DOWNLOAD NOW:
This post is about hiring your backyard wedding caterer. No other vendor has as much impact on the wedding day and your guests’ experiences as the caterer. I previously wrote general tips about hiring your other wedding professionals.
You want to hire a caterer who is knowledgeable about backyard weddings so that they come prepared with the appropriate equipment. An experienced caterer will also know how much time they actually need to properly set up for the wedding. They will be upfront about the number of staff they will need to bring in order to properly execute your plans. You should be wary of a caterer who low-balls the labor estimate in order to present you with an attractively priced proposal. There should be one server per 10 guests, and 1 bartender per 50 guests. There will also be supervisors, chefs, maintenance staff, and more. They should be comfortable working out of a garage, basement or tent without access to a full kitchen. They ought to offer ideas on how to make the event more comfortable for you and your guests, and suggest seasonally appropriate menu items that work well at off-premise events. They will probably visit your home once or twice during the planning process, and you will likely have a menu tasting at their office.
Planning Your Backyard Wedding Rentals
Hiring your backyard wedding caterer has downstream effects on your rentals. When it comes to tables, chairs, and all tabletop rental items (linens, napkins, china, silverware, etc.), you have a couple of options. Your caterer will either have an in-house inventory for you to select from or partner with one or two rental companies to offer you a nice selection of items at a discounted rate. If you are not crazy about the choices your caterer offers, you can check out the inventory of another rental company to see if they have what you are looking for. If you decide to not work directly through your caterer, you will be solely responsible for making sure that you are ordering the correct amount, and scheduling deliveries and pick-ups at the right times. Famously, I once ordered salad plates, mistakenly, because we actually use lunch plates for salad service.
If you are looking for rentals like a lounge or specialty bars, that will likely be a different rental company than who provides your tabletop items. I’ve had as many as four different rental companies contributing to the design of a backyard wedding.
Beautiful photos by Katie Stoops.
