Please can you help me with inspiration for my wedding buffet?

[sittinghippo]

I (foolishly?) decided I could cope with catering for my own wedding reception. I have approximately 100 guests coming, and am doing a cold finger buffet.
I cant seem to get past sausage rolls and cheese on sticks...

I would really like to try and 'posh it up' a bit if I can, do you have any handy tips or ideas?
Its on a low budget, and I have only two weeks to go!

Little sausages roasted with honey and soy sauce are yummy. Will dig out some more ideas later.

Wow, you're brave have you got help? and big ovens?

For that number of people I would do less different dishes and have a few really good ones...
erm...

Like massive joints of roast ham/beef. They look impressive and can feed a lot of folk...

erm.. I'll keep thinking...

Cold roast meats, cheese board, bread rolls, chutneys, salad? Perhaps not that dainty, but can be nice and filling.

Crudites with dips are popular, and you can do fruit salads on sticks with sweet dips too.

Samosas/onion bhajis with mango chutney?

Good luck! :)

Is there anyway you could do hot food? That way you could cook in advance and delegate the reheating and serving to a willing guest?

e.g. One meat dish, one veggie plus sides?

We had a party for 70 at home recently, we had braised lamb, coq au vin, chickpea and butternut squash stew and trays of dauphinoise potatoes. Afterwards there was trifle and cheeseboard (and bread rolls for mopping up the left over meats and juices - YUM!)

Or you could do chillis/curries.

I think buffets require a lot of different elements which makes more work for you!

Went to a friends small wedding at weekend - about 40 guests and it was buffet. The hot cornish pasties were great but the rest of the buffet not ONE bit of salad or dips etc to go with the meat / quiches etc. I'd tend to agree with others don't try to do too many different things. In past have done hot buffet food - don't do hot pasta for large numbers!

Any of the following depending on your budget:
Satay Chicken on a stick.
New Potato Salad (cold, possibly with bacon although that would exclude veggies) which can be cooked beforehand
Large Green Salad
Tomato, Basil and Mozarella Salad
Garlic Bread (easily prepared the day before) but if you can't do that make sure you've got lots of bread and/or rolls for people to fill up on, it's cheap!
Cous cous salad with roasted veg (can be prepared beforehand)
Cocktail sausages with option of honey and soy dip and a mustard dip
Falafels with yoghurt side dish
Sandwiches but these can be quite intense and you'd need to recruit some sandwich makers on the morning (you can make the fillings the day before) good fillings are: tuna mayo, chicken mayo, cheese, ham
cheese board with fruit (grapes etc.) and biscuits
Stuffed butternut (I can send you recipes if you need) which can be done a day or two in advance and put in the oven on the day
Beetroot salad (boiled in advance and sliced, cover with parsely) make a day or two in advance

Possible pudding ideas:
You can make meringues now if you want as they keep for ages
Ice Cream with jugs of coulis and hot choc sauce
Apple crumble or something that can be made in advance? I have a lovely recipe for apples with a ground almond type cake that goes on the top. If you live in a rural area many people are leaving out their apples now for people to take for free as they have too many on their trees
Fruit sticks (lots of work cutting the fruit though)
Cheesecake
Wedding cake (again can be made now)

How much help are you getting? Honestly, you need some. Have you got some friends that you can ask to support you a bit? Otherwise you will be so busy that you won't enjoy your day.

Ah yes, quiches are good and so are COLD pasta salads.

Any salad with mayo or oil keeps well (so you can make it in advance) like potato, waldorf, coleslaw, pasta, greek (no lettuce) etc.
Proteins you can do 2 days in advance but will depend on your budget - Coronation chicken, platter of smoked salmon, cold beef wellington, pates or terrines.
Shaped bread (your combined initials perhaps?), fancy rolls (olives, sun dried tomatoes etc),
To 'posh' it up a few showpieces:
Whole poached salmon,
Whole ham on the bone,
Seafood stack,
fruit display,
A cheese board (with grapes, medjool dates, quince, redcurrants, figs) displayed as a 'wedding cake'- like this: www.countrycheeses.co.uk/Cheesy_Wedding/Example_Cakes.html.
The ubiquitous chocolate fountains with assorted things to dip (things that don't need too much prep like strawberries and pieces of cake)
If you come from a foodie part of the country then incorporating local items always goes down well - somerset/lancashire/cheshire/welsh cheeses, cornish pasties, essex jams and pickles, lincolnshire sausages, surrey sparkling wine, london cure salmon etc.
If you've got one nearby joining a costco might be worthwhile - they sell everything in catering sizes and you can order a lot of the pre-prepared stuff.

Wow everyone! I knew I'd come to the right place

I have set aside the day before the wedding for cooking. I have three friends who have volunteered to do a production line to make 300 filled rolls on the morning of. Would prawn mayo, smoked salmon and cream cheese, ham, and maybe beef and horseradish be too much?
I also have mother of the groom being labeled as 'Kitchen Queen' for the morning, and hoping she and my sisters will take charge a bit for me.
Oh gosh I've bitten off more than I can chew haven't I... scuse the pun.

Love the ideas of honey sausages. Would honey and mustard (wholegrain) work as well?

I think I will do a cheese board, with the usual grapes etc and plenty of crackers. at the wedding cake cheeseboard, how fantastic!

I hope I can do a platter of smoked salmon and prawns, on a bed of lettuce leaves?

I've managed to delegate a Waldorf salad to Father of the groom, as it is his 'speciality'...
I will take note of the need for crudites and dips, in my mind it adds colour as much as anything else.

I did consider hot food, as would probably be much more economical, but there just aren't the facilities for it.

Last question, for now... what say ye to sausage rolls and cheese on sticks? everyone loves 'em, no?

Everybody loves sausage rolls and cheese (and pickled onions) on sticks! And you have to make them into a hedgehog shape, it's the only way...

Sounds like you've got a good team there, it's gonna be great.

PS, don't forget the veggies!

My mum did the catering for our wedding for about 130 people it was as follows,

Nibbles
Olives, Tapanade, Breadsticks, Mozzarella & Tomato Skewers
Sun-dried Tomato & Olive Tartlets
[all v]

Starters
Chicken Liver Pate
Mushroom Pate [v]

Main Course
Roast Ham
Coronation Chicken
Smoked Haddock & Ricotta Tart
Caramelised Onion & Goat?s Cheese Tart [v]

Salads
New Potato Salad with Lemon & Chive Vinaigrette
Coleslaw
Bean Salad
Green Salad

Desserts
Cheesecake
Tiramisu
Refrigerated Chocolate Cake
Fresh Berries with Cream [v]

Cheeseboard with Grapes and Biscuits

Selection of Bread

Evening Menu

Steak & Ale Pie
Leek, Potato & Cheese Pie [v]
All served with Mushy Peas

It was lovely, we bought a couple of large hams from our local deli & she had a few kitchen helpers for the rest, if you need any recipes, let me know.

Try & keep it simple & keep the number of dishes down to make it easy on yourself.

Good luck!

Thank you everybody for your input.
My venue is quite small and there will be limited seating for the first part of the evening. I have tried to take into account that majority of guests will be standing up while they eat, so for this reason I am sticking mostly to finger foods.

I hadnt thought about the veggies among us, thank you for reminding me LowLevelWhinging!

Spiderslegs I will do nibbles - ooh yummy olives and breadsticks etc. [licking lips emoticon]

I am going to forget the cheese on sticks and go with a cheeseboard. Will look great.

Thanks again everyone, better get cooking...