Professional Wedding Catering for Your LDS Reception

Wedding Receptions for the typical LDS bride and groom have come a long way from the old standby menu of pastel mints and salted nuts. The basketball hoop in the cultural hall hidden by colorful streamers, and lines on the gymnasium floor covered by fake trees from the foyer, has long since faded from the norm. More often, LDS brides want wedding receptions with professional catering to satisfy their guests and take pressure off their mothers.

Professional full service catering? What’s all the fuss? Catering is pretty straight forward: you cook some food and serve it, right? Although that is the basic idea, there is more to it, a lot more! In fact, full service catering companies should encompass menus to highlight the tastes and style of the bride and groom and service that spoils them and their guests.

Menus typically fall into three categories: Passed Appetizers, Buffet, or Plated and Served. Passed Appetizers are bite-sized hors d’ oeuvres, served to guests by wait staff, often before the main meal is served. Buffet menus are the most diverse, offering anything from simple appetizers to complex main dishes or desserts. Buffet dishes are served family-style on long tables where guests line to serve themselves. Plated and served menus are just that—food that is plated by the chef and served restaurant style to each guest at their table.

The budget, the style of the event, and what menu is served determines the price of the catering. Typically menus are priced on a per-person basis and may start at around $10 to $55 for each guest. After receiving an inquiry from a bride or groom the caterer’s first job is to figure out what the LDS couple wants and how to create it. This process usually begins with a client-caterer meeting. The caterer will want to know this information:

• What is the proposed date and time of the event?
• Do you have a general budget in mind?
• How many guests will attend?
• Have you selected a venue or setting?

With these and other questions answered the caterer can build a detailed proposal that includes the actual menu, beverages, a listing for equipment rental, the staff or service fee requirements and any necessary taxes. When the proposal is ready, the caterer gives it to the bride and groom and if applicable, their parents (or to anyone involved with the wedding budget), for approval. After the proposal is accepted, another meeting should be scheduled to discuss the detailed timeline of the event.

It is important to find a caterer who understands your budget and expectations. Then it is time to sit back and let them help cook-up the wedding of your dreams!