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Your wedding day is your dream day. It’s supposed to represent you and your partner in every way. Brides and grooms spend months picking the perfect venue and the perfect DJ. Creating a custom event from start to finish makes all of the stress and strain worth it. So why not create a perfect wedding menu?
Finding a caterer to provide the food for your big day is only half of the battle. Couples want food that represents them and their journey together but they also want GOOD food. Some would argue that the food served on your wedding day is one of the most important decisions. You want your guests to enjoy the food, it’s something they will talk about for awhile.
Questions to Ask a Catering Company Before Making a Decision
The first big decision that you’ll most likely book is the venue. Once the venue is checked off your list, and you have the wedding date on the calendar, one of the next steps is finding a caterer that fits your needs. Depending on that venue, here are a few questions you should ask while doing your research.
Have your worked at this venue before?
It’s important that a outside caterer feels comfortable working not only within the venue, but also with the venues staff. Even if a caterer has not been to your venue, a good caterer will take the time to complete a site tour, meet up with the venue staff, and ensure that they can properly complete your day without a hitch.
Do you allow for customized menu options?
Your wedding is you and your fiances day. It should represent who you are as a couple. Adding fun touches like a meal you shared on your first date, or hors deauvors that represent places you’ve traveled together, make your day unforgettable. A good caterer should be able to bring your vision to life, even if that means adding something that they do not currently have on their menu.
What is all included in your packages?
Some packages will include everything, others will not. A catering company should offer to provide linens, glassware, china, flatware, bartending services and more. These are things that will make your life easier because you do not have to outsource these from multiple vendors. But the wedding caterer should also not force these services on you. You have every right to outsource if that is what you’d prefer and the catering price should adjust accordingly.
Will you be cooking the food on site? Or transporting it in a hotbox?
If your venue doesn’t have a kitchen onsite, it is extremely important to ask this question. Hotbox food transports are the reason that wedding food has a bad reputation. When hot food is transported from one location to the next, the steam creates soggy and unappetizing food. Especially anything that is fried or should be crispy. A good wedding caterer will cook all food onsite. For example, at Mountain Laurel Catering, we have large kitchen trailers that we bring onsite. This allows our chefs to cook each piece of salmon, chicken or beef to perfection no matter if your wedding is being held in a high end hotel or in the middle of a field.
Are you full service?
It’s one thing to have a company provide glassware or bartending services, but it’s another to ensure they’re supplying ice, clearing all of their trash at the end of the night, providing a liquor liability, keeping your guests water glasses filled, ensuring that guests tables are clear as they’re finishing their beverages and food.
Ensuring You Have a Full-Service Wedding Caterer
These questions can make a huge difference on your wedding day, not only for you but for your guests. Most importantly, you want to surround yourself with vendors and companies that have your best interests at heart and genuinely care about and love what they do. Be sure to do your research and don’t be scared to ask questions.
Get a Customized Wedding Menu from Mountain Laurel Catering
Mountain Laurel Catering is a full-service, family-run wedding caterer in Harrisburg PA. We are a small but mighty team of people that have been through the wedding planning process and understand that it is a BIG job.
Our mission is to always make sure you feel 100% comfortable to ask any questions, and to truly capture the essence of your relationship in the food we serve. If you're into traveling, we want to know about that amazing dish you ate in Mexico. If the two of you got engaged in South Carolina, we’d love to incorporate shrimp and grits into your day.
We also understand the importance of freshness, not only of the ingredients, but of getting the food from the flame to the table as efficiently as possible. Our chefs have one-of-a-kind mobile kitchens to ensure our food is the absolute freshest (and hottest) it can be.
No request is too small or too large for our team; we keep our eyes on the big picture while honing in on those small details to make your wedding day ultra-unique and personable. We look forward to working with you!