diy wedding buffet

Lexxi

You could also do wraps, I find them less dry than bread so you wouldn't need to butter then. fold two opposite ends in a bit roll up from the other side so that the wrap is like a tube sealed on each end then slice into 3 or 4 and you can always put cocktail sticks in to stop them unravelling

bella1010

Thanks for all your replies:)

Great ideas love the cheese, and pineapple sticks !!!

Had a quick look at the iceland website and there party food looks scrummy and easy.

I found food to order on M&S and that looks quite reasonable, well for some of the food anyway.

Just going to look over at john lewis now...

thanks again...keep em coming:j

Lexxi

Try and keep it simple, if you've not done it before then you don't want to be getting in over your head, like chicken, ham and egg sandwiches. rather than chicken, ham, egg, tuna, salad etc etc. see if anyone in particular is good at certain things, my nanna is making trifle and a neighbour is making quiche.
Also think about how things are being set out, tesco has clean plastic picnic bowls fairly cheap, wold be great for salads or pasta salads or huge trifles (I've also got a recipe for a tirimasau trifle which is dead easy to make)

sethsgran

Cold meats, nice choice of speciality breads available at supermarkets now. Also we go to Morrisons for wedding stuff and in the bast we have ordered large bowls of pasta salad etc. Order them then get a friend to collect on the day. Plenty of nice fruit, eg grapes, strawberries chopped melon and pineapple. I simply arrange this on a platter, none of these brown once cut, I leave skin on pineapple and melons for ease of holding. Hope this helps. I would recommend keeping it simple but nice quality. Also bowls of cherry tomatoes etc, like the idea of a cheese board with crackers and even pate with chunks of crusty bread.

paulwf

If you have a decent local cafe/deli or a good Indian/Thai restaurant it might be worth asking them for a quote. I've seen our local Thai turn out crates and crates of snacks for food festivals, I'm sure it can't be that expensive to cook in bulk and will give you something different to the supermarket offerings.

M&S food to order is nice stuff but to be honest for the basics like sandwiches and wraps you can make just as good at home. They are however good for more intricate work like desserts.

Personally I think the most important thing at a wedding is plenty of food, it doesn't have to be fancy but if there is a bar then plenty of basic food to soak up the booze is a must.

I've seen a buffet mostly from Iceland and it did look very quantity over quality. Sorry if that sounds horrible but it did look very tacky and processed. To state my position I don't think food has to be fancy, I prefer simple home made food to their approach of trying to produce 50 pieces of food for less than a fiver or whatever. You get what you pay for I guess I'm trying to say.

On a boring note think about the logistics, are you going to have fridge space to store everything until the last minute? Quiches, dips and mayo etc are very high risk items and for example in a tent on a hot summers day I wouldn't really want them out for more than an hour or two. If you purchase the food the day before have you got somewhere to store it? Will you have to set up the food in the venue before the wedding starts then leave it sitting there for several hours?

Lexxi

paulwf wrote: »

I'm sure it can't be that expensive to cook in bulk and will give you something different to the supermarket offerings.

It's not expensive to cook in bulk, just ask the oldstylers, but buying from a restaurant/deli etc will cost a lot more than if you do it yourself. They have to make profit on their food to cover bills, wages, elecs and the rest, you're looking at around 65% increase on what they have bought the products for.
I was going to look at the cost of hiring a caterer to just do sandwhices or caterer for half the amount I need so that I can bulk up the buffet with things we're making, would reduce stress but not be as expensive as doing the whole thing with caterers

tartantotty

Have you any social enterprises round about you? There are a few near me who do outside catering, and in my experience they offer really good deals, and are usually quite happy to haggle - especially if they get a bit of publicity (just a couple of "buffet supplied by......." notices). So not only do you have a bit less stress, you are supporting a social enterprise at the same time!! Might be worth a half and half - half you, half outside catering - especially for the more perishable stuff, they have the industrial size fridges etc!

paulwf

Lexxi wrote: »

It's not expensive to cook in bulk, just ask the oldstylers, but buying from a restaurant/deli etc will cost a lot more than if you do it yourself. They have to make profit on their food to cover bills, wages, elecs and the rest, you're looking at around 65% increase on what they have bought the products for.
I was going to look at the cost of hiring a caterer to just do sandwhices or caterer for half the amount I need so that I can bulk up the buffet with things we're making, would reduce stress but not be as expensive as doing the whole thing with caterers

I agree it will cost a lot more than home made. I suggested it as an alternative to the M&S and Waitrose special order food though as these ranges can be good but aren't cheap. Some people don't think of asking local restaurants as you pay a lot more for a sit down meal than if you bulk order and pick them up in your own containers and serve them up yourself.

money_saving_angela

:T DIY chocolate fountains. :T
Chocolate fountains are a most at any party !!!!!
go down well with childrena nd adults.
you must buy the correct chocolate for them to flow correctly,
hire a chocolate fountain or buy a cheap 1 from exclusive chocolates
you can buy chocolate in all different size bags and flavours from exclusive chocolates and from chocolate barns on ebay 1 bag from £6.99.
buy some cheap dipping item's as well and that is desert done !!!
have fun and dip away.
every body will enjoy and talk about it for year's to come.
Also if you buy a machine you can get it out for every wedding anniversary !!! :rotfl: