Weddings are exciting and memorable occasions for the wedding party, family, and guests alike. Coming together to witness the ceremony and join the after-party celebration of those closest to us is a privilege leaving a legacy of memories for all who attend. With time, guests will likely forget a lot of the details such as the colour of the flowers in your bouquet, the songs played, or the theme of the wedding party. However, one aspect of the celebration which tends to hold in memory of your guests and will be talked about over time will be the wedding meal, whether it was a “great meal” or “not so great meal.” Considering the meal will likely be the most expensive component of the wedding, it makes perfect sense to pay much attention to catering for weddings.
The Wedding Theme | Catering For Weddings
When deciding the overall theme of your wedding, catering for the wedding should be considered with equal priority to the venue and the visual presentation.
You should be very clear in your mind about the kind of food and the style of service that you want to have on your special day. Whatever you decide on the wedding menu, make sure it corresponds well with your wedding reception. You also need to decide whether you want to go for self-catering or want to hire the services of a professional catering company.
The Guest List | Catering For Weddings
How many and the mix of guests invited to attend your special day plays an important role in finalising the wedding menu. The size of your wedding and time of day can serve to dictate the way in which your menu is delivered. From Cocktails and finger food, buffet style, alternate plate choices, and on-table table banquet service. This can also be dictated by the style in which you choose to seat people. Small informal tables without designated seating, formal named seating, long banquets, these are all matters to be considered when catering for weddings.
Once these decisions are made, you are then ready to start working on your menu. The number of guests, choice of venue and seating style will likely inform menu styles or limitations.
The Diverse Menu | Catering For Weddings
Being mindful if your guests have any special requirements is important when we all want our guests to have a memorable time. Allergies, vegetarians, vegans, religious dietary limitations can all serve to influence the diversity of the menu. You may find if the balance amongst your guests heavily favours a food type, you are best to use this as a leading theme to your overall menu. Otherwise, you may find a diverse mix in the foods offered by plated choices or table banquet where guests can make their own choices to be more accommodating to all palettes.
It is important to remember, in these Covid times, open buffets are not permitted. They can only be limited with servers in attendance.
The Menu Budget | Catering For Weddings
It is estimated that around 40-50% of the total wedding budget is used by this overhead, it is therefore important to keep this in mind when budgeting the catering for weddings. Your choice of venue can largely dictate the portion of your budget as well as limitations to types of foods and how they are served.
If you have an informal setting for your wedding, say a public parkland space which you have hired from council or yours or family backyard, you may also consider self-catering. Drawing on sources within your family and friends who are foodies and enjoy cooking can be a fun way to include those close to you from the planning stage through the whole of wedding experience as well as helping to keep the budget under control.
Read our Blog – Melbourne Micro Wedding – Backyard Wedding
By Nicola Hazzell
For Photograph Your Story
Catering For Weddings
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