Planning a wedding is not something that that people do everyday. It can be overwhelming with all of the details and tasks at hand. Hear we offer a few good tips to assist you with your wedding catering decisions.
If you are not in a hotel and or country club you may need to rent a lot of equipment and supplies. These would include tables, chairs, plates, glassware, silverware, serving tools, chaffing dishes, stenos, napkin and table linens, tents and lighting. There is a lot to consider and rental costs can really start to add up with different types of glassware, dessert and salad forks, butter knifes, desert spoons as well as the basic table settings. There are also many levels of quality and with quality comes extra costs. You will most defiantly want to see some samples and get a good feel for the pricing difference. Make sure that your caterer will not use old and chipped table settings. It will reflect on your taste.
Some caterers will include the cost of all of the table rentals in their "per head" charge and some will price it out separately. Either way you will want to know all of the pricing details so there are no surprises at the end of the day.
Your caterer will want to know how many guests you are planning for and will probably need a finial head count about 2 weeks before the wedding. You will want to make sure that your caterer is aware of your wedding professionals as they should be included in the dinner. This will include the band or the DJ. But most importantly, the photographers and wedding coordinators since these people will have been working for you long before you ever get to the reception. Think about where these professionals will be eating. You will not want your photographer to far from the action.
Catering questions regarding the menu that may be important to you would be; do they have set menus to choose from to fit your style or theme, or are they open to more of a specialized, custom menu. Will they be able to provide for vegetarians? Accommodate a guest with food allergy or be equipped to handle a kosher cuisine if that is required. Will they take children into consideration with menu choice and pricing?
Catering questions about the service that you will want to ask will be: are hors d'oeuvres to be passed by staff or placed stationary. Ask your caterer about different styles of service. This would include buffet, sit-down service or family style if buffet is the choice, will there be servers or will it be a self serve. Sometimes a caterer will charge extra to cut the cake. The attire of the wait staff is something you do not want to over look. If your wedding is formal and you are expecting the wait staff to be wearing bowties and white gloves, you might be disappointed to have them show up in tropical shirts. The staff to guest ratio should be one wait person to every 30 guests for a buffet and 1 to every 20 guests for a sit-down dinner. This will vary when an event becomes a bit more lavish. A high end six course dinners may require one server per 10 to 15 guests. What ever you are planning, ask the caterer what they have in mind for the server to guest ratio.
Check with your caterer to see if they are going to use fresh ingredients and produce or do they use canned or frozen ingredients. Are there desserts and breads baked by them or do they contract that out. Usually the price they charge will not only include the food but also the transportation. You will also want to discuss portion sizes with them.
Some caterers will offer a complimentary tasting while other will charge. Either way do not show up with more people than has been discussed with the caterer. Tasting is expensive and time consuming for the caterer. Also keep in mind that a tasting for the two of you is a lot different than preparing for a large crowd. So realize that the food in the tasting session will not always be a true representation of what they will do at the event.
Ask what their policy is regarding the leftovers. Do not assume that you will automatically receive all of the leftovers as caterers will often make extra food for any unexpected guests and also provide a meal for their staff. Some caterers will provide a leftover basket for the bride and groom knowing that after the reception; a couple can be pretty hungry since it can be hard to eat with all that is going on at the reception .
Make sure everything gets into the contract so that there are no surprises. Read the entire contract. Make sure that the date, time and location are all correct. Make sure all of your services are provided in the contract i.e. bar service, cake cutting buffet or sit-down. Read the fine print including the cancellation fee, service charges, and taxes. A most of all enjoy every moment of your wedding planning and your wedding.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
