We asked award-winning caterers Caviar & Chips to give us their top 5 tips for planning your outdoor wedding catering… and boy, did they come through!
Top 5 outdoor wedding catering tips by Caviar & Chips!
When it comes to planning your wedding there are a lot of things to organise. It can sometimes feel like you’ve got lists for lists! From flowers to favours and from cake to catering. Luckily we’ve teamed up with award-winning caterers Caviar & Chips to cover you on all things on your food and drink list!
Caviar & Chips co-founder, Marc Hornby, gave us five of their top wedding planning tips for planning outdoor wedding catering to give you a head-start to creating your perfect day.
1. It’s exciting to work from a blank canvas
One of the things we get excited about when planning an outdoor wedding in a marquee is that you have a blank canvas to work from. All of our menus are bespoke and we create every dish and course the way our clients want them. Take this opportunity to step back and think about what you would like if you could have absolutely anything you wanted for your wedding breakfast.
This is your special day and your first meal as a married couple. Your guests are with you to help celebrate and so bring some of your relationship into your plans. Think about meals you enjoy together, places you’ve been on holiday or dishes that if you had your own chef for a day you know what they’d make!
2. Timing isn’t everything, but it’s a good start
It’s always good to have an outline of timings and a format to your day. Giving your wedding day a shape and order can help you see what’s really important to you and ensure that you organise things accordingly. One thing to bear in mind though is that timings will rarely stay exactly on track.
Always factor in things running over, but give yourself a couple of times in the day to aim for. For example aim for a time you’d like to start a drinks and canape reception, a time when everyone will sit down to eat and a time when your evening party will start.
3. Make the most of the space you have
Whether your Sailcloth tent, Petal Pole marquee or tipi is in a field or garden, during your wedding planning think about how you want the space to work from both a practical point of view and also from an order of the day. Start off with a sketch to see the space your marquee will take up and then start filling in the spaces with some of the key aspects of your day. From a catering point of view see where your catering tent will be positioned and check if this will be away from your guests, but with easy access for the catering team.
4. A toast to the bride and groom
Serving your guests drinks for an outdoor wedding has a few more considerations than if you were in a permanent venue. Refrigeration and water are two key things. Your caterers should be able to help you with a refrigeration unit, whether that’s a van or mobile trailer, but having access to a water source will be important so see how this works when planning where the marquee will be situated. Your caterers should also be able to help with ice to still be able to serve cold drinks and make fantastic cocktails.
5. You’re creating a restaurant in a field
Sailcloth and Petal Pole marquees make such beautiful backdrops to outdoor weddings and it’s amazing what you can achieve when you’re essentially bringing a pop-up restaurant into your garden or field.
Et Voila!
So there you have our five top wedding planning tips for planning your wedding catering with a little focus on the outdoors. The main thing is don’t feel you need to have all of the answers and all of the plans yourself. Do however ask all of your wedding suppliers lots of questions. This is your big day and you should really enjoy the wedding planning process as much as the day itself.
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