need wedding dinner idea, diy

[Crazyfamily]

Hi, I need to find some ideas for catering my own wedding. (with help from family). we have access to the kitchen in the place we are hiring. (weekend package at a retreat). we really want this to be simple. do any of you clever people know what food we could do. simple and nice that doesnt take too much effort on the night to serve. it is for 70 people and a third of them are children. any ideas???

[NonnyMouse]

I quite often make yummy bruschetta things. Basically slices of crusty bread topped with roasted capsicum, basil leaves and a bit of fetta. Really easy to make (you can pre-roast the capsicum the week before and store it in oil or just buy jars of it (although the jars are expensive), looks elegant, and the capsicum comes out nice and sweet so even kids find it OK to eat.

[Crazyfamily]

that sounds nice. might try that one at home to thanks:D

[Nomsie]

Are you having a sit down meal, or just nibblies come out throughout the evening?

[TripleTime]

Cocktail finger food type things would easy.

Mini quiches, mini anything.

[missie_mack]

Yep I would do finger food given the choice. However if you are doing a sitdown thing two different types of roasted meat would be my choice with vegies. I would employ at least one or two people (a family friend who is reliable and could do with a night pay for example) to get the food out and running

[faroutbrusselsprout]

It really depends on whether you're having a sit down dinner. buffet or finger food.
My mum catered my entire engagement party, it was sensational!

[Crazyfamily]

was thinking like buffet type thing. plus we will need nibblies. oh i dont know, im hopeless

[nothanksbye]

chicken tabouli balls are always a big hit at our parties.

chicken mince
tabouli
egg

mix it all together and then place on a tray in small balls and bake in a slow oven.

for a nice dip

plain greek yogurt
fruit chutney to taste.

[Crazyfamily]

It really depends on whether you're having a sit down dinner. buffet or finger food.
My mum catered my entire engagement party, it was sensational!

she is very clever, what di you have

[faroutbrusselsprout]

We had a couple of girls handing around plates and then it all got put on a big table for everyone to help themselves.
It was all homemade as I hate things out of boxes...:o
She swore by having a slow cooker, a pie warmer, an urn and a huge bowl of fruit punch! :D
-Antipasto plate (dips, olives, cheeses, salami, sundried , crackers etc etc etc)
- Sweet and sour bbq mini meatballs in the slow cooker with toothpicks
- Salmon pies (Bread base in muffin tins)
- Mini pizzas on breadstick
- Cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers on breadstick
- Chicken soy honey drummettes
- Zucchini and bacon slice, sweet chiili dip
- Whole fish on the bbq
- Club sandwiches

Thats all I can remember!

[Mischief]

The Australian Womens Weekly have several great cookbooks in the MINI section.

Finger Food
Bites
The Little Summer Cookbook (Has lots of cold foods, that you can picnic with, so they are a good idea because you dont have to worry about keeping them hot)

[Mischief]

Also... http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/recipes/finger-food

We had lots of finger food, also had some hot food like curried meatballs with rice, and beef stroganoff with pasta spirals.

Ours was fully self catered too!

[MummaFug]

We recently had a party for about 50 pax and we had those Chinese Noodle boxes - you know the funky ones they use in TV (I think Party people sell them) and chopsticks (you could get your names and wedding date on them) and then we had a HUGE tub of rice and then a chili, a curry and a vegetable stewy thing.

It was easy and people could have whatever they wanted and we colour co-ordinated the boxes with our theme (you could also make stickers and put them on your boxes)

[Crazyfamily]

Also... http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/recipes/finger-food

We had lots of finger food, also had some hot food like curried meatballs with rice, and beef stroganoff with pasta spirals.

Ours was fully self catered too!

that sounds good.

thankseveryone for your help. i really appreciate it

[Crazyfamily]

We had a couple of girls handing around plates and then it all got put on a big table for everyone to help themselves.
It was all homemade as I hate things out of boxes...:o
She swore by having a slow cooker, a pie warmer, an urn and a huge bowl of fruit punch! :D
-Antipasto plate (dips, olives, cheeses, salami, sundried , crackers etc etc etc)
- Sweet and sour bbq mini meatballs in the slow cooker with toothpicks
- Salmon pies (Bread base in muffin tins)
- Mini pizzas on breadstick
- Cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers on breadstick
- Chicken soy honey drummettes
- Zucchini and bacon slice, sweet chiili dip
- Whole fish on the bbq
- Club sandwiches

Thats all I can remember!

so many ideas.:smiliedance:

[Crazyfamily]

We recently had a party for about 50 pax and we had those Chinese Noodle boxes - you know the funky ones they use in TV (I think Party people sell them) and chopsticks (you could get your names and wedding date on them) and then we had a HUGE tub of rice and then a chili, a curry and a vegetable stewy thing.

It was easy and people could have whatever they wanted and we colour co-ordinated the boxes with our theme (you could also make stickers and put them on your boxes)

also a great idea. knew i could count on this forum for help

[Seacretsquirrel]

We recently had a party for about 50 pax and we had those Chinese Noodle boxes - you know the funky ones they use in TV (I think Party people sell them) and chopsticks (you could get your names and wedding date on them) and then we had a HUGE tub of rice and then a chili, a curry and a vegetable stewy thing.

It was easy and people could have whatever they wanted and we colour co-ordinated the boxes with our theme (you could also make stickers and put them on your boxes)

Thats a wonderful idea - though make sure you have forks as learner chopstickers and wedding attire might be a messy combo!

[Crazyfamily]

Thats a wonderful idea - though make sure you have forks as learner chopstickers and wedding attire might be a messy combo!

haha, yep especially for the bride who cannot use chop stix at all

[RainbowSky]

The easiest way to do it would probably be to buy Bbq chickens pre-cut into quarters or 8's, platters of cold meats (from woolies, look nice and reasonbly priced), big trays of lasagna and potato bake (can home make or bought from charcoal chicken shop), big trays of 3 diff salads (also bought from chicken shop), dinner rolls with butter portions.

Dessert can be the wedding cake cut up along with ice-cream/cream and you can have as many other options as you like - a few nicely dressed pavlovas, cheesecake etc.

If you want niblies or entree, just do platters of mini spring rolls, quiches, meatballs, etc or to keep it super easy, just do a nice cheese/dried fruit platter for every table.

I'd do tea/coffee with after dinner mints for afters and make sure you have a variety of diff beverages available throughout the night.

[Amara]

Have you had a quote for a spit roast? It may work out just as cheap as doing it yourself and a lot less hassle. I have been to two weddings done that way.

I also went to one that had plates of Sandwiches, party pies, sausage rolls, spring rolls and quiches put out on the tables. Later things like slices, mini chocolate eclairs, nice biscuits, mini muffins etc were brought out and put on tables. It was nice.