[.ca] Cater Your Own Wedding Revised Edition (ISBN 156414819X)

You HAVE to buy this book!!:
This book is fabulous! You really can pull off having a glorious wedding without hiring any "pros" Everything is spelled out for you! Our friends and family's comments to my husband and myself were, "You must have spent a fortune!" We didn't! That was the true beauty of it all! God bless you Chef Mike and thank you for all of your expertise and hard work! :oD

Absolutely, Positively Buy This Book!!:
Faced with a minimum budget, I really had no choice but to cater my own wedding reception! This book, thank God, delivers on its promise to tell you exactly and precisely how to do this. It includes great recipes, quantities, table layouts, and detailed lists of everything you need to make it a success (including some terrific decorating ideas)...with no one person being a slave. Big bonus: I had an unusual and confusing issue about my reception, so I e-mailed the author, Michael Flowers. He actually responded in less than 24 hours!! Buy this book by all means!!!

A Realistic Approach:
This book has drawbacks. It assumes that you have a LOT of reliable people prepared to help you cook. It is not a cookbook, and does not provide gourmet recipes. And it also assumes that quite a few people will be able to "work" during the reception, as well as ahead of time. But it sure is a great help for those who want to have a wedding without hiring a caterer. With plans for a basic reception, an elegant one, a dessert reception, brunch, and even a barbecue, it will have a plan that will approximate your ideas. Each plan includes shopping lists, with "hardware" like tables as well as food; diagrams for tables, rooms, and trays; and step-by-step directions. There are details of everything down to how to arrange the guest book table and where to put the groom's cake. It is easy to adjust the recipes to your own taste, but the ones suggested are up to the usual standard for catered meals. And -- given plenty of willing helpers -- they will work, too. You may choose to get your ideas from one of the more elegant photogrph-filled books on the shelves, but you can still use this book to translate those dreams into reality. And if you are doing a strictly cake-and-punch wedding, this book will allow you to set everything up with confidence in record time. It's worth having.

A Must Have for Catering:
This book is excellent! My wedding has not happened yet, but I find myself referring to the recipes and tips for layout, centerpieces, etc. when I have done baby showers, bridal showers, and my own home parties. Michael tells you everything that you need to know to have a nice reception or party.

A Joke:
I bought this book thinking it would give tips from a chef on how to pull off a wedding, but instead it's full of stuff like "assemble 20 of your friends to cook", and "sandwiches are acceptable wedding food". Come on! Who can't put together 150 sandwiches? Duh. I needed something to show me how my fiance and I could do our own elegant dinner with the least amount of aggravation. Save your money on this waste of time.