Cater Your Own Wedding: An Introduction

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Go Back to the Cater Your Own Wedding Index
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:Part 1: Introduction

Weddings are where dreams and reality come to duke it out, like two giant bikini clad body builders wrestling in the mud. What you want vs. what you can afford. They're both slippery bastards you can't seem to get a hold on.


Photo by Jim March Photography

You want to throw a huge wedding, but don't want to be in debt for 20 years to pay for it. Compromises need to be made and corners cut, but if you're not afraid to get your hands dirty, when confronted with a $6,000 quote for catering, don't cut your guest list in half; cut your caterer!

Catering your own wedding can be a lot of work, but, with careful pre-planning, good organization and a lot of help from friends and family, you can cut the cost down as much as 75% what you would pay a professional. Beside saving tons of money, you can also impress all your guests while making your reception even more indicative of your own unique DIY style!

The question is, how do you, with little (if any) experience in large scale food prep, coupled with your limited resources of money and manpower, tackle the challenge of feeding 100+ people on a day when you will not be able to do anything but eat and greet? I've just spent the last 6 months in the mud pit wrestling this same issue. The solution I finally came up works around these weaknesses and actually provides some added bonuses. My recent wedding catered by myself along with my wonderful friends and family was voted a complete success by all our guests.


Stacy is loving it! Photo by Chris Dilts Photography

In an effort to help other like minded DIY B2B's (Bride to be's...and their partners of course) I'm going to spend the next week or so giving all the details of my unique plan to help you successfully cater your own wedding including hints on shopping lists, schedules, check lists and more. Each post will feature a new installment of how to organize a flexible food plan for your wedding, with less then $1000, in your own kitchen.

To all my general readers, I promise, after this series of posts, the wedding craze will be over, and I'll get back into my regular posting routine. So, please stay tuned!
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Continued Reading in the Cater Your Own Wedding Series:
The Basics
A Disclaimer
Begin Planning
A Full Bar vs. Wine and Beer
6 Month Checklist
2 Month Checklist
Final Month Checklist
Final Week Checklist

Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions about my plan or about how to plan your own event.