You are planning your wedding and you notice that catering service adverts are appearing online. Of course, you figure you can cater your wedding yourself, as you are a whizz in the kitchen, and you will know exactly what everyone will want to eat. Take a pause there and think about this: in the run-up to your wedding, do you want to be stressing out about making food for a lot of people?
DIY catering is fine for barbecues and family gatherings, but it is not ideal for weddings. As one of the couples who is getting married, you already have enough to think about in the run-up to your big day, and it is wise, nay, imperative, to leave the food for your wedding in the hands of professionals.
So, here, you will be walked through why on-site catering for your wedding reception may be the better option, especially concerning DIY catering. Enjoy!
Convenient
Starting at the top, when it comes to your wedding day, one of the main benefits of having gourmet on-site catering is that it is convenient. You don’t have to wait for the catering teams to arrive, and you don’t have to worry about the food needing to be reheated. You can simply arrive at the reception hall, and it is all there, waiting for you and your guests.
In many cases, the catering team will also have servers, who will bring the food out and collect plates after you and your guests have finished eating, allowing you to focus more on your big day than cleaning tables.
Fresh!
Have you ever packed food to go to the beach, only to arrive and unwrap it? It undoubtedly won’t taste as good as it did when you first made it, as is the way with food.
So, a core benefit of having food prepared on-site at your wedding reception is that it will be fresh from the kitchen. No tin foil, no heating lamps or trays, straight from the oven to you and your guests’ plates. Without getting technical, this ensures that it will taste better and, with certain types of food, will also reduce the risk of food poisoning, which is not something you want to have linked to your wedding day.
Plus, it allows you to have more specific foods on your reception menu, such as ice cream in the middle of summer and even freshly barbecued meats.
High Quality
Regarding DIY catering versus on-site catering, unless you are Gordon Ramsay (or are friends with Gordon Ramsay), it is unlikely you will be able to beat the quality of the food that a professional catering team can offer.
The food has been crafted and created by professional chefs, and cooks and will be put together by an entire team of people, ready for your big day. This will ensure that the food not only looks great when it is served to you and your guests but that it also tastes delicious. Also, as the food that is being offered by the catering team will be prepared in batches, each prawn puff or piece of grilled asparagus on the menu will be cooked to the same quality, meaning no one has to suffer an undercooked piece of food.
Then, you have to think about the machinery that has been used to cook the food and to prep it. A catering team will have access to higher quality ovens, better food processors, and blenders than any small, at-home kitchen, meaning the end results will be tastier.
Personalized
The benefit of food you have prepped and designed yourself is that you know what’s in it. You know the steps that were taken to make it, and you know that all of your guests will love it.
That’s all well and good for a gathering like a dinner party. When it gets to the size of a wedding, it’s gone a bit off the scale! Making one batch of goat’s cheese tartlets is fine. Having to make up to two hundred in a small kitchen is not so fine, not to mention expensive and stressful!
So, be sure to take the time to look through the menu options that any on-site catering team offers. This will help you to assess the quality of the food, as well as help you to see the range of what they offer. Many catering teams will be able to provide a menu that includes vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, so if you are inviting a large crowd to your wedding, it is best to cover all the bases. If you wish, you can ask to send out copies of the menus to your guests, to ensure that they are happy with what’s on offer.
Of course, it will also not harm to ask for a sample of the food via a tasting session from the on-site catering staff when you are narrowing down venues. Take along your spouse-to-be, a friend, or a family member to taste the different options to see what you like. It may not have been created in your kitchen, but you will be able to heavily personalize it, making your reception on tasty and enjoyable event.
Less Stress
OK, so a wedding day should go down in your memory as one of the best days of your life. The last thing you want to be fretting about is whether you are able to make the vegan beetroot parcel for Aunt Gwen in the run-up to your big day!
Weddings are stressful as it is, and when you choose a catering team at the location of your reception to take that pressure off, you can rest assured that your day will be better. It may not be perfect, but without having to cook and transport all of the food, you won’t have to worry about this area. This is not to say that you can’t bring along your own snacks and nibbles. Many wedding reception halls will be quite happy for their guests to bring along some bit for their guests, whereas others may have strict no outside food policies. Be sure to check!