Wedding Catering FAQs

You’re engaged! Congratulations. you’ve found a Wiltshire wedding venue? Fabulous news. Now searching for your dream wedding caterer… and it’s a little bit daunting. There are lots of aspects to consider; choosing a caterer can feel like a complicated task. It shouldn’t be! Choosing your Bath, Bristol or Somerset wedding caterer should be a fun part of wed-min, so we’ve put together some Wedding Catering FAQs below to help you enjoy the search.

How Do I Find a Wedding Caterer?

Some venues have an in-house catering team; this makes things easier for you when planning your wedding caterer and menu. Though, you may find that their in-house caterer doesn’t align with your menu plans. It’s always worth checking with your venue if they’d consider allowing you to pay a charge to choose an external caterer. After all, it’s your special day and if you’re a foodie too, chances are your menu is important to you.

Dry hire venues might point you to their list of recommended catering companies. These are usually wedding caterers that have had experience at that particular venue, so are trusted to do a fantastic job. It’s reassuring to choose a caterer that’s familiar with the space. Your venue manager will usually present you with a list of 5-6 recommended catering companies for you to choose from. We’d suggest narrowing down to 3 that you think share your foodie values, and book an initial meeting or telephone consultation with each of them. The caterer will ask you questions that will aid them to put together a quote based on your requirements, so be ready for questions such as: “How many guests are you having? Do you want canapés? How many courses do you want? Do you want evening food?”

For DIY venues, you might have to do a little more leg work to find your chosen catering company! If your venue doesn’t have a list of recommended catering companies, then websites like Hitched.com are great for narrowing down the list. Alternatively, Google will always be your friend; look for a catering company with Google Business Reviews and an Instagram page so that you can see images they have been tagged in of Real Weddings. A Wedding Caterer with their own Blog is a bonus as they will no doubt include case studies to give you further peace of mind. Although it’s great to find a catering company who has experience with your venue, as long as your chosen caterer has DIY wedding experience you should be in very capable hands.

As a rule of thumb, we’d suggest reaching out to wedding caterers once you’ve chosen your date and venue. We’d also suggest having an idea of the kind of food you’re looking for, so that caterers have a chance of putting together the most relevant quote for you.

How Much Does Wedding Catering Cost?

Lots of people would no doubt answer this with ‘well, how long is a piece of string’, but that’s not very helpful, is it? You should expect to pay between £60 and £110 + VAT per head, though this of course will vary depending on the type of catering you’re looking for. Some catering companies, including ourselves, will package up wedding catering into an easy ‘per person’ price. This usually includes around 4-6 canapés per person and a three course meal. Most catering companies will also include crockery, cutlery and glassware in this package price so as to not complicate the quoting process, keeping you safe from the dreaded ‘hidden extras.’ You will find some additional items may be added, such as evening snacks, Champagne towers, drinks service and more.

DIY and marquee wedding quotes may arrive a little more ‘broken down’. This is because of the extra elements involved in planning an outdoor wedding. Additional items may include furniture, kitchen equipment, chilling facilities, extra staff and travel.

If we were to separate elements of wedding catering up to provide you with individual quotes, you can expect canapés to cost between £1 and £3 + VAT per canapé, and a three course meal around £60 + VAT per person including crockery, cutlery and linen. Evening snacks usually start from £6 + VAT per person, and for additional kitchen equipment for your marquee wedding you can expect to pay from £500 + VAT.

Do Wedding Caterers Provide Drinks Packages?

Lots of wedding caterers provide an array of drinks services, meaning you can keep various aspects of your wedding to one vendor. That’s handy, isn’t it? Although the idea of providing your own drinks is no doubt appealing, having someone else take the reins with a wealth of booze-related knowledge can also be a stress reliever.

You will find most Somerset wedding caterers will split their drinks packages into two sections; day drinks, and evening drinks. The day drinks package usually spans from reception drinks to toast drinks, including wine during the meal. Evening drinks refer to your evening bar. When discussing day drinks packages with your wedding caterer, you’ll want to look for an offering of at least two drinks during the reception, 2/3 bottle of wine per person during the meal, and a glass of something for the toast. You’ll of course want to include soft drinks, and plenty of water. Day drinks packages are likely to start from £15 + VAT per person, and up to £30 + VAT per person depending on options!

For your evening drinks package, you’ll have the option for your catering company to charge your guests or to have an open bar. An open bar may be split into various packages; simple offerings of just wine and beer, the inclusion of spirits and mixers, and the inclusion of more elaborate drinks like cocktails. Each of these options will be at various price points. You can expect your evening drinks packages to cost between £16 and £35 + VAT per person, and a cash bar should usually be free to set up.

Can Wedding Caterers Serve My Drinks?

Prefer to provide your own drinks? This usually isn’t a problem! Some wedding caterers will serve your reception and meal drinks free-of-charge, and others, like us, will charge a fee to cover ice, garnishes, glassware and additional serving staff! We recommend getting in touch with your caterer around a month before the wedding to confirm your drinks selection so that they can provide the relevant glassware and be prepared to mix up any cocktails you’re hoping to supply.

Most catering companies will charge a fee to serve your drinks as part of an evening bar. This is usually more expensive than day drinks service as there are more drinks, a longer service, and the drinks offering is usually a little more complicated.

If you’ve booked a DIY or marquee wedding we’d suggest hiring a chiller trailer for keeping your drinks cold. Ice buckets and mini fridges aren’t usually sufficient, and a walk-in fridge on wheels is the perfect solution for stress-free drinks service.

How Many Canapés Should I have?

Couples often ask us ‘How many canapés should we choose?’ and that really does depend on your catering for the rest of the day. If you’re opting for a three course sit-down meal, we’d suggest 4-6 canapés per person. If you’d rather not have a starter, we’d recommend adding on a couple more canapés so that your guests aren’t hungry.

It might come as a surprise that not all canapés are created equal! We’d say our canapés are ‘two bite’ substantial canapés, where as another catering company may provide smaller more sophisticated bite-sized options. Another caterer’s idea of a canapé might be something like a miniature burger or slider, this is three bites, and just a couple of those would be plenty pre-sit down meal. We’d recommend chatting with your chosen caterer to understand the size of their canapés.

How Many Courses Should I choose?

We’re biased here, but we’re always going to suggest three courses. Sitting down to a three course dinner is a special treat, it’s something none of us do too often, and if you’re ever going to, it should be on your wedding day! In fact, some of our clients opt to add even more courses to their wedding breakfast, including amuse bouche or cheese courses.

If you’re mindful of budget, we understand that three courses just might not be an option. In which case, we’d recommend dropping your starter an opting for an abundant feasting main course. Another money-saving trick would be to drop your dessert course, and instead serve your wedding cake as a dessert. We’ve seen too much wedding cake go to waste at the end of the night, and by serving this for dessert you ensure everyone gets a taste before they’ve drank a little too much and forget the cake is there.

Should I Offer My Guests Choices?

We appreciate that offering your guests a choice of dishes for each course is a nice addition to your dining experience. It allows you to cover an array of preferences and means that you don’t have to make too many decisions when planning your menu. There is, however, added admin and planning involved in allowing your guests to choose their dishes.

You’ll need to include some kind of menu-selection option in your wedding invitations or wedding website, and will need to collate these in a way that works for your catering company. Most catering companies will charge extra for allowing your guests to choose their menu, and will require menu choices around a month before your special day.

This was something that was at its height of popularity in the 80s and 90s, but as years move on most couples opt for one main menu for all of their guests with variations only for guests with dietary requirements or preferences.

Do I Need Evening Food?

Whether you should provide evening catering depends on a couple of things; your timeline for the day, and whether you’re inviting guests to the evening reception only. If your evening guests are arriving before 8pm, we’d suggest providing evening catering. Similarly if your main wedding breakfast finishes before 8.30pm, we’d suggest evening catering (this is based on your wedding finishing at midnight).

Guests don’t expect to sit down again to anything particularly lavish or complicated, but a hot, indulgent snack will go down swimmingly late at night. Popular choices include fish finger sandwiches, bacon and sausage butties or authentic paella!

Do Caterers Provide Crockery & Cutlery?

We’ve spoken about food and drink, now it’s time to talk about the extras. You’ll find that most catering companies will include a ‘classic’ selection of crockery and cutlery within their quote, with an option to upgrade to other ‘looks’ as you progress with planning. The classic selection will usually include plain white plates, and simple but elegant cutlery and glassware. With importance of table styling increasing thanks to the likes of Pinterest and Instagram, you’ll no doubt want to style your tableware to your chosen theme! Charger plates, coloured glassware, gold cutlery and Champagne coupes are usually available from your catering company at an extra cost.

Linen is another aspect which is usually provided by your Bristol wedding caterer, and you can expect that you have simple white linen included. There will often be the option to upgrade to colours and textures; we offer an upgrade to hand-dyed napkins from the lovely Knotted Napkin Company - a true elevation of your wedding styling.

We appreciate that was quite a long post, congratulations if you made it to the end! You’re now armed with an array of FAQs to make choosing your wedding caterer a more enjoyable task! If you’ve got anymore questions, please feel free to email us.