Photo Credit: Eric Stocklin Photography
I Love Wedding Food!
And I’m a natural-foods-eating pescatarian, so I have very high standards around food.
In the course of my work I’ve eaten at many hundreds of weddings. That comes with owning a wedding venue, of course. The vast majority of those meals have been good, and many even great—food that I would be happy to eat every day.
Wedding catering has a bad rap, sometimes deservedly so. There are lots of caterers in the business. Some are outstanding, and some provide what is often termed as “rubber chicken” or “banquet hall food,” with service and presentation to match. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and often isn’t.
Full-Service vs. Drop-Off Catering
The kind of caterers I’m talking about here are full-service, off-premise caterers.
“Off-premise” simply refers to caterers who go out to venues not their own — literally “off” of their “premises” — to cater.
“Full-service” caterers are on-site during the entire event, providing a complete staff as well as food and drink.
Full-service, off-premise caterers provide a lot. Their catering includes:
1. Food, beverages, and the bar
2. China, linens, flatware, glassware and other service ware.
3. Tables and chairs, if the venue doesn’t provide them, like we do at Chase Court.
4. Service staff, including waitstaff, bartenders, kitchen staff, and an event manager.
They also bring in kitchen equipment, from basic hand tools up to and sometimes including the kitchen sink, depending on what’s available at the venue.
Full-service caterers typically do all the set-up (excluding decor), including setting up tables and chairs.
“Drop-Off caterers do just: drop off the food for the client to do with as they wish. They might also provide disposable flatware and plates. Sometimes they provide a server to serve the food.
What Do Caterers Cost?The full-service caterers I see at Chase Court areall in the top two or three dozen in Baltimore.
Catering is priced per person, with pricing based on 100 guests. That means if you have fewer than 100 guests, the price per person might same high in order to support the caterer’s baseline overall price.
The starting per-person pricing for the six caterers on the Chase Court approved caterers list ranges from $80 to $110 per person.
That price includes all of what you saw listed above: the food, beverages, and the bar; the equipment (often referred to collectively as the “rentals”); and the staff. And don’t forget about a gratuity, which is usually not included in the bill. Pricing is also venue-specific. Each wedding venue has its own conveniences and challenges. So a given caterer’s cost to cater your wedding at one venue is likely to be different than at another.
Zeffert & Gold Catering and Event Planning
How to Choose?
With all of that to think about, how in the world do you pick a caterer for your wedding?
Your venue’s situation is the first place to start. Some venues are run by caterers, so if you’ve picked one of those venues, you’re done. Others, like Chase Court, have approved caterer lists from which to pick. That makes selection easier, since the venue has done the work of vetting the caterer. Other venues present you with a list of recommended caterers, and others don’t even do that.
Getting A Cost Estimate
Most couples don’t have unlimited funds, so cost is usually a consideration. Caterers can easily tell you—within a range—what you’re likely to spend with them on a per-person basis, even without knowing your food and drink choices. All they need to know is your venue and your guest count. Understand that the range may be pretty broad, but it will tell you if this is a caterer with whom you can afford to work.
By the way, if you’re looking at prices on a caterer’s website, there’s a good chance that you’re only seeing the pricing for food and drink alone, exclusive of all of the other things I mentioned above. You can generally triple those prices to get your final cost.
Specific Considerations
Once you’re looking at caterers in your price range, there are several discreet things to consider, including the sourcing and preparation of the food, its presentation, the service staff, and the management—which is to say, the catering staff with whom you will be working with between now and your wedding.
Santoni’s Marketplace & Catering
The Food
The breadth and depth of caterers’ menus varies widely. Some caters offer a few simple, preset menus. Others build menus from scratch for every event, and draw upon a wide range of culinary traditions.
But menus are only words on paper. One caterer’s Almond Encrusted Chicken, for example, can be very different from another’s.
Quality—and with it, taste—starts with the quality of their ingredients. For instance, do they buy the best carrots or potatoes or fish or chicken or whatever that they can find, fresh and full of flavor? Ask about sourcing, and about what they buy fresh and what (if anything) they buy frozen.
What do they make themselves, and what do they buy ready-made? What do they make from scratch?
All of that contributes to the quality of the final product. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple or complex dish, the question is how well do they do it? Taste is your guide!
Zeffert & Gold Catering and Event Planning
Look And Feel
Presentation is all about aesthetics: the look of the food on the plate, the look of the plate and the other ware on the table, and the look of the table itself. A caterer’s presentation can range from basic to over-the-top, and is directly related to cost and creatively. How much choice do they offer you around look and feel? And is their presentation inviting, appealing, and appetizing?
Presentation is the first place to look if you like the caterer but need to cut catering costs. For example, substituting fine China for disposables can save you a lot of money, and has minimal effect on the look and feel of your guests’ dining experience.
The Service Staff Matters!
There are a lot of important criteria regarding the service staff, who will have direct contact with you and your guests. Here are some important questions to ask the caterer about their staff:
Are they able to communicate clearly and easily with your guests? Is their appearance neat and professional? Do they know the menu and what’s in each dish? Do they present themselves as pleasant and positive? Are they alert to the needs of guests? How long have they worked for the caterer? Does the caterer outsource for service staff or do they have their own?
What you’re trying to find out about the service staff is, on the whole, are they good at what they do? Are they people who will help your wedding flow easily and smoothly?
Choose Competent Catering Management
Finally, competence and depth of knowledge are critical in catering management. Sure, you want enthusiasm, but it’s more important to have a caterer who knows their stuff and will give you good professional guidance from start to finish, culminating with an outstanding experience on your wedding day.
This applies to the catering manager who will be doing the planning with you, as well as the one who will be at your wedding (if they are different).
Putting It All Together For Success
There is a lot of variation in how caterers meet these criteria, but all of the components tend to move up and down the price and quality scales as a unit. Moreover, price and quality also tend to track together. In wedding catering, as in so many other things, you usually get what you pay for.
Since everyone’s taste – and I mean that literally – is different, I encourage you to do a tasting with your caterer before you commit to using their services. That also gives you an opportunity to see their presentation and their standard of service.
Speaking of service, unlike a restaurant experience where you arrive, eat, and leave, you’ll be working with your caterer for several months before your wedding. Choose an experienced professional with whom you can have an easy and open relationship. There will be lots of important details about your wedding that a caterer needs to understand. A good caterer will have lots of questions for you and will offer solid professional guidance. It’s essential that you work with a caterer whom you trust to take good care of you, and in whom you have complete confidence.
Style and price vary widely with caterers. It’s easy to get a sense of their style by looking at their website and through their social media presence. Instagram in particular has become a place where many wedding professionals post images of their work. But don’t let either of those things be your sole source of guidance.
Talk to the caterers, meet with them, see how it feels. If they’re paying good attention and listening to you, have good ideas, answering your questions well, and showing up in a way that suggests that they would be fabulous for your wedding, then you’re on your way to having a wedding with food and drink that you and your guests will love!
That’s How To Choose a Caterer For Your Wedding in Baltimore, Maryland!
Our Experienced, Professional Support (It matters more than you think!)
You get the knowledge, resources, attention, and deep expertise of a venue owner. Chase Court owner David Egan has lived and breathed weddings for 24 years and over 900 weddings. David is working with you from the first moment you contact Chase Court, all the way through to your walk-through, rehearsal, and wedding, including (crucially) load-in and breakdown.
There are very few wedding venues where you get that kind of knowledgeable attention. At Chase Court, you have the benefit of experienced professional guidance, and the comfort of knowing that someone who knows all about your wedding is there every step of the way, making sure that everything happens just as you intended.
You can learn a lot about a venue (and its caterers!) from looking at photographs and reading about it on the web, but you can’t feel it until you’re standing there, in-person!
David does private, personal tours of Chase Court. You and your sweetheart get to see everything in person, and you can start to visualize how your wedding will look at Chase Court.
Setting up a tour is easy! You can either fill out the easy-to-use contact form on chasecourt.com, or simply give David a call at 410-727-1112. (Why the phone? Because we believe that building relationships with our clients is the best way to do wedding planning, and relationships happen in real-time, back-and-forth conversation.)
