Catering for your wedding day and what you need to know. Finding a catering service provider for your wedding is a pretty important part of a couples wedding planning strategy. A caterer provides meals, drinks, desserts, and even a wonder customer service if you hire the right company. So, they play a pretty important role in your wedding day. If you have any experience with caterers you’re in luck! But, if you’ve never hired a caterer before, don’t worry. This post will hopefully help clear up any questions you may have while you’re looking for a caterer.

First of all, if your wedding venue offers this service. You probably don’t need to worry about anything other than deciding which delicious meal you want served. And you don’t have to even think about hiring a third party caterer. Even if the catering is not provided by an in house company, they probably have some great recommendations to send you! If the management at the reception site suggests a caterer, definitely still do your homework. It’s just like any other vendor you would hire for your wedding day. A caterer should be able to give you lots of references and you should always look into their legitimacy.

Things to ask your Wedding Day Catering Service

Firstly, you should look into and ask for reviews with reliability, trustworthiness, quality of food and service, and any related issues. Never assume that just because they are recommended by a planner, venue, or photographer, that they are going to be the perfect caterer for your specific event. One caterer may work great for one event, but may not have experience with serving hundreds of people. Always do your homework!

Another great thing to verify with your caterer, is if they include dinnerware and silverware for guests to eat off of. I would hate for you to hire a caterer that is serving a bunch of delicious food and not have planned that out in advance! A great thing to get would be a list of all included services or a break down of what to expect from hiring them.

What else is included? Are they going to provide dinner, and a midnight snack for your guests? Will there be desserts included in the final price per person, or is it going to be an additional cost to add it on. Like I just said, a great resource to keep handy is a list of all things that are included.

Different Types of Wedding Day Catering

Cocktail Reception

This is the type of service you’re looking for if you are doing a sunset ceremony. Or, if you are not wanting to have a sit down dinner. A great way to make it work would be with tall tables. Have them spread out throughout the space for guests to place their drinks on. You will most likely be paying for servers to keep the food going around the venue for the duration of your event.

Food Truck Catering

This is a really fun and different twist on hiring food for your wedding. It will most likely give you the widest variety of food options for your guests. But, it will also require your guests to stand in a line to receive their food. And then, safely get it back to their table. It can also take a while longer to have every guest served and eaten. Since the food is fresh, it might be alright. A great way to simplify it would be to preorder the ‘important’ food. For the bride and groom, wedding party, and immediate family members. This can keep them from getting stuck in line and ready for speeches!

Buffet Catering

This is another great option for having a wide variety of food and lots of options for your guests to eat. From salads, to cheesy side dishes, fresh steamed vegetables, and a variety of meat, you’re sure to have a great reaction from your guests. You can mix it up, or keep it very streamlined with one style of food. A fun buffet style I’ve seen is to do a taco bar with multiple filling options.

Sit-down Catering

Having a seated dinner will require more staff than a buffet. Serving the food to each table requires more servers. You will need more tables and chairs because all guests will be eating at the same time. It offers less flexibility, as guests need to choose what they’re eating ahead of time. To simplify, you should offer the choice as part of the RSVP so it doesn’t get forgotten about. But, the preselection process allows you to work with your caterer on exact numbers.

Family Style Catering

This is the same sort of style as sit down catering. But, the difference is that it’s served like you would eat at home. The server brings all the large bowls and plates of food to the table. Each guest dishes up their portion of dinner from these plates. It is very reliant on having extremely fast service and a lot of food. I have found that these dinners get devoured a lot more quickly!