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Wedding Excitment!
I know this should be on The Knot, but I like you guys much more! We have a date for our wedding!!! We will be getting married May 19, 2012! I am so excited!!
We are having a SMALL wedding with just family and very close friends. We are hosting about 50 people (10 are kids). We are having our ceremony down by the river and our reception at a hall in town. Then, drinks at our house after, the hall does not allow liquor (plus it is a lot cheaper buying our own booze). We planning on cooking all our own food. I am very picky and would rather just do it myself!
Can you guys help me think of food that can be prepared the night before and that will keep warm or cold well? We are in the process of making the rest of our budget and this is where I am stuck!
Thank you!!
Re: Wedding Excitment!
Congratulations on choosing a date! It makes it feel more "real" or official, doesn't it?
Your wedding sounds very nice and intimate. Down by the river sounds pretty!
Do you have enough refrigerator space to store the food? What types of food or meal are you wanting to do? Full seated dinner or buffet style with h'ordeuvres?
We had a full dinner but we had a pretty big wedding so it was prepared and set up buffet style by our caterer. We bought the food in bulk from Sam's to save money and the caterer did everything else. This might not be what you're looking for, but here's a list of things we had just to give you some ideas! Ours was pretty basic and nothing fancy but a good meal.
Hot foods: baked marinated chicken over wild rice, greenbeans and cooked baby carrots, corn, rolls, mashed potato bar (lots of optional toppings like bacon bits, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc. -- it was a huge hit!).
Cold foods: pasta salad, fruit cocktail mix, and a separate fruit, vegetable, and cheese tray.
Most of what we had could have been prepared the day before if needed, then refrigerated, but I don't know how it would be kept warm on the wedding day unless you buy warmers for it (sorry, no ideas!). If you're wanting to do appetizers I've seen a lot people choose things like chicken tenders, meatballs, side salads, mini ham sandwiches, veggie trays, cheese cubes, bread bowls and spinach dip, etc.
Hope this at least helps spark some ideas!
Congrats! My best friend is getting married that day as well! And if I could redo my wedding, I would do it just like you are. Small and simple and no fuss!
Do you know what actually makes a fantastic wedding reception meal, especially in a more casual setting like you're looking for? Barbecue! And it keeps fantastically overnight. Get however many lbs of BBQ, buns, potato salad, baked beans, chips, desserts, etc. and you've got it made! The trick would be finding the best BBQ around your area. The seedier the place, the better!
Let us know what you plan, and any other ideas you want to bounce around. I think a wedding would be a great way to bond together.
I would like a buffet style meal, but nothing too fancy! As for fridge space, I have it covered! I have my fridge at home, the fridge at the hall (we can get Friday afternoon), and I can always use my work fridge (about 3 miles from my house and 2 miles from the hall). My fiance works for GFS Market Place so we can get everything we need to keep the food warm! And my fiance LOVES the idea of a mashed potato bar! I He could eat potatoes everyday if I would let him! Thank you! But, that would be next to my salad bar...that is one thing I AM having!
I also really like the BBQ idea, and have been tossing that back and forth!! We have a very seedie place in town and if you have driven down I65 I am sure you saw the signs. Big Bubba Bucks Belly Bustin BBQ Bliss! The food is good, I just don't know that I would trust them to cater my wedding! I think that is my problem down this way is I don't know of any places that I can count on, like I did back in Chicago! That is why I am trying to do everything myself with lots of help!
So, maybe BBQ pork, BBQ chicken, BBQ tofu (I don't eat much meat), mashed potato bar, salad bar (can use toppings for both), pasta salad, texas toast, fruit and veggie tray, and corn bread? Oooh, and I cannot forget the sweet tea! Or should I make a non BBQ meat selection?
Why is this making me crazy!? Thank you both!!!
It sounds like you're good to go and all set with plenty of fridge space!
I'm glad your FI loved the mashed potato bar idea! We had it set up on a separate table from our buffet and provided individual cups for the guests to put everything in and either top or mix it together. It worked well to have its separate space because it received a bunch of traffic -- our guests loved it and kept going back for seconds for a snack! We saw people walking around with cups of mashed potatoes all night, LOL. I think all the toppings we had were chives, butter, sour cream, bacon bits, shredded cheese.
I also like the idea of BBQ! That sounds really good, especially with everything you named (corn bread, Texas toast, etc.). I think it would be nice to include a vegetarian option but as long as there are plenty of side items (bread, salad, etc.) that don't have meat I think it would be just fine.
I'm hungry now, lol.
You might just give them a call and ask them if they do special orders and what kind of notice and things that would entail. Pre-ordering should ensure that they have what you want, but then again, they may not do that at all. It's worth investigating now if that's what you are really leaning towards so you can have time to find another BBQ place or just come up with a whole other plan.
And now I want baked potato salad. MMmmmmmm sour cream and bacon.....
It is nice to see that everyone seems to think this is doable, because I know on the knot people were getting a lot of flack for even mentioning it.
http://offbeatbride.com/2011/08/the-cheap-bastardettes-guide-to-self-catering-your-wedding
This might help you out a little. I know that this site isn't for everyone, but they do tend to be very very helpful. I know that inside the community on there they have a lot more discussions and ideas about it.
Flak for mentioning what? Not throwing a huge, lavish, incredibly expensive wedding for you and 400 of your closest friends?
Here's the difference between the Knot and Nest when it comes to weddings. The Knot tells you what you OMGYOUMUSTHAVETHISCRAZYDETAILORYOURWEDDINGWILLSUCK!! Those of us on the Nest that have been through weddings will most likely tell you that all of those details are bogus and just a ploy to get your money.