DARING TO GO DIY?

Take note of wedding planner Emma Newman’s top tips:

✤ Keep cocktail hour simple by serving large platters of local cheeses, gourmet crackers and other morsels that don’t require prep.

✤ Serve the main meal family style, kicking off with plattered breads and oils. For the main menu, serve up two proteins (meat or fish, for instance) and two veggies – consider a green or roasted medley, or a fresh salad.

✤ Serve a dessert that can be made well in advance – maybe brownies, or petit fours with berries and cream.

✤ Want to keep it really easy? Go with food stations – think a barbecue, a noodle bar or a few tables set up which allow guests to make their own sliders or tacos, exactly to their preference. This eliminates the need for wait staff.

✤ Enlist family and friends. Be sure to have lots of meetings so everyone is on the same page, and keep a spreadsheet of who is doing what.

✤ Even though you’re putting the prep work in yourself, hire a few staff who can be in charge of cleaning as the event goes into the night. This means you (and your family) can sit back and enjoy proceedings properly.

EXPERT TIP Don’t feel pressured to stick to traditional plated wedding food just because it’s ‘the done thing’. Your guests will likely enjoy a gourmet pizza just as much as they would a lamb cutlet or fillet of fish. And it may just be friendlier on your wallet, too – win, win, win.