With a wedding, you only get one opportunity to wow your guests. And given its importance in today’s culture, it’s hardly surprising that the one thing most guests remember above everything else is the catering.
Blow your guests away with killer catering services and your wedding will be the talk of the town for years. By contrast, underwhelm those you invite and you run the risk of leaving a somewhat sour taste in their mouths…no pun intended.
So in order to avoid the latter and ensure your big day is remembered for all the right reasons, here is a quick rundown of 10 expert tips for making the most of your wedding catering:
Go Seasonal
First of all, don’t forget that there are two distinct benefits to working with seasonal produce. Not only do products that are in season look and taste better, but also tend to be significantly less expensive than alternative products that are out of season at the time.
Establish Your Budget
Rather than diving into things blindly, establish your budget before getting started. This will make it so much easier to work with the catering company of your choice, which in most instances will ask you about your budget before anything else.
Theme It
Never overlook the appeal of some kind of well thought-out theme, when it comes to your catering choices. A winter wonderland, summer picnic, best of British or anything else you can think of will ensure the whole event is even more enjoyable and memorable.
Consider Numbers
Be extremely careful when it comes to totting up the numbers and determining how many people there will be and how much food you’ll need. Just as it isn’t a good idea to see people going hungry with a shortage, most also don’t respond kindly to excessive food wastage.
Question Packages
Be sure to question your chosen catering service thoroughly with regard to the actual services they provide. Believe it or not, there are plenty of catering teams out there that will happily cook incredible food, but do not actually include table service in their standard packages.
Read Reviews
Always be strategic and thoughtful when it comes to the catering company you work with, being sure to check out reviews, recommendations and experience ahead of time. In the North of England for example you have Blue Sky Event Solutions in Yorkshire and down in the South West of England you have Kerra’s Catering – both of which have earned rave reviews. These are just a couple of examples, so whatever location you are getting married you’ll find caters never far away.
Remember Dietary Requirements
Go through your guest list and make as many enquiries as necessary, in order to determine whether any of your guests have specific dietary requirements. You should request this information as part of your RSVP, but it’s always a good idea to double-check.
Family-Style Dining
One extremely enjoyable and affordable approach to wedding catering these days is family-style dining. Sharing platters are not only incredibly social by their very nature, but also ensure that everyone gets to taste as many different things as they like and control their own portion sizes.
Nail the Nibbles
Outside the actual meals themselves, it’s a good idea to ensure that there is a ready supply of nibbles available at all times. After all, there will always be those who turn up right at the beginning absolutely starving, just as there will be those who get peckish between set meal times.
Make Midnight Snacks
Last up, if you plan on throwing a party that keeps on going until the wee-small hours, make sure there is some kind of midnight snack on offer for those who go the distance. There’s nothing worse than finding yourself at 2am with a group of guests still having the time of their life, only to be scuppered by the fact that you’ve nothing to feed them with!