PLANNING TO CATER YOUR WEDDING
Where Do You Begin?
“We can’t be expected to know how to do something that we have never done before.”
Source Unknown
And we are going to assume that you haven’t planned to cater your own wedding before.
Fortunately, All the Information You Need For Planning to Cater Your Wedding is Right Here.
- Have planning and organizing tools at your fingertips, arranged in a chronological sequence.
- An extensive list of venue resources that won’t require that you use a specific vendor (caterer).
- Complete a simple questionnaire to decide what type of foods to serve your guests.
- Evaluate your menu options using worksheets for specific meals with a range of guest counts,
- Create a schedule that will assist in determining when to prepare the food for the various recipes.
- Use a downloadable form that can determine whether is it more economical to rent dishes etc. or purchase disposables. Or the total cost if you combine the two.
- Prepare a schedule for the day to ensure that all the desired activities are included.
- Stay on schedule as all of your guests proceed through the buffet, in an orderly fashion, in under 45 minutes.
- Have your deposit returned by using methods we developed to get you out of the door on time, with the facility in perfect condition.
What Are The Benefits of Using These Tools When Planning to Cater Your Wedding?
1. SAVE MONEY
The average cost of a wedding and reception in 2018 was $33,900.00 per The Knot.
Reception costs usually account for 50% of the wedding budget. This includes the Venue, Food, Beverages, Music, Decor, and Entertainment.
- You can save a significant amount by purchasing and cooking the food yourself, with or without the help of friends.
- Purchasing all the beverages will allow you to take advantage of sales and avoid corkage fees.
- Renting a venue without contractual stipulations about vendors will give you the ability to make decisions that in turn can save you money.
2. REDUCE THE STRESS DURING THE PLANNING PROCESS
These are only a few of the tools my clients found useful in reducing their anxiety when dealing with the big planning puzzle.
- “The Recipe Worksheets really helped for planning how much food to purchase and the Preparation Schedule relieved a lot of pressure by helping us plan what needed to be done and when.”
- “The Organizational tips were an incredible help.”
- “The breakdown for the amounts of food to serve per person was a lifesaver. The Directions for Preparing Large Amounts of Food and Serving Pieces Table tied up a lot of loose ends. “
- To read more ……visit Clients’ Comments
3. BE RELAXED & TRULY ENJOY THE RECEPTION
Everyone will be relaxed and able to enjoy themselves because they know everything is well planned!
My client Barbara made this statement the first time I met her.
“I had self-catered my older daughter’s reception several years ago and was a complete wreck by the time the reception took place.”
She sent me the following message after the reception we planned together.
“Thank You, It Was A Great Day”
Where Did All the Information to Help You Plan to Cater Your Own Wedding Originate?
It all started when I helped a friend cater her own reception. And then, several years later, I self-catered my own.
I enjoyed both experiences so much that I started helping brides, and their mothers, plan their own self-catered receptions ranging from 25 to 300 guests.
I was also on-site on many occasions to coordinate the activity prior to, during, and after the receptions.
This gave me a unique insight into the tasks that need to occur prior, at the time of, and at the completion of an event.
It also provided numerous opportunities to problem solve in real-time.
A significant portion of this material was the original content of my book Frugally Fabulous Wedding Receptions and the curriculum for a class taught through the local school district.
And now over twelve years later, after helping too many brides to count plan for catering their own wedding, ………here I am.
So, let’s get started on your journey.
STEP ONE
Order the free Fantastic Recipes eBook.
These are the recipes my clients used and now they are a key part of the foundation for planning to cater your wedding. Also, watch for additional recipes that will be added to the blog in the future. I have included some of my clients’ favorites because they were so well liked and worked well with the preparation schedule.
STEP TWO
Start with the Blog Posts Parts 1 – 11 for How to Cater Your Wedding.
These are extensive posts with significant amounts of information to get you started.
Not all might be available at this time but they are being released as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, here are the 11 Core Topics. If a blog post is Private it will be available very shortly.
Part 5
Planning a Potluck
Available Here
Part 6
Organizing the Food Preparation
Next
Part 7
Arranging the Room
Coming Soon
Part 8
Setting Up the Buffet
Part 9
Everything You Need to Plan for a Stress-Free Day
Part 10
Clean Up and Out the Door On Time
Part 11
All the Miscellaneous Tidbits
In addition to Core Content the Blog Posts will include
- Comical moments we experienced
- Catastrophes that were averted
- Every tip that I can think of to help make your big day as enjoyable as possible for everyone.
STEP THREE
While Planning Your Self Catered Wedding Take Advantage of Our Special Interactive Recipe Software.
Pssst….you are welcome to continue to use this great feature after the wedding. It will be a great tool to use as your life probably becomes even busier!
- Create a menu using the recipes our clients love and even add your own.
- Modify the number of servings right in the recipe as you plan your menu
- Create a Shopping List.
- Save recipes, menus, and shopping lists in the computer.
- Access your list on your phone while shopping.
- Check off items as you put them in the cart.
STEP FOUR
When you are ready, download all the essential forms and worksheets we used to plan my clients’ events located in the
Cater Your Wedding Planning Guide.
Over 18 specific forms and several interactive worksheets to assist you in making decisions and determining exactly what is needed, and when, as you go through the planning process.
Take a quick look at the detailed description of all the planning tools, forms, and worksheets here. You might not need them yet, but it will be nice to know what is available.
As a “thank you” for bearing with me through the re-design of my web page and blog, order your downloadable copy now and pay only $2.99.
Planning Questions?
I am here to help. I was on-site at most of my client’s functions and know what needs to be done to ensure a smooth and well-organized function. Plus, your question could be helpful for other brides. Please post your questions in the Comment section below.
And Now
You have a step by step guide for planning to cater your wedding.
I am here to help. I hope you will share your biggest fear about catering your wedding in the comments section so I can address those concerns in a future blog. Thank you!
