The week before a wedding as the caterer, planned properly

2 days ago
3 min read

Introduction

Wedding catering is booked a year in advance and delivered in a single afternoon that cannot be repeated. The food is the part everybody talks about afterwards and, crucially, the couple have no ability to judge any of it beforehand. They are buying on trust and they know it, which is why they get anxious in the final week.

That final week is also when the practical facts change. Numbers move, dietary requirements appear, the timings shift because the ceremony is running late, and somebody mentions that the marquee has no power for the coffee machine. All of it lands in seven days.

1. The week before a wedding as the caterer starts with confirming numbers

Everything else is downstream of the headcount. Fix it first.

Get a final figure with a deadline

A stated date after which numbers are fixed and chargeable. Without a deadline, numbers keep moving into the final forty-eight hours. Put it in the contract.

Confirm the dietary requirements individually

Not "a few vegetarians". Names, requirements, and which table. Allergies especially need to be documented rather than remembered. Get it in writing.

2. Confirm the timings with everybody, not just the couple

Weddings run late and the kitchen absorbs it. Plan for the overrun.

Speak to the venue and the coordinator directly

Ceremony time, drinks, when speeches happen, when the room turns round. The couple's version and the venue's version are frequently different. Reconcile them yourself.

Agree what happens if it runs late

Which courses can hold, what cannot, what you will do about canapés if drinks overrun. Decided in advance, it is a plan rather than a crisis.

3. Check the site, especially if it is not a venue

Marquees and private land are where the problems live. A venue has fewer surprises.

Power, water, waste and access

How much power, on what circuit, where the water is, where waste goes, whether a van can get near the kitchen. Assume nothing on a field. Take your own extension leads.

Confirm the kitchen space and equipment

What is provided, what you bring, whether there is level ground, lighting and shelter. Visit if you have not already.

4. Reassure the couple deliberately

Their anxiety is reasonable and manageable. Address it directly.

Send a written summary of the day

Menu, timings, numbers, what you need from them. Seeing it written down calms people more than any conversation. Send it early in the week.

Give them one contact and one moment to confirm

A single person and a final call. Couples who are fielding twelve suppliers need you to be the easy one.

5. Prepare the team properly

The couple sees the service, not the kitchen. Brief accordingly.

Brief the staff on the day, not just the menu

Names of the couple, who the key people are, dietary tables, timings, what to do if asked something. Guests judge the staff as much as the food.

Plan the contingencies

Extra portions, weather, a delayed ceremony, a missing supplier. A wedding is not a service you can pause and restart.

Conclusion

The couple cannot judge the food in advance, so they buy on trust and get anxious in the final week — while that same week is when numbers, timings and site details all move. Set a deadline after which the headcount is fixed, and document dietary requirements by name and table rather than as a rough count.

Confirm timings with the venue and coordinator directly, because their version often differs from the couple's, and agree in advance what happens if the ceremony overruns. Check power, water, waste and access yourself, especially on a marquee site. Send the couple a written summary of the whole day, give them one contact, and brief the staff on the people and timings as well as the menu.