not tacky That's what it means to be a family and friend.

fyi .... you'll need about 25 lbs of side dishes for every 100 people.

scenario

200 people =

18 lbs. potato salad
10 lbs beans
7 lbs creamy cucumber salad
7 lbs broccoli salad
8 lbs ceasar pasta salad

recipes
creamy cucs...... peel cucmbers and cut in slices,, separate bowl, 3 cups mayo 1/4 sugar green onion ,mix well fold into cucumbers and chill

broccoli salad= chop up brocoli add coleslaw dressing , raisins,bacon bits and sunflower seeds and chopped red onion

ceasar salad= cooked and chilled penne pasta and creamy ceasar dressing ,chopped red onion and deboned rotisseri chicken

these salads can be made 2 days in advance. Salads will keep 5 days if properly refridgerated.
Start catching those sales and this can be done on the cheap and look and taste fabulous.
I've done a little catering lol
Hope this helps

oh yea lol call your local IGA or other grocery store in advance and preorder rolls. Sour dough rolls are excellant with this type of food and they are not terribly expensive.

If you are able to find deli lunch meat on a good sale or fresh fruit s and vegitables , pm me and I'll tell you how to make trays

I so just copied all those recipes for me Thank you for sharing them with us. What great quick dishes.

I would ask a few trusted close friends or relatives to help you with preparing the foods. and that help with food prep would be the friends and relatives gift to the bride and groom. I attended a pitch in wedding reception at one time... the food was pot luck and not very well planned, not enough food was available for the 200 guests. For example, a group of 8 young adults brought one pint of store bought potato salad. My best advice would be not be to leave the food or menu up to the wedding guests on the most important day in your dear sons life.

Shhhh! Be va-wee, va-wee quiet. Dee is shopping for bargains!


Lucky 2 B A Wuckie!

I am only a couple of hours away from you. I have been to all types of weddings and receptions. I don't think I would ask everyone to bring a dish either, but I would definitely ask relatives and close friends. They probably understand the situation that you are in anyway and shouldn't mine helping out with everything. Someone should coordinate what they are bringing though, else you may end up with multiples of the same dish. Perhaps, the maid/matron of honor could help with this.

A great way to handle this is to have a few family members cater this as their gift to the newlyweds. You can never go wrong with these dishes for sides: a fruit platter, caesar salad, pesto pasta salad (toss together rotini, pesto, grape tomatoes- depending on available $ you can add Greek olives and Feta), Baby red potato salad, a vegetable platter, pita chips (make your own from pita bread, oil, ) and hummus, crostini with tomato, basil, and garlic. Most of this can be really inexpensive....free pasta, cheap Caesar dressing, cheap BBQ sauce, etc. If you want to serve rolls, go to your nearest bakery outlet to pick them up. Buy the fruits and vegetables in bulk. It's all about presentation. Instead of serving the salads in an ugly plastic bowl or the fruit on a plain plate, go to the Dollar Tree and buy a few $1 "silver" trays and large clear plastic bowls. Put a white tablecloth on the buffet table and put bouquets of wildflowers in Mason jars on the tables. I don't think it's tacky at all. It could actually be quite romantic.

Also, who says you have to have a huge, expensive wedding... My husband and I got married in Mt. Rainier National Park in our jeans and hiking boots in the most beautiful spot. We had our closest family members and a few friends with us for the ceremony. We then catered our own reception 2 weeks later for all of our family and friends. It wasn't very expensive because we prepared in advance, shopped the sales, and did all the prep ourselves. We also received wedding presents from our family members that helped with the costs. My mom gave us some money as our wedding gift, my dad and stepmom bought the wine, my aunt bought the table bouquets, etc. This made for a less stressful celebration. It was very casual, but perfect for us. People still talk about how wonderful of a reception it was...9 years later.

We are having a wedding for my daughter and I am in the same boat as far as figuring out who is paying, how we are paying, etc. She was naming too many people to the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner is ONLY for the people IN THE WEDDING. If small child include a parent and thats all. It's not person X and guest. I had to get this from several people when we were going to end up paying it all but I also learned that the most relaxed dinners are the funnest. The less stress and most fun make for relaxed wedding party. HTH Good Luck!

Lisa