Catering is probably going to be the most expensive line item in your budget. Many brides will try to save money by cutting down on the number of floor staff/bartenders they have. Having worked in catering and events since I was 19, I know this consistently spells disaster. If you cut down on labor that means your servers will work twice as hard and guests will wait twice as long. I always tell my Brides, if you got to a five star restaurant and get great food, but it takes an hour to arrive and the server never brings your glass of wine, will you go back? Probably not. Likewise, even if your tables are beautiful and the food is delicious if service is bad, that is all your guests will remember.

A wedding should make the guest feel warm and welcome, food and drink should magically appear, water glasses should be refilled without asking and wine should be graciously offered when your glass is low. When service is at this level, there is a sense of ease that permeates your event which means your guests will have a great time and the catering staff themselves will be happy. I always say, if the staff are happy, your guests are happy.

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Food & Beverage, Wedding Planning Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.