Tips for planning a homemade wedding

• Don't be afraid to ask for help. Call upon talented friends and family members. Who will do what and when? Be sure to write down instructions for those helping.

• Plan ahead. Allow plenty of time to think about crucial logistics, such as ample food storage and enough bathrooms to accommodate your guests. We followed this rule of thumb: Provide one bathroom per 50 people. My dad asked an electrician (who is a neighbor) to install additional circuit breakers to accommodate our electrical needs.

• Consider hiring local teens. My sister's teenage friends helped with the setup and clearing of dishes.

• Don't go overboard. I tend to think I can do everything. Thanks to Mom's reasoning, instead of serving appetizers, we opted for popcorn. We borrowed a popcorn machine from a friend.

• Be aware of rental costs. China dinner plates, glassware and silverware can help add to the elegance of a homemade affair, but everything comes with a cost. We decided to skip the plastics and buy silverware, wine glasses and dessert plates from local thrift stores. After the wedding, we sold everything online at Craigslist to other wedding couples.

• Keep it simple. Choose recipes that can be made ahead of time, will hold up in storage and can be served easily. You'll be too busy to do a lot of last-minute cooking. Supplement your homemade goods with store-bought items, such as bread or rolls.

• Get your numbers in order. Calculating how much food you'll need for a big group is mathematically challenging, but necessary if you don't want to run out of food or get stuck eating leftovers for a month. We served 25 pounds of chicken breasts, 80 pounds of fish, 10 pounds of locally harvested wild rice, 6 pounds of beans and 300 dinner rolls. Make sure to have lines going on both sides of the buffet table.

• Label food and drinks accurately. Your guests will want to know what they are eating, and vegetarians and guests with special dietary requirements won't have to ask. We learned that you can never be too descriptive. When our guests arrived, they made their way into the garage for a glass of beer or wine. Next to the wine was a 3-gallon glass jar of strawberry-infused vodka labeled "Strawberry Vodka." Many of our guests assumed it was a strawberry cocktail and filled their glasses full. Tyler's 91-year-old grandmother was anxious to try a glass of our homemade strawberry wine. She pointed to the strawberry vodka and asked cousin Briana to bring her a glass. Then she had another, and another, all the while thinking she was enjoying a few glasses of wine. Around 7 p.m., Bubbie (Yiddish for Grandma) decided it was time to go home.

• Throw perfection out the window. If you're a couple insistent on a "perfect" wedding day, do-it-yourself catering probably isn't for you. Things will go wrong -- it's part of the charm -- but your guests won't remember the little imperfections. Neither will you.