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self catered wedding for 125
barb 04/18/16	Hi ellen I have enjoyed reading your comments to everyones post and trying to learn from them.I have a menu my son and his future wife have given me for wedding. Food is my responsibility. I am trying hard to figure it out from your website but I am a little over whelmed. I will happily pay you(donate to your site) if you will just tell me how much of each item to make. It will be dinner time when we eat. There will be a mixture of people there. We are estimating 125 people.Not a ton of teenagers or kids. I am planning on cheese and crackers trays and vegetables trays before we eat while waiting for bride and groom to get there. Here it goes: Vegetable tray- I have 16in trays already on hand cheese tray-I have 16 in trays already on hand punch coffee-I have a 55c. maker sweetened sun tea pop water Main course: I am having a cater do the meat only. I am making these side dishes and need the help in figuring the amounts: Baked beans-requested by my son(the groom) Cheesy potatoes -bride's must have mac and cheese-groom's must have Asian slaw-this can be removed if you think its to much. pasta salad-requested my bride potato salad-my must have If you would just give me a guide line on amounts for this menu, I will be entirely grateful. Thank you Barb
ellen 04/18/16	OK, Barb, this is doable and you need to plan on recruiting/hiring some help that will not attend the wedding. Day of you will want to be the Mother of The Groom, NOT the where the heck is the ---- kitchen manager person. This is important. Sources include your caterer, experienced church cooks, local academic culinary programs, and diners that are closed after lunch or on the day you need them. Usual pay is 20-30/hour. For this size group, 2-3 people in the kitchen and about 4- 6 out front to set up, serve, and clean up the party. I would definitely NOT remove the slaw. This is a very carb-heavy menu, in fact I will be suggesting you add at least 1 additional veg, even if it is a cold or room temp one. Vegetable tray- I have 16in trays already on hand- use the veggie tray page, but consider doing a classic relish tray and raw veggies for just 75 cheese tray-I have 16 in trays already on hand- about 12 pounds, some can be logs or spread, 8-9 pounds crackers Consider adding 2 bites per person of a savory, such as the Italian spinach Parm squares on the site, stuffed mushrooms or miniquiches Consider doing a watermelon boat or the deluxe fruit tray for 100 on the fruit tray page punch, 8 gallons if the soda will also be available- lemonade or a citrussy punch would be a good choice for a summer wedding Your sides will have some leftovers, since it is quite difficult to predict the amount of carbs eaten when there are 5 choices. I will do the best I can with this. I am assuming the meat is something along the pork/beef/chicken BBQ line? Baked beans-requested by my son(the groom), 4 1/2 gallons (would start with 5 or 6 #10 cans, depends on what you add) Cheesy potatoes -bride's must have- do for 100, recipe guide at the bottom of the breakfast planning page mac and cheese-groom's must have- 8 pounds pasta, 1 quart sauce per pound, 1/2 - 1 pound cheese per pound Asian slaw-4 gallons pasta salad-requested my bride- 5-6 pounds pasta to start potato salad-my must have- 25 pounds potatoes Consider adding 25 pounds ready to eat veg- could be as simply as roasted veg served cold or room temp, Italian style, or 2-3 gallons antipasto veggies, there is a nice recipe on site coffee-I have a 55c. maker use the reception level plan on the beverage planning page sweetened sun tea Do both sweetened and unsweetened- about 6 gallons of one, 3 of the other pop plan for about 75, using the beverage planning page as a guide for amounts and flavors water, pint per person, or currently there is a vogue for infused water with sliced citrus or cucumber and mint Read the article o planning a wedding dinner for more hints. All the pages mentioned have buttons at the top of the main cook talk page. Thank you for the coming donation. You can write back. For years, I've been helping make weddings & other large events a success and I've loved every minute! We've got major changes in the works to remodel EllensKitchen.com- in order to fund the new website, better searches and more help for your events, we need to raise nearly $20,000 within the next three months! Even if you can only afford $5-$10, every penny helps! Thanks again.
Barb 04/19/16	Ellen, Thank you with every fiber in my body. As promised I will pay you for your advise. I just had no idea where to start with that. Whew!!! sigh of relief. Thank you again Barb

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