Wedding Caterer Tips

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Wedding Caterer Tips and How to Choose

Your wedding caterer will be hired through your reception location or separately by you. Either way, you will want to check references and sample food. The food and drink will be an enormous part of your budget, so make sure you will get what you expect.

If you will be using an off-premise wedding caterer, you should start looking for one as soon as you book the reception site. Ask family and friends for references; your reception site may also give you the names of people they have worked with.

You have many options depending on your budget. For example:

Buffet, family-style (served per table) or sit-down service, or a combination (i.e. sit down salad, buffet entree)
Paper plates, regular porcelain dishes or china
Plastic flatware or stainless
Plastic glasses or glass ones
Beverage service at the table or at a separate bar/beverage area
Cloth napkins or paper napkins
Appetizers and desserts or a full meal
Spaghetti or filet mignon, or something in between
Free, full bar or cash-only bar or something in between

In making these decisions, keep in mind your goal for the wedding reception: Making sure everyone has a great time at your party, celebrating with you. (At least, we HOPE this is your goal, and that you are not aiming mainly to impress people.) Good spaghetti served on paper plates in a comfortable environment with a happy bride, groom and guests makes for a better reception than aged beef sirloin on antique china when the environment is not comfortable or the wedding party and family are not happy and relaxed. Do not feel bad about your budget, whatever it is; you can have a terrific party on any budget. Determine what aspects are most important to your vision of the perfect party, and focus on those.

Here are some questions to keep in mind when talking to caterers:

How many hours of service are included? In other words, if you go late, will there be extra charges?
What is included in the price and what is extra? (Decorating, set-up, staff, food, rentals, clean-up, gratuity or service charge, taxes and so on may be included or may be additional charges.)
Can they provide a few special menus, if applicable? (Or will you have a salad bar or something similar to accommodate vegetarian guests?)
Do you need to get menu preferences, if offering any, up front or can they figure it out themselves? (It is slightly tacky to ask people's meal preference on the response card, although it is done more and more often.)
Do they have a liquor license to purchase alcohol or do you need that provided separately? Will they serve your alcohol?
What will the wait staff wear? You do not want casually dressed servers at a formal event. If you are having a tropical themed wedding, Hawaiian shirts might be great
How long will the food service take? (You want to know when to start the rest of the festivities, and give the band an idea of when they are on.)

Finally and most importantly, AFTER you have checked references and tasted food, AFTER you have determined they can do what you want at your budget, carefully read the contract. This is not a contract you should sign without understanding; please read it or have someone read it completely. Make note of:

The date, time, location and hours of service
The list of services (meal, bar, cake, beverage, etc.)
The menu
The name of the person handling your reception
The fees and terms
The date you need to give them a final count
The cancellation policy

If it all looks good, sign it and move forward!