Catering your own wedding is definitely doable if the numbers are reasonable. Personally I would consider anything under a 100 reasonable, after that I would recommend that you hire someone.
But you must feel comfortable with the number you are catering for.
Some of the things that you would need to consider are:
1. Do you have the storage? By this I mean freezer and fridge space so that you can prepare food ahead of time.
2. Can you get any help with the preparation of the meals? By getting help it will ease your workload.
If you choose your menu carefully and wisely you should consider doing easy dishes that can be frozen or made the day before.
1. Choose four or five hot dishes such as stews, curries or casseroles – you can use cheaper cuts of meat to keep the cost down and these can be frozen.
But don’t forget to defrost these the day before, then store in the fridge for reheating on the day.
2. Have at least one or two roast dishes. Here look for easy options such as ordering roasted chickens from your local supermarket or roast beef from a local restaurant or fast food outlet (they may even slice everything for you if you ask).
3. Then don’t forget the vegetables, one or two hot vegetable dishes should be enough – use vegetables that are in season to keep the cost down.
4. And to make your buffet look plentiful make up several different inexpensive salads such as leafy green salads or pasta salads and a selection of fresh bread rolls and butter.
5. You could use your wedding cake as the dessert or go for some good quality store bought desserts and a selection of seasonal fresh fruits.
6. Followed by tea and coffee, even if you don’t enjoy drinking these most people expect a nice coffee or tea after a eating – it just completes the meal.
Just keep in mind that you are doing a number of dishes so you don’t have to provide a full portion of each dish. So to avoid waste you can cater for a slightly lesser number of people per dish.
Also make sure hot food it is kept hot, and take cold food out of the fridge just before you serve it – even if it means replenishing it every so often.
And always, always keep food safety in mind the last thing that you want people getting sick.
You can get more budget ideas here at http://www.the-wedding-information-site.com/wedding-food-ideas-on-a-budget.html