Wedding catering can be a headache, which is why I wanted to put a wedding caterer questions list together. I know some couples do wedding catering themselves but we decided to get a wedding caterer to do the food for both the day and evening, it was easier and we found one that we fell in love with. They managed to answer all of the questions that we fired at them and more. There’s a lot that can go wrong with wedding food, which is why it’s important to ask as many questions as you can think of, another reason why I’ve put this list together.
Why Ask Wedding Caterer Questions?
As I’ve said before food is really important when it comes to the wedding, you can’t please everyone but you MUST ask them wedding caterer questions if you want to get it right and the way you want. If a caterer knows how to do their job they won’t have a problem with you asking questions for the wedding caterer. There are loads that need to be taken into consideration when it comes to a wedding, dietiery requirments for starters; do you have any guests that are vegetarian or vegan? Allergies is a big thing, I can’t have too much dairy, some people can’t have gluten and loads of people have nut allergies so these are things that need to be taken into account; you don’t want a wedding disaster half way through your wedding breakfast at the end of the day!
Plus you need to make sure you like the food, you’re the main focus of the wedding and if you don’t like what you’re eating it’s going to really ruin the day! We love our food and that’s why we’ve chosen to go with our wedding caterer as they’re amazing and the food is oh so tasty! We asked loads of questions for the wedding caterer to answer and here’s the list!
18 Important Wedding Caterer Questions To Ask
1, What services are included in the package?
When you’re looking at the cateres quote you need to know everything that is included. Apart from the food what other services are you paying for, are drinks included and cutting of the wedding cake are all things you need to be keeping in mind.
2, What services are not included in the package?
It’s important to know what services are included within your caterer package, it’s also important to know what isn’t included. Do you need to provide linen, are you going to have to hire someone to cut the cake after the cake cutting? These are all things that add up and you’ll need to know before putting down your deposit.
3, Where do you source your ingreidents?
An important question for a lot of couples. You don’t want your food on the day to be smart price Asda own brand, if you’re paying a fair amount for your wedding food you’ll want it to be good quality food. You might want a wedding caterer who sources their ingreidents locally, something to keep in mind when planning your wedding day!
4, Have you ever catered an event at my venue?
This is important, if a caterer has catered at your venue before, they will know the layout of the room where you’ll have your wedding breakfast. I’d be more inclined to book with a wedding caterer who knows the venue over one that doesn’t. If you want your wedding breakfast to go off without any issues, ask this question!
5, How many weddings have you catered for before?
You want a wedding caterer with experience, not one that has just started out. It might sound harsh but it’s your wedding day and if your wedding caterer hasn’t done any weddings before, it might be a disaster waiting to happen. However you might also find that a new wedding caterer on the scene might be a lot cheaper. At the end of it all, you need to have faith in your caterer before you put the deposit down.
6, How many weddings do you cater for on the day?
You want a wedding caterer that’s going to be dedicated, our wedding caterer only does one wedding per day so that they can be focused on the wedding at hand, if you have a wedding caterer that does more than one wedding per day you might find they devide their time too much and it might be an issue for your big day, an important question to ask.
Questions To Ask The Wedding Caterer About The Food
Once you have chosen your wedding caterer you need to sort out everything when it comes to the wedding breakfast food. There are some important questions that need asking, especially when it comes to the type of food your guests want.
7, What food do you suggest for the time of year?
If you’re having a winter wedding there might be different food recommendations than that of a summer wedding. Ask your wedding caterer what food they recommend for the time of year you’re getting married. Asking your wedding caterer what they suggest is so important, you must remember they’ve hopefully been doing weddings for years and they’ll know what works best. Our caterer has suggested something that isn’t even on his list, it is new for this year, but so tasty it’s unreal.
8, Do you cater for vegans, vegetarians and other dietary requirments?
We had a couple of vegetarians at our wedding and it was so important to make sure the menu reflected this. Ask your caterer if they cater for guests with dietary requirments before you put that deposit down, otherwise you might have unhappy and hungry wedding guests.
9, Can I add custom items to the menu?
You might have your heart set on apple pie for the wedding dessert, it’s best to ask your wedding caterer if they’re able to do this and not just assume. You might have found the best caterer and they’re able to do all sorts with your wedding menu, it’s your special day so make sure you get what you want.
10, Is there a cost to the wedding tasting?
There was a cost to our wedding tasting, some people thought it was expensive whereas others did not. Make sure you know if there is an additional cost to the wedding tasting before you book, if you’re not willing to pay out even more, look for another caterer. It is important to have a wedding food tasting, so you know the quality of the food, what your guests will be getting and it is at this point you can make changes so your special day is not ruined.
11, Can we have multiple choices or is it one set menu?
We gave our guests three options when it came to the starters and mains; everyone had the same dessert. It’s important to know if you can give your guests options, especially when it comes to vegetarian and vegan meals because the whole guest party won’t want the same dish(s).
Questions To Ask At The Wedding Menu Tasting
12, Are these the portion sizes?
On the day of the tasting you might have full plates filled with so much food you’re full up after. Make sure you ask if they are the portion sizes, otherwise you might find on the day that the plates have hardly any food on them, you don’t want to pay too much for hardly any food.
13, Will the dish be presented like this on the day?
Your plate could look stunning, however you want to make sure that’s what it’s going to look like on your wedding day. The plates might look amazing for two people, however if they’re catering for 50 on the day, you don’t want them to look messy.
14, Can we make some changes?
One of the changes we made on the day was having half an egg for the starter and not a quarter. Our caterer was more than happy to make this change and a couple of others. If your wedding caterer isn’t willing to make changes, maybe think about who you want to book and if it’s not too late to pull out.
Other Important Questions
15, When do you need the final payments?
Most caterers will want the final payment around 1-2 months before the big day, you need to make sure you know when the final payment needs to be paid otherwise you might find yourself with a late fee
16, When do you need to final guest numbers, RSVP’s?
You don’t want to get to a week before wedding day and realise that you haven’t given all the information to the caterer and someone doesn’t get fed. At the same time you need to be aware of when the wedding caterer is ordering the food, late RSVP’s might not get fed so chase the guests up if need be!
17, Do you cater for evening food?
You might find that you caterer doesn’t do evening food, this means you’re going to need to find someone else to cater for the evening. However your caterer might do evening food so it’s important to ask. If you can stick with the same caterer all day that you love, you’ll have good quality food throughout your wedding day.
18, Do you cater for wedding cakes?
I’ve heard a lot of people ask this, as they want to stay with the same caterer. Some caterers make cakes although some don’t, for us we went with a cake maker as our caterer didn’t do wedding cakes.
12 Extra Questions
- Are you available for our date?
- Do you provide alcohol? Can you accommodate specialist cocktails?
- What evening food options do you have?
- Will you provide tableware, cutlery or table runners?
- Have you catered for this many people at one time before?
- What happens if we cancel or change our wedding date? What’s your policy on refunds?
- Are canapés included in the price?
- Do you supply alcohol too? How much choice do we have for this?
- What menus do you offer for children?
- What is your policy on tipping, should we reserve money for tipping the waiting staff?
- Do you cater for other wedding suppliers on the day?
- What happens if you’re unwell on the day, do you have someone to step in?
Asking Questions Before Paying!
Make sure you ask as many wedding related questions before putting down your deposit. It’s also important to ask personal questions, get talking with your wedding caterer and make sure you actually like them. You don’t want to be paying loads of money to someone you don’t even like, you need to make sure you trust them to make you wedding day as perfect as possible. Make sure you ask them all important wedding caterer questions and have a perfect wedding day.
If you need help with other suppliers take a look at these 48 Questions To Ask A Wedding Florist and 28 Questions To Ask A Wedding Photographer. Make sure you ask all the right questions to have the perfect wedding day!
