self catering!

GettingHitched

Hello all

Im busy planning away ( and making lists....list making a holic here LOL ) for our wedding next april. Ive put together a budget on Confetti, but trying to get as low as possible ( not because im tight, I just dont see the point in wasting money! )

Im thinking about doing the food ourselves ( maybe a buffet ) but really not sure about the best way to go about it, or what to offer. Ive got a bit of time, so im probably going to have a bash at making my own cake too ( how hard can it be?! ) along with Home Made Truffles as favors.

Has anyone here done their own catering for the reception? what did you use/offer and how much did you spend per head?

debs2327

hi ya we are doing a buffet for our wedding and like you tryiing to watch the pennies as i wouldnt feel comftable in spending what we havent got for our wedding , my mil is doing oour buffet and shes putting sliced meat ie beef turkey pork , and buns as well as doing little sandwiches , and doing salad potatoes (ones with skins on ) spring rolls and doing a salad bowl ive also asked her to do some plate pies , all as well as normal buffet stuff , i wanted ppl to feel as if they have a lot of choice and its not all sandwiches and sausagerolls , we are having some cakes too but putting them out after the food has gone ,

she is also making our cake 4 tiers , we are having bottom layer traditional spice (christmas cake ) then fruit cake , then chocolate sponge , then victoria sponge , think you`ll be able to make your cake yourself but have a few trys first , ive made my own flowers mine and b,m`s buttonholes top table flowers , favours , cake topper , xx

love the truffels idea we made these at xmas and were so easy and gorgeous xx

GettingHitched

Thanks for that...its good to know there is someone out there doing something similar.
I was thinking a couple of quiches flavours, various sandwiches/rolls/wraps etc, saus rolls, pork pies, cooked sausages, maybe Pizzas for kids ( and the bride LOL) so most of which we can all make in advance between us and or buy from Tesco.
I think we are going to buy our own wines, as reception doesnt charge corkage ( how cool is that! )
The only thing im not sure about, is whether we should have a desert selection as well as a cake?

debs2327

the best thing with buffet is you`ll find ppl will offer to help with the prep and cooking , im only having cakes as i love them lol and the last 3 family do`s weve been to there buffet was all pastry`s and bread all stodgy food and to be honest looked a bit boring so i said i wanted my buffet to look colourfull with cakes and fruit salad in big bowls , only having a few gateaux `s and cakes mil is amazing at making cakes and fairy cakes and decorating them so im sure she`ll do them , xx

roxalana

I guess it depends on how many you are catering for and how much help you will have.

The prep can be quite stressful and do you have enough fridge/freezer space to store stuff prior to the event, enough oven space to cook it, and enough fridge space before you take it to the venue and at the venue!

We have found in the past that it takes a lot longer than I thought it would due to restrictions on how many sausage rolls my oven can cook at once! Also you need to ensure everything is stored properly as you don't want your guests remembering your wedding as the one that gave them food poisoning!

I love self catering stuff but beware of overstretching yourself!

bunnyinheadlights

Hi, I'm doing my own buffet for our wedding in August (getting help from friends though!)
I'm going to keep it really simple - cold meats, salads, quiche and bread so that I only need to worry about fridge hire on the day. I'm going to get really nice ingredients so that it's yummy and then put out extra nibbles in the evening. I'm really lucky that my SIL is a cake designer so she's doing every layer in a different flavour sponge and I'll put out fruit and mini meringues for people to help themselves to if they want something lighter. I'm a bit of a foodie, so it's a struggle for me not to make it MUCH more complicated than it needs to be!!

My next job is to cost it all up so I'll keep you posted!

ps- we're doing a little table of party food for the little ones, but secretly that's just so I can steal the jammy dodgers..

smartie12

I did the food at our wedding myself. It helped being christmas as there was plenty of buffet type food around.

I did chicken bits, quiches, tubs of pasta and a different selection of breads. It was the bowls of Doritos that were a big hit:rotfl:

For the [STRIKE]adults[/STRIKE] kids I did pic n mix.

I did find a bit stressful doing the food but saved a LOT of money. Think it worked out at under £2 per head and we had plenty of food left over to take home;)

DitaBombita

Im thinking of doing my own buffet at wedding next August - for those who have already done this can I check who you got to `put it out` so to speak. As in stick it on the tables for guests to help themselves too?