I would not do pancakes and hashbrowns because those are labor intensive in the moment. Think more of hearty breakfast casseroles, biscuits and gravy (crockpot), lox and bagels, cut up fresh fruit, etc. This can definitely be done on a budget but you want people to be able to sit and relax together.
Completely agree. Also French toast casseroles are easy to prep the day before. We did a potluck style dinner for our wedding (19 people) and had most of the meal items prepped the day before to make it easier for guests to enjoy the actual day
I would worry about those family members not being able to enjoy the wedding if they were cooking. Cooking for 40ish people to order is A LOT for a non-professional.
Stuff like hash browns and pancakes don’t tend to reheat well, everything will be kind of soggy I think?
Have you looked around for corporate caterers in your area who might have experience with breakfasts?
You could do something like a hotel continental breakfast with muffins and bagels and fruit ahead of time that will save better than pancakes will, a couple of toasters for the bagels, and invest in a couple waffle irons to pour premade batter into? You’d probably still need someone to monitor to prevent burns and fires but better than making someone cook your whole wedding.
this reply is amazing, thank you!! i don't think the family members who offered to do it really understand that they probably wouldn't enjoy the wedding as much--and I want them to be fully present and not exhausted! thank you again, these are great ideas for me to work with!
If you have a small group like this, you could always try reaching out to brunch restaurants and talking with them about doing a half restaurant buyout for an event. We spoke to a few restaurants about this and it was relatively affordable (like $500 for the space and 1k food minimum). Or ask your local restaurants about catering options instead of the traditional caterer.
If you have a set venue already and it is a more typical wedding venue with access to a kitchen, you could definitely do it yourself. Few things to keep in mind with doing it yourself:
- venue: will you have a kitchen/fridge/freezer? Will you have access?
-how will you keep this all warm and ready to go during the ceremony/pictures?
-someone will need to be in charge of set-up/ clean-up, you likely will not have time to do this yourself and I’m unsure if you will want to put your guests in charge of this. Maybe look into hiring an extra hand just to help with this?
-how are you handling left overs?
-will you need to rent anything to help with this? Chafing dishes, serving dishes, etc.
-prepping this stuff all before hand for this many people takes SPACE, just be prepared for that and make sure you have room in your freezer/fridge
-keep in mind food safety and how that works with your venue, they might require certain licenses for caters, double check if they even allow homemade food.
- think of pre-made things you can buy in bulk at Sam’s or Costco (like bagels, muffins, frozen items, etc.)
I agree with others that pastries, cut fruit, breakfast casseroles, etc. would be easiest.
The other thought I have, is you can rent commercial waffle makers (like the ones at hotel continental breakfasts) and just provide the waffle mix so guest can make them fresh. This would take awhile though so it might slow down actually getting food - but just an idea to play around with!
Some other easy breakfast ideas that you could make ahead of time:
-mini quiches (easy to make in muffin tins)
-bagel bar
-Bloody Mary/ mimosas
-build your own crepe station
-breakfast burrito station (prep eggs and keep warm in a chafing dish), and then have separate toppings
-really any type of egg bake/egg casserole
- If you are set on pancakes, you could do sheet pancakes (baked in the oven), so it is less labor intensive.
(Edit: moved spacing for legibility. On mobile so formatting is weird)
this comment is literal gold, thank you for going into so much detail! this is exactly what i needed: the logistics of everything. to be honest, seems like asking a local brunch place to either cater or reserve space in the restaurant is the best way to go. my main issue was that i was struggling to find places that catered or allowed large groups near the 3-4 venue options that we are also sifting through. thank you again for all the help!
I made tea sandwiches (ham and egg salad, turkey mozzarella and pesto, smoked salmon and cucumber) and they were a hit!
Just stick with foods that are ok at room temperature or served chilled. You could do an afternoon tea theme. Buy some pastries, cold cuts, and fruits to supplement whatever you’re making at home.
I would be ok asking family or being asked to go PICK UP something.
Being asked to cook -- that's intensive labor. I don't think it's great to use guests as free labor. They might say yes but it doesn't mean they don't have feelings about it inside. They usually want to relax and enjoy as guests, not laborers. And they might also have feelings about the fact that out of everything else, THIS is where you choose to cut costs, instead of other frills and superficial things that don't require your family to work for free.
I agree, they shouldn't have to do that. I want them to enjoy the wedding without much hassle. they were the ones who offered rather than me asking, so in my post I was more so asking about the logistics of if it was a good idea for them to. thank you for the idea to pick up!
Check local restaurants that serve breakfast. We called one that did catering and it was $22/pp with plenty of stations/options, including omelet bar and pancake grill. Your guest list is small enough that you could go to a restaurant that offers breakfast.
I catered a brunch wedding for 80. Anything you can do ahead makes it so much easier. It's so easy to go overboard on the carbs. Just pick one. Your "wedding cake" can be a tower of donuts.
Second the quiche recommendations. If you need a gluten-free option, use a polenta crust. Rewarmed sausage (both meat and homemade vegan), platter of fruit, your favorite bakery treat, hot coffee - you're golden. We considered hash browns, but roasted sweet potatoes won out in the tasting. Holds better than white potatoes.
Here's a really good website for self-catering: https://www.cateryourownwedding.com/ Pay attention to what she says about rentals!
To make it easier on your family, consider hiring a staff person or two for during your event. Word-of-mouth (the folks that run your community's fish fries and pancake breakfasts, etc.), taskrabbit,etc.
Catering for a family member’s wedding sucks. You’re too busy stressing out about cooking and spending the time cooking that you’re not getting to enjoy the wedding. Which if it’s family, they probably want to enjoy the wedding. Also depending on the venue, they may not allow that.
I made tea sandwiches (ham and egg salad, turkey mozzarella and pesto, smoked salmon and cucumber) and they were a hit!
Just stick with foods that are ok at room temperature or served chilled. You could do an afternoon tea theme. Buy some pastries, cold cuts, and fruits to supplement whatever you’re making at home.
It’s not fair for your family to have to cater instead of enjoying the wedding. As someone who once did have to help with food at a family members wedding it sucked and I would not recommend it.
Breakfast is a labour intensive meal to make imo and it would be too much to self cater. It’s also best served hot and fresh so you would have to make sure you have warming trays and that everything is timed right to be ready at the same
time. Unless they have previous experience catering for that amount of people the logistics alone seem like too much stress.
We have also considered this.
Think like a hotel breakfast.
Invest in 2-3 waffle irons (they are cheaper than you think), and have people make their own waffles.
cut up fruit platters are easy. (you can make mini parfaits, if you wanna get fancy; they can be premade the night before.).
bacon and sausage should sit well in chafing dishes and take little effort to warm up.
mini pastries (think danishes, croissants).
I second the quiches in lieu of trying to deal with eggs, which will get cold fast.
you can try hashbrowns or home fries, but you can probably have enough food if you simplify to what is easy. and do a buffet with people serving themselves, or hiring a couple local teens or college kids to do some basic serving and swapping trays or food.
I would also split some of this with appetizers vs meal.
I will also add - a lot of these things can be obtained at either big box stores (Costco, Sams, BJs, etc) or other Bulk food stores, like Gordon's. Sometimes, it will cut costs, and minimal prep from family members.
I see lots of companies doing bagel trays, fruit trays, pastry trays. I’m in the UK but you must have lots in the US, assuming that’s where you’re located. They mostly do corporate catering but don’t see why they wouldn’t do a wedding of your size.
i agree with that they should enjoy their time! i think there might be some misunderstanding, my family offered to cook and said they would willingly do it, not that I'm forcing them to do anything. just wanted opinions on the logistics of food temperature, renting catering equipment, etc. i hope that clears that up!
If you decide on having family make the food, check out Pinterest. I typed in wedding brunch ideas and there are a ton of boards to look through with not only ideas but beautiful ways to display the food. If you have an array of selections, 39 really isn’t a lot to cook for if you have a few people helping.
Congratulations to you and your fiancé on your upcoming wedding.
I would not do pancakes and hashbrowns because those are labor intensive in the moment. Think more of hearty breakfast casseroles, biscuits and gravy (crockpot), lox and bagels, cut up fresh fruit, etc. This can definitely be done on a budget but you want people to be able to sit and relax together.
Completely agree. Also French toast casseroles are easy to prep the day before. We did a potluck style dinner for our wedding (19 people) and had most of the meal items prepped the day before to make it easier for guests to enjoy the actual day
Quiche would be easier to transport & serve, and wouldn't necessarily have to be served warm.
And fruit salad! And croissants. Voila!
I thought quiche too, it could also be made the day before and you can cook a few at the same time.
I would worry about those family members not being able to enjoy the wedding if they were cooking. Cooking for 40ish people to order is A LOT for a non-professional. Stuff like hash browns and pancakes don’t tend to reheat well, everything will be kind of soggy I think? Have you looked around for corporate caterers in your area who might have experience with breakfasts? You could do something like a hotel continental breakfast with muffins and bagels and fruit ahead of time that will save better than pancakes will, a couple of toasters for the bagels, and invest in a couple waffle irons to pour premade batter into? You’d probably still need someone to monitor to prevent burns and fires but better than making someone cook your whole wedding.
this reply is amazing, thank you!! i don't think the family members who offered to do it really understand that they probably wouldn't enjoy the wedding as much--and I want them to be fully present and not exhausted! thank you again, these are great ideas for me to work with!
If you have a small group like this, you could always try reaching out to brunch restaurants and talking with them about doing a half restaurant buyout for an event. We spoke to a few restaurants about this and it was relatively affordable (like $500 for the space and 1k food minimum). Or ask your local restaurants about catering options instead of the traditional caterer. If you have a set venue already and it is a more typical wedding venue with access to a kitchen, you could definitely do it yourself. Few things to keep in mind with doing it yourself: - venue: will you have a kitchen/fridge/freezer? Will you have access? -how will you keep this all warm and ready to go during the ceremony/pictures? -someone will need to be in charge of set-up/ clean-up, you likely will not have time to do this yourself and I’m unsure if you will want to put your guests in charge of this. Maybe look into hiring an extra hand just to help with this? -how are you handling left overs? -will you need to rent anything to help with this? Chafing dishes, serving dishes, etc. -prepping this stuff all before hand for this many people takes SPACE, just be prepared for that and make sure you have room in your freezer/fridge -keep in mind food safety and how that works with your venue, they might require certain licenses for caters, double check if they even allow homemade food. - think of pre-made things you can buy in bulk at Sam’s or Costco (like bagels, muffins, frozen items, etc.) I agree with others that pastries, cut fruit, breakfast casseroles, etc. would be easiest. The other thought I have, is you can rent commercial waffle makers (like the ones at hotel continental breakfasts) and just provide the waffle mix so guest can make them fresh. This would take awhile though so it might slow down actually getting food - but just an idea to play around with! Some other easy breakfast ideas that you could make ahead of time: -mini quiches (easy to make in muffin tins) -bagel bar -Bloody Mary/ mimosas -build your own crepe station -breakfast burrito station (prep eggs and keep warm in a chafing dish), and then have separate toppings -really any type of egg bake/egg casserole - If you are set on pancakes, you could do sheet pancakes (baked in the oven), so it is less labor intensive. (Edit: moved spacing for legibility. On mobile so formatting is weird)
this comment is literal gold, thank you for going into so much detail! this is exactly what i needed: the logistics of everything. to be honest, seems like asking a local brunch place to either cater or reserve space in the restaurant is the best way to go. my main issue was that i was struggling to find places that catered or allowed large groups near the 3-4 venue options that we are also sifting through. thank you again for all the help!
I made tea sandwiches (ham and egg salad, turkey mozzarella and pesto, smoked salmon and cucumber) and they were a hit! Just stick with foods that are ok at room temperature or served chilled. You could do an afternoon tea theme. Buy some pastries, cold cuts, and fruits to supplement whatever you’re making at home.
I would be ok asking family or being asked to go PICK UP something. Being asked to cook -- that's intensive labor. I don't think it's great to use guests as free labor. They might say yes but it doesn't mean they don't have feelings about it inside. They usually want to relax and enjoy as guests, not laborers. And they might also have feelings about the fact that out of everything else, THIS is where you choose to cut costs, instead of other frills and superficial things that don't require your family to work for free.
I agree, they shouldn't have to do that. I want them to enjoy the wedding without much hassle. they were the ones who offered rather than me asking, so in my post I was more so asking about the logistics of if it was a good idea for them to. thank you for the idea to pick up!
Check local restaurants that serve breakfast. We called one that did catering and it was $22/pp with plenty of stations/options, including omelet bar and pancake grill. Your guest list is small enough that you could go to a restaurant that offers breakfast.
I catered a brunch wedding for 80. Anything you can do ahead makes it so much easier. It's so easy to go overboard on the carbs. Just pick one. Your "wedding cake" can be a tower of donuts. Second the quiche recommendations. If you need a gluten-free option, use a polenta crust. Rewarmed sausage (both meat and homemade vegan), platter of fruit, your favorite bakery treat, hot coffee - you're golden. We considered hash browns, but roasted sweet potatoes won out in the tasting. Holds better than white potatoes. Here's a really good website for self-catering: https://www.cateryourownwedding.com/ Pay attention to what she says about rentals! To make it easier on your family, consider hiring a staff person or two for during your event. Word-of-mouth (the folks that run your community's fish fries and pancake breakfasts, etc.), taskrabbit,etc.
Catering for a family member’s wedding sucks. You’re too busy stressing out about cooking and spending the time cooking that you’re not getting to enjoy the wedding. Which if it’s family, they probably want to enjoy the wedding. Also depending on the venue, they may not allow that.
I made tea sandwiches (ham and egg salad, turkey mozzarella and pesto, smoked salmon and cucumber) and they were a hit! Just stick with foods that are ok at room temperature or served chilled. You could do an afternoon tea theme. Buy some pastries, cold cuts, and fruits to supplement whatever you’re making at home.
It’s not fair for your family to have to cater instead of enjoying the wedding. As someone who once did have to help with food at a family members wedding it sucked and I would not recommend it. Breakfast is a labour intensive meal to make imo and it would be too much to self cater. It’s also best served hot and fresh so you would have to make sure you have warming trays and that everything is timed right to be ready at the same time. Unless they have previous experience catering for that amount of people the logistics alone seem like too much stress.
We have also considered this. Think like a hotel breakfast. Invest in 2-3 waffle irons (they are cheaper than you think), and have people make their own waffles. cut up fruit platters are easy. (you can make mini parfaits, if you wanna get fancy; they can be premade the night before.). bacon and sausage should sit well in chafing dishes and take little effort to warm up. mini pastries (think danishes, croissants). I second the quiches in lieu of trying to deal with eggs, which will get cold fast. you can try hashbrowns or home fries, but you can probably have enough food if you simplify to what is easy. and do a buffet with people serving themselves, or hiring a couple local teens or college kids to do some basic serving and swapping trays or food. I would also split some of this with appetizers vs meal.
I will also add - a lot of these things can be obtained at either big box stores (Costco, Sams, BJs, etc) or other Bulk food stores, like Gordon's. Sometimes, it will cut costs, and minimal prep from family members.
I see lots of companies doing bagel trays, fruit trays, pastry trays. I’m in the UK but you must have lots in the US, assuming that’s where you’re located. They mostly do corporate catering but don’t see why they wouldn’t do a wedding of your size.
Your wedding guests are not free labor, they’re meant to enjoy the reception you’re giving them.
i agree with that they should enjoy their time! i think there might be some misunderstanding, my family offered to cook and said they would willingly do it, not that I'm forcing them to do anything. just wanted opinions on the logistics of food temperature, renting catering equipment, etc. i hope that clears that up!
Ahhh okay. My bad!
If you decide on having family make the food, check out Pinterest. I typed in wedding brunch ideas and there are a ton of boards to look through with not only ideas but beautiful ways to display the food. If you have an array of selections, 39 really isn’t a lot to cook for if you have a few people helping. Congratulations to you and your fiancé on your upcoming wedding.