I’m not going to lie, I feel a little bit like a fraud writing this blog post because it implies that I didn’t go crazy choosing a wedding caterer for our wedding. Searching for a local company you trust, that offers great food and agrees to a reasonable price is a challenge. That’s before you take dietary requirements and suitability into consideration. It’s a bit of a nightmare if I’m honest.
This guide is here to help steer you onto the right path when planning your wedding, by walking you through a couple of the most important questions that you need to ask yourself. Some of them sound pretty silly but these are the things that I didn’t really think about when the menus started rolling in.
What Type of Food Do You Enjoy?
First of all, you should think about the type of food that you enjoy – it is your wedding after all! Silly, huh? Discuss as a couple the type of food that you both like. We thought Dominos and Krispy Kreme would be a great idea but when we started making serious decisions, we actually forgot to put our twist on menus.
Think about whether you are only planning to serve light bites or whether you want to go for a full-on three-course meal. If there is only going to be one course on the menu, you need to try to go for a fairly popular and ‘safe’ choice. However, if you are going for multiple options, it is easier to pick one or two things that you wouldn’t necessarily order off a menu yourself.
You also need to consider your wedding cake, whether you are planning to go for a traditional choice or something highly popular like cheese cakes. Make all the same considerations as choosing your wedding menu when you come to making this decision.
Will Your Guests Enjoy Your Choice?
The guests will probably remember the food at the wedding more than you will as everything will go by in such a blur. Because of this, it is probably a good idea to avoid riskier choices like strong flavours and fatty dishes. One of our ideas was to have a sushi caterer for our wedding, who doesn’t like sushi!? Turns out, quite a lot of people don’t like raw fish and wasabi. It’s our day but we want everybody to be happy, too.
It is also important to ask whether or not your guests have any allergies or dietary requirements as this is going to impact your choice of caterer. The last thing that you want to do is to serve something that people are unable to eat. This is exactly why we put the Krispy Kreme favour idea on the back burner.
How Do You Want the Overall Dining Experience to Be?
You may want to have an entirely sitting-down dining experience if you are looking to go for something formal and traditional. Alternatively, if you are looking for a more relaxed choice and you are having an outdoor wedding, a picnic, barbecue, or buffet-style arrangement may be the perfect option.
This one ended up biting us in the butt. We looked at everything available to us, fish and chips, hog roast and pasties – you name it. Turns out, fish and chips in a manor house didn’t really have the elegance and romance we were looking for. And although we love the idea of dining outside, the weather is unpredictable in England, so this was something else we had to take into consideration.
One thing we never thought of, was multiple food stations! It gives guests the opportunity to take their pick depending on what they feel like eating. But the word of advice, make sure you plan the food into the flow of the day and consider when your guests will start feeling hungry so you don’t leave them waiting too long.
So, hopefully, this guide has put a few ideas in your mind so you can choose wedding food that really complements the occasion and helps you to have an unforgettable day. Wish us luck, as we *fingers crossed* book our caterer(s) later this month.