Whether you hire a catering per matrimoni service for your wedding is the most important choice you’ll need to make regarding your wedding! It adds to your day but needs a lot of consideration.
Pros: The Benefits of Professional Catering
- Expertise in Food Management: Unlike a professional caterer, amateurs may not be experienced enough to serve the exact amount needed for a large group of hungry people, and they may not be able to ensure that everybody has had enough to eat.
- Diverse Menu Options: Instead of selecting an inclusive package designed by the caterer, in many cases there is a basic menu that you can customise to your taste, as well as a full vegetarian option and a dietary menu that can be adapted to suit any allergies, dislikes or ‘food quirks’.
- Convenience Saves Time: With a catering service you don’t have to worry about so many details… They do the preparation, setting up, serving the food and clean up, so you get to enjoy your big day with less on your mind.
Cons: The Challenges of Catering
- Cost Considerations: Wedding catering is one of the most expensive elements of a wedding so the price will be dependent on the menu, serving style and quantity of guests.
- Less Control Over the Cooking: With catering, you don’t control exactly what is being cooked, or how. Yes, there are tasting sessions, but the meal may be slightly different on the day.
- Possible Restrictions at Venues: Choosing a venue with an exclusive catering partner or that restricts the type of food you can bring in may force you into making compromises regarding the caterer you had in mind.
Pros: More Benefits Worth Considering
- Professional Service Staff: Caterers supply good staff to take over operating food service so the host can concentrate on enjoying the party.
- Stress Reduction: Dealing with catering of a large-scale event is challenging for all. However, caterers have the capacity to cope with such stress, from preparation of a menu to performing service with exactitude.
Cons: Other Considerations to Keep in Mind
- Potential for Miscommunication: And this is aligned with coordination problems that can arise, if you haven’t got all the small details down on paper before the big day, or if your expectations aren’t communicated clearly and effectively. Your expectations must be in line with what your caterer undertakes to do.
- Dependence on the Caterer’s Schedule: You would like a big fancy-schmancy meal on a certain date but – spoiler alert – the caterer is popular, and your date is already booked. That’s one hell of a crying shame. Book early, and it will be a crying shame.
Pros: Unseen Advantages
- Enhanced Presentation: Caterers are less simply ‘cooks’ but also stylists: well-presented food can be one of the centrepieces of the reception décor.
- All-inclusive Packages: In fact, a lot of these caterers provide packages for linens, silverware and glassware to add the convenience and even a classy touch.
Cons: The Final Drawbacks
- Fixed Menus: Although menus can be customised, there might still be limits to choices, depending on whether the caterer is capable of handling some unusual or ethnic dishes.
- Impersonal Touch: Catering can feel a little cold at times. The sense of the couple’s story might not be captured by standard menus the way it could be by homemade or family food.
Setting the Table for a Day to Remember
Whether or not it’s right for you depends on weighing up these pros and cons against your personal priorities and your wedding style. Different couples will arrive at different answers but, whatever catering means for you, if you don’t care much about elegance, in-house catering can save you money. And if you do, don’t overlook catering because you have no idea how good it can be. If you’re planning the wedding of your dreams, remember that the best food in the world is food that tastes like happiness.
