Catering for Cheap $ | Should You DIY Your Wedding Food??
Vložit
- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- www.wolferandco.com/yt/177/ch...
⬆️ Download ⬆️ Your ULTIMATE Wedding Planning Checklist
Catering for Cheap $ | Should You DIY Your Wedding Food??
A real life wedding planner. For $29 a month. LET'S GOOOOO.
Join The Master Plan TODAY! Sign up for any length of time, for as long as you need it HERE:
www.themasterplanwed.com
Just Engaged?? Start HERE!
• Just Engaged? Start HERE!
Find us on PINTEREST
/ jwcoordination
ALL THE RESOURCES 🙌🏼
Need a FREE Planning Timeline? Find it HERE:
www.jwcoordination.com/timeline
Want a Wedding Planner without the Price Tag? Join The Master Plan HERE:
www.jwcoordination.com/the-ma...
Need some Real Life Advice in Real Time? Join my monthly calls HERE:
www.jwcoordination.com/club
Want support from Fellow Couples? Join my Facebook Group HERE:
/ theweddinghacker
My Amazon Storefront - Wedding Registry MUST-HAVES
www.amazon.com/shop/jamiewolfer
Lifestyle channel is probs more fun. Find me acting a fool HERE:
/ @thejamiewolfer
L E T ' S B E S O C I A L | media links below
W E D D I N G P L A N N I N G I N S T A G R A M:
/ wolferandco
W E D D I N G P L A N N I N G F A C E B O O K:
/ jwcoordination
P E R S O N A L I N S T A G R A M:
/ thejamiewolfer
B U S I N E S S + W E D D I N G P L A N N I N G
I N Q U I R I E S:
hello@wolferandco.com
My parents went to a wedding where the bride and groom were the ones serving the buffet, so they had someone manning the food, and they couple were able to make sure they greeted everyone, which I thought was genius!
My husband + I did this and it was the best!
Thats such a cute idea. I plan on sitting right by the food so everyone has to come talk to me 😄
oh this is so cute! I wanna do this! (maybe have a little apron over my dress)
That is such a good idea!!!! Oh im totally gonna do that!!
What makes your videos a hit is that they’re not a sales pitch. So many times when you come across wedding advice it’s biased or sponsored or coming from a source that might mean well but ultimately has a sales goal at the end of it. By giving professional advice, that’s backed up by experience and common sense, it’s the best help a bride can get. I personally work in the event industry and I still found your videos so helpful in planning my wedding. Congratulations on hitting 100,000! I’m sure your channel will only continue to grow!
I couldn’t agree more with your comment. I’m a corporate event planner and I echo your sentiment that even being in the event industry, Jamie’s videos helped me so much in planning my own wedding.
Agreed !!! She’s detailed, current, unbiased and hilarious 😂 !!!!! We love the tips but most importantly we love you!
I catered my own wedding last year, from apps to dinner and even dessert! It was incredibly time consuming but got tremendous compliments for the food! Control freak that I am, good food was the only thing I needed to be perfect for the wedding!
I want to serve good food too! ♥️
How many people
@@CityGirl33 130
How much did it cost you?
@@larissam608 right under $1,000 - our brisket and pork butts were the most expensive followed by the cheese used in our mac n cheese. Everything else was not that expensive at all. We used Sam's Club for most things and our local farmers market for bulk veggies like potatoes, lettuce and cucumbers
As someone who has worked in restaurants, it's a LOT of work to prepare that much food, for more than 20-30 people. Even if you're only doing a cold finger buffet, it's so much organisation. Any bride/groom who can prepare a full blown, nice meal for their own wedding day of 100+ guests in advance, is impressive.
I dreamed of catering my own small wedding. I created menus, practiced recipes, and planned it all out. What stopped me was fridge space. I had no where to store the food for 2-3 days. Most standard fridges won't hold the large aluminum pans flat. So I went with a pro!
I would’ve invested in a cooler/fancy large fridge and it would’ve been a wedding gift to myself! 🥰 Probably still cost the same but you get to keep the fridge. ♥️
I’m not technically a professional baker but I’ve done several cake decorating lessons and been baking everyone’s cakes for years. Not engaged yet and probably won’t be for a few years but the idea of making my own wedding cake, especially because it’s relaxing for me and can be done a few days in advance, is super exciting for me. I think making my own wedding cake would be so personal and lovely and it means my fiancé and I can have any cake we want and know how it’ll turn out.
My sister married a man with a huge immediate family and they all got together and pot lucked the reception dinner. It was a variety of foods served buffet style , cake was made by a friend and it being a smaller at-home wedding about 100 people (lots of his family ha ha) no fuss over budget. The wedding was casual yet still a wedding look and vibe with a dj and family event atmosphere. Was one of the nicest weddings we've ever had.
I don’t even have a wedding to plan. (Been married 23 years) I just enjoy your videos! You have a great personality!
I have a bf but we're not even ready for that as yet and Jamie has me telling him what I want and don't want lolz and 23 years is amazing
Ive been in business for 6 years, and even us planners need someone on CZcams to go to. 😉 Congratulations!🎊
Yes indeed!
I was considering doing a “grazing table” and sourcing almost everything from Costco. Fruit, deli meat, cheese, etc. all need to be around the same temperature, and can sit out for a similar amount of time without spoiling. Plus it would be cost effective and delicious depending on the type of cheeses and meats used! Plus crackers and breads are super easy to deal with when it comes to food safety/transport.
You need more cups than you think, especially if it is hot or you have multiple locations. People put their cups down or throw away after use or half use. My cousins wedding we ran out of cups before dinner even started because it was outdoors and so hot people used 1-2 cups right after the ceremony.
this! plus cups for water and cups for alcohol. so many cups
Good point
Could have use bottled water and or canned or bottle drinks before the dinner (cold). I had a 300 guest party and had lots of cold bottled water, variety of cold soda bottles( 2 liters )on tables and cocktail drink cups already placed on tables. This was a big Mexican party so the bottles on tables worked out perfect. We didn't need ice for drinks (sodas were very cold) beer was by cans and we replenished the table drinks as needed. Guests were able to stay at their tables and they were able to enjoy the evening's events. Worked out great!
This was recently something that me and my fiancé recently contemplated. Breakfast food catering in the dfw area for 90 guests was going to run about $1500-2000. Our friends agreed that was ridiculous and offered to cook for our wedding. We all agreed and decided that’s what we were going to do. The more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized I didn’t want them cooking on my wedding way. I was them to celebrate with us. Someone from the Spanish service at my fiancé’s church reached out to us and offered to cater. We are getting eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, bread, and fruit for 90 people for around $800!
My fiancé and I were just talking about this!!! We were discussing spending around 1200for only 50 people or ask a few family members to help make some food. 1,200 just seems like too much for only 50 people…
I’ve been looking at caterers and my low quote was $11,000 for 90 people. No joke.
@@mortviolette284 Oof. That's enough to buy a used car or two...
That’s so cheap!
Qdoba caters for $12 a person if you're looking for a more affordable option
Me doing a DIY pasta bar: Jamie plz don’t tell me it’s not a good idea
Jamie: it’s totally possible
Me: THANK GOD
I'm thinking about having a pasta bar as well!! lol
It's not im-pasta-bowl! Go for it!
I'll see myself out.
I was once asked to plan a cold platter for a wedding, just for snacks. this was already such a complicated undertaking that i cannot imagine ever voluntarily planning the whole meals for a whole wedding
I love that all of your "Should you ___?" videos don't necessarily come with a yes/no answer! You present the question so your betrothed viewers can make a more educated decision for themselves. So helpful, and doesn't seem like something everyone else in the business is doing.
I DIY some food on my wedding day, we did a charcuterie spread, made potato salad, pasta salad and charro beans because we had a taco truck that only served tacos and sliders w fries. Food was bomb!
Are food trucks expensive?
@@jessicadowdy3597Depends on the truck/type of food and location. We did food for 60 people and paid $500 I live in Dallas.
I would say another problem when catering yourself and knowing how much food to have, is that some people eat A LOT of food in general, not really keeping in mind that other people need to eat as well. That is what kinda bothers me. My fiancé eats a lot but he at least knows not to stuff his face when others need to eat as well, unlike some people. Our wedding is this November and will be 32 people.
It also helps if guest actually RSVP. Ppl who didn't RSVP or show up uninvited don't seem to acknowledge that food costs money. You can plan to have extra food and hope that offsets the ppl who eat too much, but there definitely won't be enough if a group of uncounted ppl show up and feel entitled to chairs and food that isn't there
Super informative video, as always Jamie!
I went to an intimate, 20-person wedding a few weeks ago in a cabin, and they DIY’ed their food with great success! It was pretty much all Wegmans - trays of subs, wraps, chips, veggies, and fruits, followed by a dessert table with cake, macarons, cookies, and lemon bars.
The bride had bought single-use plates and utensils, but they were made from bamboo. Everyone threw their own plates away, and some friends helped with clearing the rest later that night.
Congratulations on 100k! I've been watching since almost the beginning and now I am actually engaged! So amazing to see how far you have come! You deserve it all!
Aha, a fellow budgeter with great taste in wedding coordinators 👀
I am blessed to have a mom who’s a chef and caterer. The plan is to have her and a catering friend cook food in the days prior to the wedding. And then on the day of wedding hire two of her catering friends to run the food show! I’m really excited about incorporating our cultural food but having the help day of to prep and serve.
Did diy on my wedding day! Had stuffed shells, chicken alfredo. Had a family member make tiramisu and some others made the other desserts. Was so delicious everyone loved the food! I had such a hard time deciding whether to order or diy but ordering was just too expensive for 40 people and we had a small budget 😭😭
Jamie my only favor and recommendations for you is to never ever ever change you. I look forward to these videos and I love that even though you edit your own videos you still leave all the good funny moments of you which we love. I know more followers does require more responsibility but we are all here because of you and your personality so don't change we love you and thanks for the video as always
i am a covid bride that has been watching every single one of your videos since i first got engaged in 2019. wedding planning has been incredibly stressful for many reasons and you have saved my sanity so many times. i really feel like you are my planner! it looks like our september 2021 wedding is going to happen and i am so happy for that- and also for you hitting 100k! i cant believe its not 1M as everyone should see these videos. it will happen soon enough, im sure. congratulations jamie!
Yay!!!!!!!! 🥳🙌🎉 Congrats Jamie!! So happy for you!! Here's to 200K! 🤞💜
Jamie!!!! You reached 100k!!!! Congratulations Jamie!!!!!! I'm sooooo happy for you it's amazing how much you have had an impact on people just since I started following you about a year ago I've watched I think every one of your videos and I'm personally so grateful for all of them.
Aw I almost teared up at the beginning lol! Congrats on 100k! I’ve been here since the very beginning and I just got engaged in April! So now I’m rewatching everything 😂
Congrats on 100k. I am planning my wedding and actually planning drop catering thank you so much for this video definitely need the tips
Jaime - congrats! Couldn't happen to a greater person!
100k BABY! So freakin proud of you! You have worked so hard and have thrived through this past year. I love your spirit so much and am grateful I found you in a very stressful time, you brought a lot of joy to my fiancé and I. We are now getting married July 16th and it couldn’t have been possible without your master PLANning ❤️
I'm a recent subscriber (only been watching since I got engaged in February) but you have helped me with my planning IMMENSELY. I love that you cater to every budget and that you give so many tips to brides in every possible wedding planning category (ones I didn't even know existed!). Thank you, truly, for everything you are doing on this channel for all of us brides (past, present, and future)! Your warm, bubbly personality and humor really make wedding planning so much more fun and less stressful. Congrats on 100k and cheers to 100k more 🥂💖🤗
Yessss!! I’ve been waiting for this for you! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! 😍✨😭🎉
Congratulations on 100k Jamie and Team! 🎉
We are doing DIY rehearsal dinner and expecting roughly 50 people (lots of out of town guests that I wanted to include). We did a trial run for 20 people at my DIY day :) Doing soup, salad, and baked potato bar. And some kind of sweets but nothing crazy.
non-crazy sweets...you talking like non-bake cookies, maybe meringue cookies, sheet cake? (looking for ideas here).
@@26Bluegb cookies or brownies or something easy. Rehearsal dinner is going to be all easy things.
I love that idea!! Baked potato bar is BRILLIANT!
Thank you for these videos. I absolutely love weddings, and have already obtained my LLC. But, I've had a bear of a time figuring out what aspect of the field I want to get into, (leaning toward design and/or coordination) and how to get started. Your channel has been unbelievably helpful, and incredibly inspiring.
Well I love the idea of a baked potato bar for the dinner at my future wedding when it happens, everyone would start with one big potato and they can put whatever toppings they want (I.e. butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, chives, chili, brisket, onions, avocados, etc.)
congrats jamie!!!! been watching since you put out your 3rd video! preparing for my special day whenever that happens!
For real- love your kindness, personality and your direction. I have been watching you FOR YEARS and am now engaged and feel more empowered thanks to you and the Master Plan.
Congratulations!!!! I'm soon happy for you. I started watching your channel when you only had 6 videos and to see where you are now im just sooo happy for you.
I'm DIY catering my wedding of approx 200 people and I'm actually sooo excited about it. Going over all the lists and details and timelines has become my passion project! I'm hoping to find 2 or 3 culinary school students to hire on the day of to do the reheating and such, as well as another 2 as buffet attendants. I couldn't find any catering company with the food we want so we decided to do it ourselves!
Hi, I'd like to plan for a 100 person wedding. How did catering your own food go? Do you recommend it or do you wish you had catered? do you have any tips?
Such a cute dress! Congratulations on the 100K!. Perfect timing for this video, needed this help. Plus the Master Plan I purchased last month has been awesome!!!!
So happy to be a part of this community since getting engaged
We love you Jamie!!! I can’t wait to start the master class. You are such a light. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! ♥️
This was super helpful. I just got engaged a few days ago so I will start wedding planning soon! We want to avoid hiring a caterer (trying to save as much money as possible). Our plan as of now is to have his brother-in-law cook 1 or 2 pigs, and have other family members bring sides, but this video brought things to my attention that I hadn't even thought about!
Congratulations! I found you early 2020 and now I am finally engaged and planning my February 2022 wedding! Thank you for your wisdom and support on this channel!
We’re getting married 12/30/21, and we’re going with an amazing BBQ place that has amazing food and reviews. The owner is a lovely married couple and they actually both come out and supervise the buffet. They stay for 2 hours, clean up and offer styrofoam but we decided to go with clear plastic plates/cups, and silver plastic utensils. Still trying to figure out who’s bussing tables but we have time. We will probably just hire someone or see if the bartenders will do it for extra money 🤣 As for breakfast we’re catering chik-fil-a!!
absolutely love what you do to support a more humanizing experience in the wedding planning process. Thank you Jamie! I hope to meet you one day! (I'm out in the Midwest!)
Congratulations!!!! 🎉🍾🎊
Congratulations on 100,000 !! Thanks for your super helpful videos.
I’m so happy you just posted this because I’m having a hard time to decide !
I’m doing a taco bar
I have work at 8 in the morning. And it's now after 9. I should be sleeping but, I'm watching Jamie telling me how to plan my wedding that I don't have☺. I love you Jamie 😍☺☺
Congrats on 100k! I’ve been watching for a few years now even I’m not planning a wedding. I just find your content/explanations to be interesting and the tips are helpful for general event planning too💙
I've been subscribed to your channel since there were only 10K of us! Way before I was even engaged lol (now I am yay!) and it's been amazing seeing you and your content grow and evolve, you have helped me -and I'm sure many many others- SO MUCH.
Oh, and just so you know I watch you from Mexico, and most of your content still applies for what I'm planning right now :)
I am not even engaged yet just love wedding so I will forever watch your videos!!
Congratulations on 100K 🎉
thank goodness I have a professional chef friend who has offered to cater my wedding as we only have about 50 guests. I've cooked meals for parties of 140 people and you are so right, it is a ton of work!!
Congratulations on 100K Jamie! We love you so much! 💓
Good topic. We own a small venue, where people are allowed to bring their own food. So for small parties on a tight budget people really do bring in their home made meals. Since no one wants to run out of food, we see it over and over again: people have double the amount of food they need. Or more! Once a person had to take two thirds of all food home after the party. Go easy on the food! You already have cake too. We even put it in our rental contract: think about bringing enough containers for the many leftovers. People actually left with food in small plastic bags before. Stack up on the candy/salty bar, since that stuff stays good for a long time, if you have too much. But if you do face food shortages, people can fill up there.
CONGRATULATIONS on 100K!!!!!! 🎉🎊 You are the sweetest human and you totally deserve it! ❤️
Congratulations on 100k 🥳🎉 💓💛💓 xx
We DIY pretty much a whole wedding. Proposal date was 2/14 and wedding date was 5/30. We watched most of your videos and have to say that you helped us plan our dream wedding.
Congratulations on 100k!
Love from Australia 🥰
Can I say.. crock pots/slow cookers are your best friend! 💜💚💙
First Congratulations on 100k I’ve been watching you for years lol before I was even engaged. I just got married in January and this was a big decision for me and my fiancé we didn’t want to spend too much but also wanted amazing food. We ending up doing drop catering and having some amazing women from our church serve the food. We were able to serve 120 guest with leftovers for under $900.
hey! early squad! Congratulations!!
Congratulations on 100k !
Quantities: figure about one pound of food per person. Maybe a little more since people are there longer and often drinking too. If you have a bunch of volunteer cooks, you can ask people to make specific dishes and even give them the recipe if needed. This works better for certain types of food like having a taco or pasta bar.
Back in the day, my ladies group used to server about 100 people a week lunch. We'd have a sign up list with things people could volunteer to make, like 10 lbs sliced grilled chicken, 10 lbs sliced tomatoes, etc. Basically what would fit in one of those silver catering trays... this was a lot of work even to coordinate. Then about 10 ladies would wear aprons and gloves and serve Chipotle style where each guest could hold out their plate and say yes and no to the options.
Keeping all that food warm was an issue. You can only plug in so many crock pots before blowing a fuse, so be sure to know where the fuse box.
This would be a lot to ask guests to do. If they not made that much at a time before it's a lot to even make one silver tray full of food.
Also, keep in mind food allergies. I always tried to figure dishes that could easily make gluten-free, dairy free, & vegetarian meals for those who needed that. Also, be sure the cooks know not to add cheese or even butter or sprinkle in flour to thicken a sauce which gives a hidden allergens.
You worked so hard! You earned this!!! Congratulations 🎉🎊🎈
Well....I almost had it all figured out. But! I forgot we will need napkins for the cake table and appetizer table! So....very glad I watched. Really appreciate not only the information, but your precious spirit. So funny and so engaging. I know your family must be very proud of you :)
Congrats!! I've been married for two years now, and still watching your channel :) Also love your other channel!
I'm honestly surprised you don't have more than 100,000 subscribers. I've been watching since September or October 2018 and you're great!
I'm planning a potluck taco bar! So I mostly need help from people to make the meat portions, and maybe a few sides or desserts.
I want to make my meal as inclusive as possible for cousins with allergies, grandparents with diet restrictions, and pretty much all ways of eating! The best way to accomplish that goal is to invite them to make and share their own dishes!
My aunt volunteered to help me with the food portion because she's fed whole family reunions before, *and* knows how to coordinate a potluck. Unlike me, the inexperienced bean I am.
I'm very, very, *very* grateful for all the people who are helping my FH and me out! I've got less than a month left, and things are coming together!!! 😆
Congratulations!!!!! Your hard work pays off!!!
Congrats on 100k! Been here since you had about 600. I wasn’t engaged then but I’m about to be now and am so happy to see this channel grow :)
Congratulations on 100K! 🎉 Wishing you much success as you make your way to the next 100K
Heyo, I love your channel ~ my partner proposed in december and we were brainstorming ideas for the wedding and your channel is helping ~ we arent sure whether to wait until after covid times but might just plan a covid wedding with a max of 30 people instead so now have 2 separate plans.
Ideas for a covid small wedding and/or planning possibility of a wedding after covid times for a better atmosphere, more people. We arent sure yet so this is helpful as we dont know our options haha
Congratssssss I remember when you were at 20k. Super proud of how far you’ve come
Our catering is included with the venue. We just have to provide the alcohol for the bar. But I still watched this video from start to finish because I still want to hear your thoughts on the subject 😂
This is a great video for rehearsal dinner as well!
So helpful, thank you!!
This is soo good... Will share it to help my customers think through their wedding plans. So true that it often times can end up being more costly than hireing a cater if you don´t think it through. It also makes me realize how crazy I am who loves to plan DIY wedding dinners. :)
Yay! We love you Jamie!!
Congrats on 100k 🥳
You deserve it 🥰
Your videos are SO GOOD and you deserve a million followers!!!!! Even my fiancée is enamored by your videos!
You got me as a subscriber even before I was engaged and don't worry I'll be a subscriber after my wedding too ❤️ you're wonderful keep doing what you do ❤️
So happy for those 100k! You derserve it!
Your intro literally made me tear up! I'm so happy for you and could see your excitement.
We are drop catering from Olive Garden. A friend who is helping me just did that for her daughter's grad party. I bought aluminum pans from The Dollar Tree that came with lids for leftovers.
I just discovered you and it has been amazing watching your videos I am currently in the process of planning my DIY reception meal And we're looking at doing a diy sandwich bar For roughly 75 people it's scary to think that I'm Doing this while camping that entire weekend Luckily I do have a couple of people coming in from the nearby town that Are saving me by bringing certain things and picking up a couple of things for me
Love the honesty
This just affirmed my decision to DIY/Potluck my wedding. I was a little nervous BUT I was able to answer most of your questions. I know who is willing to help but im not asking until save the dates go out. I have event planning experience. I have done weekends for 80+ people so calculating food is easy peasy for me. My wedding is half of that (accounting for vendors and rounded up by 2-3 people) Plus it is only one meal and dessert not 5 meals and 3 snacks.
I have family who likes to cook and we do potlucks all the time, we always have a good variety. I know some people will ask what to bring so i have a list of goodies i would love to have. I am not asking my out of town guests to bring in anything but if they offer i will have a few super easy or store bought ideas like a fruit or veggie tray.
We are doing the main course, dessert, and drinks. If budget allows we may do a few 'must have' sides that are easy to prep.
I was able to answer most of your questions. Bonus my venue is perfect for this. They have a kitchen with a huge double sink, industrial stove/oven, and a microwave. They have chaffing dishes and if anyone leaves extra sterno i can use them.
They have a big space with lots of plugs (like a huge bar counter area)They have some dishes and utensils JUST INCASE I forget something.
My plan is to do pulled chicken and meatballs with mini rolls, condiments/toppings and ham/cheese baked sliders. All three things are easy to make ahead and have simple day of prep. Literally just throw in crockpot/oven.
If budget allows i will add in mac and cheese (again super easy to pre-make) and my grandmoms baked beans (which HAVE to be made ahead for best flavor).
Dessert we are doing cupcakes and maybe a small cutting cake. I did put in my notes to make sure to bring foil, tupperware, and extra serving utensils.
100,000!!!!! Whoooo hoooo!!!!🥳🥳🥳 Hugs from Napa Ca
Woohoo you deserve that plaque!
I subscribed two years ago with no fiancé in sight. But I feel so prepared for when I am engaged because of you 🤍Congrats on 100k! Get that silver plaque!
Literally clicked & saw 100k👀👀🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 go ahead wit yo bad self, Jamie!!! 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 love it! 💕💕💕
Something that recommend is seeing if there is anyone in your area (or even some acquaintances) that would be willing to prepare and serve the food, instead of a traditional caterer.
My mom and I used to work weddings, where the family would provide the food and ingredients, and then we would come in and make the food and serve it. They would also provide the serving dishes, utensils, some would also provide the pots and pans and cooking utensils.
We also served the food but some may not be willing to do that. You may want to look into hiring servers. We also worked for donations. It’s worth looking into!
Here for it, Jamie! Love your content. Getting married in 1 year, I need all the tips I can get.😅🎉❤
I diy my cake, food, and drinks. I hired some people for day of prep and set up. They had been professional caterer before. It was great highly recommend.
Congratulations on 100k👍🤯🎊. I got married October 10th 2020 and still love watching your videos 😊
Happy to be a subscriber and a part of your awesome Channel! 👏☺️🙌
*UPDATE* I literally just got ENGAGED yesterday and can't wait to rewatch alllll your videos Jamie!
My wedding is 5 months away.. I’ll be the one who cook for D-day. My job is a chef, so I think making food myself is a wise decision ☺️ and of course I could save a loooot of money. Cause the catering price is really 🤑🤑🤑🤑
of course you will. if you went cheap you would be disappointed with the meal, and if you bought what you wanted you would be disappointed in how much it cost. But you cook for a living so you can plan your menu in a way that saves you time