Wedding Catering Disasters and How to Avoid Them

A catering disaster may not seem as bad as rain at an outdoor wedding, but when you consider that most people are thinking about what dinner will be like from the moment they receive the invitation, you had better deliver. You can't always control all possible mistakes. A server might spill some red wine down your mother-in-law's silk blouse, but hey, as long as the desert is good people can ignore a few faux pas. Here are some examples of (mostly) avoidable wedding catering disasters.

Bad Food

The most common catering mistake couples make when planning their special day is choosing bland, boring food. There are more memories of bad dishes than good, which means standing out as offering one of the better wedding dinners isn't too much of a challenge. The problem doesn't really lie in the type of dish served, but rather how fresh it is. Nobody wants a congealed gravy moat surrounding their cold steak. The problem is that most dishes need to be served directly after having been cooked. Buffets are one way around this conundrum, but another method is smarter menu choices. Pick food that won't become unappetizing between cooking and delivery.

Ignoring Requests

When sending out invitations, it is important to have an area where people can fill out allergies or special dietary needs. Unless you know all of your guests that intimately, there are likely a few that may be allergic to pine nuts, have gluten intolerance, or are a vegetarian. You don't want to be insensitive and leave these guests to starve or fill up on crackers. Check requests carefully, and if you're not sure, call up and ask. Provisions can always be made, and nothing will put a damper on your wedding day faster than someone going into anaphylactic shock.

Waiting

The best catering companies get booked out up to a year in advance. You could get lucky and snag a cancellation, but otherwise, the longer you wait the less likely are you to get what you want. You may even have to resort to local restaurants to get you through the day if it's really last minute. It isn't just your menu that might suffer, but bad servers can ruin your night with rude behavior, sloppy appearance, or poor work ethics. Booking the caterers should be one of your first priorities once you've set the date so you have ample time to check them out. Your guests will be grateful.

No Instructions

Most couples have a vision of their wedding in their head. It would be nice to share this vision with the caterers. They need to be given clear instruction on how to behave, when to serve, and even how to clean up if you're that exacting. If you expect them to be wandering around with pitchers of water or wine, refreshing glasses constantly, make sure this is clear. If you are having a buffet, but want dishes regularly cleared from tables, let them know. If you don't set rules, they will operate in default mode.