Wedding Food

nicola0007

ok so i may go on a bit here, i do apologise.

We are getting married at 5pm on the day so are opting for a buffet, so people can pick and choose what they want, wont have anybody moaning that they dont like this n this and would also help cut costs...or so i thought!!

we are having 200 people at the most attending and still getting quoted £600ish catering for 150people, this is just for sandwiches, sausage rolls and a few chicken bites which I am just refusing to pay.

we had a great buffet at my engagement party, which my mum and her friend cooked, i got to order the food from my works suppliers, we catered for probably 400 with the amount of food we ended up with lol. it cost about £200 for everything obviously after we made it we knew we had too much but we had all different kinds of things.

we were thinking of doing this again but obviously we dont really have anyone available to do the cooking part plus i dont know wether to have it cold like my engagement party or hot as we have the use of the kitchen at the hall if its hot would need to hire someone in and hopefully they wouldnt take too much.

i have heard that costco do buffet platters, does anyone know about this? also would you have a hot or cold buffet? any ideas, recommendations or just anything really would be great. as you can tell from my rambling i dont have a clue!! i am in central scotland area as well if anyone knows anyone.

LaurensMummy

I'm having a buffet for about 150 people - but I'm lucky my mums friend is a caterer so I am going to give her the money to buy food budgeting about £200. she does a decent spread and we usually end up with too much - but I'd rather that than too little food (I've been to few parties with hardly any food!!)

LEJC

The costing you have been given of £600 for 150 people isnt that bad really its £4 per head...into the cost of this youi have to allow the preparation of sandwiches etc so I actually think its quite reasonable...When you look at it that actually you are considering inviting 200 then that quote actually takes the price down to £3 per head!!!

You can of course cut the cost by asking friends relations and anyone else to help but as you asay they will probably be involved in the wedding more and less able to help...afterall thats a lot of sandwiches and things to produce earlier in the day...also if you enlist the help of family etc you need to think about how the food is prepared and stored before the reception and also transported safely to the venue....its certainly possible to do your own catering for the size of function you are having...we actually did own own evening reception for 250 with a mix of hot and cold picks...well my mum and mil did ...but they did enlist the help of quite a few others along the way

You could look at prepared sandwiches as you say the costcutter ones but possibly in reality they woulnt necessarly work out any cheaper...

What exactly is included in the cost of your food as supplied? I am assuming the sandwiches will come ready cut and displayed ready to serve...

Do you have a good mixture of sandwiches etc...you could always add some freash salad or bowls of coleslaw etc...although in doing this you may be turning it into more of a sit down with the need for a knife and fork so it may be better to think along the lines of finger food only...

I think its worth remembering that when you are catering for that amount of people even 150-200 sausage rolls will take quite a while to cook in a domestic oven add to that maybe chicken wings for the same ammount and it starts to become much more than a 20 min job
and will take over your kitchen....again whilst you are happy to help I cant help but think that you will have other things to think about on the day rather than smelling of butter and sandwich filling....it really is much better to enlist the help of others away from where you are be that family friends or outside caterers...

sammy_wheeler

just checking that you have thought about your venue letting you do the catering?- is it a kind of venue that allows that?

also just to be nosey- i thought the last wedding of the day is 4pm- or is that just an england thing??

nicola0007

yeah £4 isnt too bad but i just thought that sandwiches, sausage rolls and a few chicken bites werent enough and obviously adding more would increase the cost.

laurens mummy, are you just having a cold buffet? would definatley want more than less as well because as the night goes on as well people will get the munchies so hopefully will be some left to sort them out!

i think we will look into maybe asking a few close relatives to do a few platters each then can just pick them up and take them round. i can even help out as i wont need to start getting ready till early afternoon or so i think

Kittendreich

Depends on the venue, but £4 for a basic buffet seems fairly cheap - many places are £3-4 just for tea & coffee! It can be done cheaper if you do it yourself, as you will not have staff costs, transport, insurance & profit etc that a business/hotel would have to, but then you have the hassle of sorting it all out, serving and clearing up...

For my evening buffet it was the same price for 3 hot dishes as it was for a cold buffet - so that might be worth asking about. Sandwiches and cold platters are quite labour intensive and can't really be done until near the time - wheareas lots of hot dishes can be done in advance and take less time than making up and plating hundreds of sarnies...

nicola0007

yeah the venue will let us do the catering there, we can hire out the kitchen to use.

last wedding in a church in scotland is 5pm. long as the signatures are down before 6. must be different in a hotel though because i went to one that started at 6pm.

thanks for your comments, ill need to think about it a more and go round a few more people.

thanks!

gizmo111

If the venue will allow you to do the catering on their facilities, why not consider hiring someone through a agency to set the food out and make sandwiches, cook chicken etc and you buy what you want from costco. Family can still help out but an extra pair of hands or two not involved in the wedding may be helpful.

PasturesNew

You'll also need to get somebody to clean afterwards. To clean away all the uneaten food and the used dishes - as well as going round the whole room scooping up all the leftover plates and all the spills and squashed food, all the cocktail sticks, the serviettes.... and they'll have to remove all the tablecloths and wash them ... and sweep/wash the floor (and probably tables/chairs where food's been dropped etc). And outside the building, the car park/outside the door will need to be checked for where people wandered outside with a plateful then stuffed the empty plate down behind the bush.

And you'll need to hire glasses and buy serviettes and paper plates, which I'm sure you'll suddenly decide need to be themed.

It's endless.

Stephb1986_2

Costco do do sandwhich platters but I'm not sure how much they are but might work out dearer.

Steph xx

PinkPrincess83

Im glad youve asked this as I was wondering whether the quote I got today for a buffet was good.

I was quoted £5.50 per head (may go up slightly next year) for a buffet but that was for what sounded like quite a variety and included hot and cold bits so Im now thinking this is quite reasonable.

For the day we are doing the food ourselves (well my mum is) but it will all be easy and quick stuff, for sandwiches I think Im going to get them from Sainsburys are they seemed very reasonable from there, so it may be worth you costing up how much it would cost you to get them from somewhere like that and then maybe doing the other bits yourself (or roping in some help)