Wedding Catering 101
After going over the logistics of wedding catering in the last blog, now it is time to go over the bread and butter of catering your wedding. The table settings may be perfect and you may have all of the specifics figured out. But, if you do not make sure every guest is fed at a specific time and is fully satisfied, the catering could still not go as planned. When attending a wedding, guests plan to be fed. Here are a few tips to assure that the guests are satisfied and the event goes smoothly.
The Food
Most importantly, you want to make sure everyone is fed. Have a guest list prepared with how many guests will be attending and present it to your caterer well in advance. Decide what kind of food you would like to have, then, make a decision about appetizers. Not all weddings have appetizers, even though it helps keep the guests happy during the period between the service and when the reception actually starts. Decide how many appetizers you would like to be served and for how long. It is also extremely important to be sure that the appetizers are served in a separate spot than the main meal. If they are served at the same table as the main meal, or close to the main meal, guests may presume that it is okay for them to go ahead and start start sampling the goods.
Also, decide upon how the food will be served. Is the food going to be served on individual plates by waiters or will it be laid out buffet style? Furthermore, if the couple chooses to go with a buffet style where guests can come by and pick and choose what they would like on their plate, they need to decide if someone will still be serving the food. If the food is laid out without a server, guests could pick up bigger serving sizes than were planned for. Of course, you wouldn’t want to run out of food before everyone is served. Having the food served will help monitor portion sizes.
Pop the Champagne!
Alcohol is a tough decision to make at a wedding or any catered event. Sometimes, the alcohol is included with the wedding catering company. Sometimes, it is not included. Just like t
he buffet-style food setup, the alcohol needs to be monitored at a wedding so guests are not taking advantage, especially with an open bar. A self-serve option with alcohol is not suggested as it can be difficult to monitor. Something to consider is what kinds of alcohol you will be serving. Will it be an open bar, or will it be just beer and wine? Many wedding parties decide to have champagne served for toasts. If you decide to have champagne served make sure either the party that is providing the alcohol will be providing champagne flutes or if you need to get them from a separate company.
The Best Part
The cake. Everybody loves wedding cake! No matter what flavors you choose, the cake is always a hit and almost always gets devoured. Just as important as it is to pick a time for the appetizers and main meal to be served, it is important to pick a good time for the cake to be served. Usually, you don’t want the cake to be served right after the meal. When this happens, your guests are already going to be full and won’t want to eat the cake. The cake is usually 
served towards the end of the reception.
Additionally, the time when the cake is delivered cannot be overlooked as a small detail. The company the cake is ordered from will usually deliver it for you. Many times, the cake needs to be kept within a certain temperature for it to stay nice and pretty, because sometimes the icing and frosting can melt when temperatures get warm enough. So make sure you take this into consideration when deciding the time the cake is delivered and served.
Are You Ready to Start?
Now that you have the logistics prepared and have some tips on how to make sure your guests are fully satisfied, are you ready to start planning your wedding catering? Contact Four Seasons Catering and Eatery to get started today!
depending on your needs.
be very helpful for you to consider using disposable plates and silverware. When these aren’t disposable, someone has to clean them. Not to mention, the more dirty dishes need to be cleaned up, the more money it is going to cost. This needs to be gone over with the catering services that you are renting the tableware from. Are they going to be responsible for coming to pick up the dirty plates? Or it could be the wedding party’s responsibility to pay someone to clean them.
material you will speak about, to getting all your papers and charts together and read to bring. So catering lunch can be one less thing you have to worry about. Catering lunch for your company can also help with company morale and keeping your employees happy. With corporate catering from Four Seasons Catering and Eatery, show your clients and/or employees that you appreciate them with a warm meal made from scratch. We have a variety of food on our 
catering for 
gatherings consist of chips, watermelon, hotdogs and hamburgers. Why not freshen up your summer BBQ by having it catered with fresh salads and sandwiches? If you’re not busy cooking, you can enjoy more time with your guests.
business can never be sure how many people will show up and it can be hard to find a balance between catering a full sized meal and finger foods. Try catering for an hour or two during lunchtime so that it’s a limited time, but also a time when customers will be hungry. Have an area set up for the catering that could possibly include small portions of sandwiches and salads that can be easily consumed while browsing the sale. These portions should already be prepared and need to be served to the customers, not on a self serve basis. Advertising this will bring customers into the sale and keep them satisfied while they shop.
Depending on the caterer, there are several different types of catering platters to choose from. For lunch catering, many people choose different sandwich platters. These sandwich platters offer a variety of meats, cheeses and even vegetarian options. These are great for corporate lunches, meetings and other events that don’t require a three course meal. Another type of platter is the snack options. Snack platters with fruits, meats, cheeses and crackers are all crowd-pleasers for your next events. Another great snack is dip! After all, what’s a Super Bowl party without dip? Whether you’re throwing a watch party for the big game, hosting an engagement party, or any other event, platters with different dips are a great snack for your guests. Lastly, don’t forget about dessert! From cookie platters to cake platters, the dessert options are endless!
So, now you know what catering platters are and the benefits, so when should you use them? Platters are great for more casual events that don’t require a multiple course meal. Birthday parties, luncheons and 
In order to reduce spending of your catering budget, you can consider using nice plasticware. As a silverware alternative, plasticware is cheap, durable and you don’t have to worry about cleaning it after your event. Buying plasticware in bulk at places like Sam’s, Costco or Party City will also help to cut down the price.
As we mentioned before, buying food, utensils and other materials in bulk significantly helps reduce costs. When looking for affordable catering services, make sure to talk to your caterer to see what items can be bought in bulk.
Once you’ve found an affordable caterer, you want to make sure your event venue will accept them. In some cases, certain venues do not allow outside catering. Make sure you discuss this before putting down payments on the venue or caterer.
Reducing stress is probably the most important reason to hire a professional caterer. For many people, planning an event of any size can be tremendously stressful. Trying to please everyone, having everything out on time, making sure everything tastes good and socializing with your guests can result in a serious headache – at the least. This is especially true for the inexperienced hosts out there, which most people are. Reduce your stress and use event catering. Experienced caterers like Four Seasons have put on seamless events countless times, and we actually enjoy doing it. Leave it up to us and we’ll make sure you’ll be free to be the best host around town!
There is no doubt whatsoever that hiring a professional for your event catering saves you precious time. Instead of worrying about ordering and preparing the food perfectly and on-time, and then the setup and clean up of the event, let us do all the work! Hiring a professional caterer will make sure you have plenty of time to prepare for your event, entertain and spend quality time with your guests. Don’t spend the whole evening stressing about burning the entrees or delivering the salad on time, leave that to us! Spend time with your guests and enjoy your event with the help of an experienced caterer.
Our highly trained chef and cooks are experts at creating culinary masterpieces. We will work with you to determine the type of food you want, allergy restrictions and other food related issues in order to provide the perfect menu to your guests without breaking the bank. If you don’t use a professional, you simply won’t get the same quality, delicious tasting meal at your event.
Corporate catering is a unique and important sector of the catering industry. At Four Seasons Catering and Eatery, we have years of experience and knowledge in this segment of the industry. We are also centrally located in the heart of downtown Pensacola, minutes from several businesses and offices. Corporate catering requires a punctual, planned caterer with delicious meals that won’t go over corporate budget. From office meetings, client luncheons, business team building and workshops, let’s discuss some different examples of corporate catering.
Is your office or team signed up for an all-day workshop or seminar? If so, you’ll need a reliable, on time caterer. Four Seasons Catering and Eatery will work with your event planner or business manager to choose the perfect menu for your team’s workshop. Will you need breakfast, snacks and a full lunch? Or maybe something simple, easy to eat and delicious? Whatever your needs are, we have you covered. Four Season Catering and Eatery will be on time and prepared with the food, staff and utensils you and your company needs.
At the heart of all catering events are the clients. To create a memorable experience, we sit down with clients to meet and discuss the catering options. Meeting face to face with clients helps us get a clear understand of what the client wants and needs. At this consultation, we discuss type of event, number of guests, theme, 
Four Seasons Catering and Eatery wants each experience to be delicious, unique and specific to each client. Our experienced servers, chef and cooks know exactly what we need to do to accomplish this. The logistics of catering events includes checking and ordering inventory in a timely matter and scheduling servers and staff to help work the event. Catered event logistics also includes exact plans for creation, transportation and presentation of the catered food. To help, caterers must create a timeline.
After all of the menu plans and timelines are settled, it’s time to execute the event! Following the timeline, ensuring food quality and service quality and cleaning up are all aspects of the execution step. At Four Seasons Catering and Eatery, we have been catering events for a long time. Our years of experience, high quality service and food is unmatched, which creates the perfect event experience for our clients.