Wedding Catering: Your Most Asked Questions Answered

Catering for your wedding guests can seem daunting at first. So, to help you get started,  we asked catering experts at Caper and Berry for their advice on some of the key questions that our couples have about wedding catering.

What Should We Be Considering When Booking A Caterer For Our Wedding?

There are some obvious considerations when booking your wedding catering, such as budget and style of food, both of these factors need to fit for the whole process to work. Our biggest recommendation would be to choose someone you trust and have a rapport with. 

You will be working with your catering team for up to a year before your wedding and if you don’t have a planner, your Catering Event Manager will be ensuring your day runs smoothly. The catering team will deliver your vision and will bring all your personal touches and ideas to life!

We tend to advise
that the length of your reception will dictate how many canapes you need per
person. Four per hour is a good ratio to work to.

What Are The Traditional Timings That We Should Allow For Food?

The following is a good estimation, but speeches can always throw a curveball!  

• 1.5 hours - drinks and canapes 
• 2 hours – Wedding breakfast 
• 40 minutes – speeches(!)

Vegetarian and Vegan menus will continue to be hugely popular. Couples are choosing to take a healthier approach to their wedding breakfast and injecting colour and flavour by using seasonal vegetables and herbs. A few of our favourites are: 

• Asparagus Pea and textures of onion - Chargrilled asparagus and minted pea puree with textures of onion, truffle cream and leek oil
• Balsamic Peach - Balsamic roasted peach, toasted hazelnut, home-dried tomato and baby leaf salad finished with extra virgin olive oil 
• Rhubarb and Pistachio - Poached Rhubarb and rhubarb puree served with a soya crumble with toasted almonds and pistachio powder 

With the spotlight on how we as a nation can be more sustainable, we are also finding this is the case with our couples with sustainability at the forefront of their catering concerns.

It’s your wedding - start with you.  

What are your favourite foods, where have you travelled to together? Are there certain dishes that evoke memories that make you happy and will in turn make your guests smile? 

Sharing these experiences and flavours with your guests makes the day feel so much more personal, a true representation of you and your life together. 

What About Dietary Requirements, Allergies And Intolerances?  

Most caterers can cater for a multitude of diets and allergies, so do not fret! With that being said, it’s nice to try and build them into your meal so your menu isn’t too disjointed and those with dietaries don’t feel like they are causing issues. 

However, if this can’t be done, your caterer will be able to adapt or design specific menus for anyone with intolerances or allergies.

From the above you can probably guess – Make it personal! Build your day around the two of you! From the menu, music and styling, it should reflect you both. 

Whether you’re planning a traditional wedding breakfast, a lavish barbecue or amazing canapes, Caper & Berry will ensure that your day is one to never forget. They’ll create a personal menu for you, taking prime local and seasonal produce and designing mouth-watering imaginative dishes – plus their professional team will be on hand to assist you every step of the way. Find out more about wedding catering at caperandberry.co.uk.   

Looking for some tasty wedding food ideas? Check out four delicious Easter menus from wedding caterers Caviar and Chips.

Don’t stop at your wedding catering. Keep memories of the best meal ever going long after your wedding date by adding memorable pieces to your wedding gift list.

If you served barbeque food, add BBQ essentials to your gift list. We love sharing platters or how about choosing from a selection of stylish dinnerware? Every time you'll use these pieces you will be reminded of feeding all of your favourite people on your wedding day.