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Judy 02/11/17 |
I'm catering my daughter's wedding March 25th. We have 200 guests attending. It's a private ceremony in the morning, then a receiving line and appetizers starting at noon, and buffet style lunch at 1pm. Would you mind looking at my food list? Appetizers:
20 lb. assorted cheese
Broccoli - 4 lb. florets
Red Grapes - 4 lbs.
Lemonade - 8 gallon
Lunch:
Dessert will be served, not self-serve: I'd appreciate any changes or suggestions you might have. Thank you for your help, and this site! |
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ellen 02/12/17 |
Hey, Judy, good work, I am out of state with my mom (91st birthday) and will have a close look the end of the week. If you are dead set on icecream, consider either renting aself serve machine or prescooping and freezing the scoops- this is pretty messy for a wedding. |
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ellen 02/13/17 |
Had an extra hour- Please get plenty of help day of, even if you hire; your day is mother of the bride day, not kitchen manager day! At least 12 people out front, 3 in the kitchen to set up, serve, and clean up the party. Gallons of special veggies are available at most Middle Eastern groceries and most restaurant supply stores. Here are my food suggestions:
200 guests attending.
20 lb. assorted cheese
Broccoli - 4 lb. florets- 6-8
Red Grapes - 4 lbs.-50- go 8
Lemonade - 8 gallons, prob none left
Lunch:
Dessert will be served, not self-serve: Must have- regualr and decaf hot coffee for adults, with dinner or at least with cake |
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Judy 02/14/17 |
Thanks for your suggestions. They are a big help. I do have 6 adults in the kitchen that day, and will plan to find more people to serve coffee and cake, and bus the tables. I have another question. What size tray would you recommend for the appetizers to be put on? And how many would I need for that amount of veggies and fruit? Do I heap them full? |
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ellen 02/14/17 |
18-20 inch trays, and nice and full but don't heap them- a fresh tray looks much nicer than a picked over tray. Cutting the grapes into 3-6 grape clusters is one important step toward nice looking fruit trays. If this proves a big help, please make a donation to support the site. |
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Judy 02/16/17 |
Ellen - where is your link that explains the different levels for a donation? I feel like I found it once, but can't find it again. Thanks. |
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ellen 02/16/17 |
O- click on the masthead at the top of the page for support for the remodel. or just use the donation button on the upper left for a miscellaneous donation. |
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Judy 02/17/17 |
I just made a donation and I thank you for your help! I keep reading through the questions and your responses, and am now am wondering if the above meal is enough. I keep seeing where you say a wedding meal should be a feast. I'm thinking about adding a 2nd meat, like jerked pork, and another starch. So.....for 200 how does this sound. 105 halves of bbq chicken cut in to quarters (210 pieces) 40 lb. jerked pork (this would be a 3 oz. serving per person) Replace the tossed salad with a coleslaw (made with 40 lb. cabbage) Mashed Potatoes - 60 lb. raw after peeling Gravy - 2 gallon Macaroni salad - made with 16 lb. dry macaroni Baked beans - 6 gallons Dinner rolls - 24 lbs Butter - 8 lbs. Applesauce Jello - 5 gallons The appetizers , punch, and wedding cake would remain the same as per your above suggestions. Does this sound more like a feast, or am I over thinking it and adding more work when it wouldn't be necessary? |
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ellen 02/17/17 |
Thank you for your support. A feast is abundance and color. A few things you don't have often or would not make at home. You are fine on amounts- let's talk color. Deep breaths; the menu as is is OK, more meat and mashed /gravy more work and messy. You can add excitement with a couple of interesting veg dishes. With plenty of oven space, two hot veg such as Normandy mix or Asian stirfry with side crock pots of cheese or oriental sauce; roasted root veg, maybe with a maple or butter glaze which could include chunked red potatoes if you wished; ellen's better green been casserole with either green beans or Prince Edward mixed colors (3 recipes for 200) . Italian veg, squash, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, roasted with olive oil and herbs, which can also be done ahead and served room temp Italian style. 24 pounds ready to cook per 100. Or how about baked peach halves with brown sugar and nuts? I did not mention above to set aside one pot of meatless beans if you have meat in your recipe, and label. In fact, you can set up and mark one serving table with the unchicken bites and the meatless beans as add ons, and just let people know. With no oven space, even bowls of spiced peaches or spiced apple rings are tasty with chicken and add lots of color. 5#10 cans for 2 rings per person; the peaches, you have to look at the number included, as the sizes vary and you want about 160-180 (skip kids).
You could jazz up the salad- use mixed greens instead of iceberg. Add other interesting bits or have side dishes with chopped artichoke hearts (2 gallons per hundred) or 2 gallons each chopped nuts or seeds and dried cranberries; crumbled feta or blue cheese. Measures in the plan for 100 salad section or the salad bar page will offer ideas and amounts: Remember with 200 people, you will need 2 double sided serving lines or 3-4 single lines. You might consider putting the baskets of bread and the butter on the table with pitchers of tea, lemonade and water. Even big bowls of salad on the tables- passing this gives people something to do while they wait for the serving line and encourages talking together. You will have a fine party. |
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Judy 02/17/17 |
Ok thank you so much for these ideas, and the confidence to just stick with the original menu! |
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Judy 02/28/17 |
Hello Ellen! If I decide to add potato salad to my menu, would I go with your recipe for 35 lbs. of potatoes for 100 people, and then decrease my macaroni salad from 16 lb. dry to 8 lb. dry for 100 people? Also, we have now decided on coleslaw instead of tossed salad. My recipe is mayo based and also has bacon, sunflower seeds and raisins in it. From your information, I believe I need 40 lbs. shredded cabbage. Is this correct? And the applesauce jello salad has been replaced by an orange cottage cheese jello salad that has pineapple, mandarin oranges and cool whip in it. It's quite fluffy and 1 batch makes 9 cups. Is a half cup serving a good estimate per person? For the Grandma Brown Baked Beans - I have 8 #10 cans. Do you have any suggestions of where I could find #10 cans of the spiced apple rings? My local Sam's Club does not carry them. Also, I have decided to order the wedding cake for 200 rather than make sheet cakes. Thanks again for your advice and help! It is much appreciated! |
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Judy 03/07/17 |
Hi Ellen - I am wondering if you saw my most recent question posted above? Thanks for your help! |
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ellen 03/07/17 |
Thanks for the tap. If you add potato salad, 35 pounds per 100 and decrease salad pasta to 6 pounds per 100. If already shredded, cabbage is ok, but please consider making without meat/bacon? OItherwise, non-pork eaters can't eat it. 1/2 cup is a good minimum for the jello salad. Baked beans OK. Look around- sheet cakes, even decorated, NOT designated as wedding cakes are less expensive than wedding cakes. You are looking at $160 per sheet, 60 servings. Apple rings here, 108 ounces: whitehousefoods.com/product/white-house-foods-spiced-apple-rings/ pacificcoastproducers.com/product/apple-rings-heavy-syrup/ Or here is DIY: www.food.com/recipe/sweet-cinnamon-apple-rings-388824 |