend and by a local journalist who'd asked to write a piece about it, plus amateur photos from guests)

When the speeches were made, there were tears from pretty much everybody, as the groom thanked everyone from halping to make a wedding that was more wonderful than he'd have ever dreamed of. He said that most weddings are a lot of expense for a lot of people you never really wanted to invite, but that every single person in the room was a dear friend, and that they'd never foget all the friends who helped to give them the best possible start to their married life. By this point even big butch rugby boys had tears in their eyes! Then they went off to Cornwall to honeymoon in a guest's caravan, and they now have a bona fide honeymoon baby

It's not for everyone, and it's a lot of hard work (but aren't all weddings?) but if I ever planned to get married, that's how I'd choose to do it too. They've already started a big trend - loads of people I know have started to take aspects of the big day, although not to that extreme!

Whatever you decide to do, remember that it's your wedding, and that anyone whose going to stop you from doing what you want to do is thinking of their own issues, not yours

Just a quick thought, obviously it depends on your guests (if they all have internet access) but you could use this site - www.whattogive.co.uk - to create your online list / menu and everyone can mark off what they want to pledge for the day I found out about it from others on these forums (haven't used it myself tho, but it looks good).

Hi there :wave:

At our wedding in 2004 we married in a hotel but skipped the formal meal in place of a carvery-style buffet. We got married at 4pm and invited everyone from 4pm, no evening guests, so only one round of food. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the informality of it all, no seating plans, just everyone sat where they wanted and were called up a table at a time to eat. It went down really well and I'd thoroughly recommend it.

We also did the speeches straight after the ceremony and before we ate - this meant everyone was so much more relaxed and could just get on with enjoying the event!

Good luck with your wedding, it sounds lovely and I'm sure with the organisation you have in mind it will be a wonderful day.

Debbie.