It’s hard to conceive of a wedding without food, but with so much that can go wrong, it pays to invest a little extra to get things right.
You’d think the easiest option for wining and dining guests was to put on a buffet and let them help themselves, but that decision alone throws up a number of other questions. First there’s the decision whether to enlist a professional help, then you’ll need to find out whether the venue has cooking facilities, as being able to offer hot food depends on whether you can get access to cookers.
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Another option is to ask guests to each bring a dish; as well as padding out the buffet table, it also brings friends and family together. Everyone has a few relatives with a speciality dish up their sleeves, and its little touches like those that will help to make the day feel so much more personal. It might well be a ceremony celebrating the bond between two people, but it’s a much a family affair.
The benefit of hiring a catering company should speak for itself, from taking the stress out of buying ingredients or bulk goods, preparing and cooking. Catering companies, like weddings, come in at all budgets and you ultimately get what you pay for. The choice of food is tied into the entertainment, so if, for example, the evening’s entertainment is focussed around a disco, then a buffet might be the best option to complement the party feeling.
It might be that you’d rather hire waiters to serve drinks and canapés throughout the after party, doing away with the big meal altogether. If that’s the case, it might be best to let guests know in advanced, as most will be expected a meal of one kind or another.
Chances are that the wedding of your dreams probably won’t feature a buffet of cold sausage rolls, soggy sandwiches or a 100 piece party platter. When it comes to food, most of us probably picture a multi-course sit down meal. There are a number of options at a couple’s disposal, such as renting out restaurants and hotels, to hiring private, upmarket catering companies. Lincolnshire is blessed with some of the country’s very best hotels and eateries, so suffice it to say couples are spoilt for choice.
Deciding on any one option is a difficult task unto itself, but even that decision is far from the last. Weddings bring together generations of two families, not to mention the bride and groom’s respective friends. It’s practically impossible that everyone present will share the same tastes. Instead of trying to find a one-dish-suites-all approach, it’s better to ask everyone ahead of the event, either as part of your invitation or just picking up the phone or sending an email. Catering a menu towards guests is a lot more straight forward than trying to force your guests to adapt to a menu.
Ensuring that everyone enjoys what they’re served is important (we all know what happens when people get hungry) but there’s also dietary requirements and allergens to consider. It can be tough to recall everyone’s preferences, so again it’s better to ask. Vegan and vegetarian food has never been more popular and restaurants and caterers will be happy to oblige either option. Food that is free-from gluten or other allergens will also be easily achieved so long as the establishment is made aware. It’s supposed to be a happy occasion, and having a vegan friend confronted with a rare steak, or a relative eating a peanut and having an anaphylactic shock will likely put a dent in the proceedings.
It’s all well and good serving food, but it is a wedding and guests will be expecting alcohol in one form or another. There’ll of course be an obligatory appearance from champagne (or a decent English sparkling) while the best man lists off the groom’s most embarrassing moments. Depending on the venue, there’ll probably be a bar of one kind or another, but more and more weddings are hiring out a mixologist who as well as serving up drinks can also provide entertainment with flips, tricks and twirls with the cocktail shaker.
At first glance food might seem like the most straight forward aspect of the wedding, but there’s a lot more to consider than there might seem. Given food is so important to any celebration, it’s always better to put in plenty of effort and, if needs be, more money to ensure that everyone is satisfied and sated. When in doubt, ask. The county’s foodie elite will be happy to advise and provide.
