When planning an event, food and drink play a key part. Making sure your guests remember the catering for the right reasons can be a challenge, and we’re seeing a trend to move away from a sit down dinner and deliver something a little more relaxed and unique. At Shenderey Events, we know how to make your catering personal, thematic and fun to give your guests an unforgettable night. Combining years of experience with knowledge of current trends, our top tips for catering will make sure your event inspires and entertains.
Let Guests Mingle
Sit-down meals can feel very formal. Being assigned to a particular table, and a certain seat, can take some of the fun away from your event. And there’s nothing worse than being seated next to the wrong person and tied to boring conversation (or, even worse, no conversation at all).
At Shenderey Events, we’re huge fans of allowing guests to choose where to sit and who to chat to. We’ve seen a real trend in clients stepping away from the traditional three course dinner format. A great way to do this is with food platters – the variety will please even the fussiest of guests, and deliver a relaxed, positive atmosphere: bringing the food into your event, rather than taking guests away from the party.
Themed Food Platters
Platters are a great idea. But with no focus to the catering, you risk mismatched food that feels confused. I always encourage my clients to bring their event theme into their food with themed platters. For example, a Mediterranean style works really well, with the popularity for sharing plates in restaurants being carried through to successful events. Canapes, bite-sized portions and mezze platters are fun and sociable, giving guests chance to grab food that tastes great and is easy to eat.
If you’re not keen on the idea of food-on-the-go, but hate a formal sit-down, there’s a great compromise. We love helping our clients develop food stations. Each one can be themed, from regional cuisine to traditional favourites, and guests can help themselves at their leisure. And, if you’re concerned about how a food station may look, don’t worry. Whether you want your catering to stand out or blend into the background, we know exactly how to style your food stations to make them the perfect centrepiece or a subtle addition.
Make It Personal
Food certainly gets people talking, so you want to make it memorable. One way to do that is b personalising your catering. The biggest worries around this are often implementation and cost, but at Shenderey Events we know how to personalise your food simply and on a budget. Replace bottle labels with the name of your event, switch brand logos for your own motifs, or rename drinks as something personal to you. It’s a chance to make your mark on your wedding day, honour a family member, or share a joke between friends.
Embrace Your Theme
Some of our favourite event themes of late have carried through perfectly into the food and drink. A recent client loved Alice in Wonderland, so a white rabbit waiter handed each guest a mocktail on arrival labelled ‘Drink Me’. They were then ushered into a fabric tunnel hanging from the ceiling, which grew smaller and smaller as they walked through: setting the scene for the entire event by bringing the novel to life. We also organised a Willy Wonka party, with chocolate waterfalls and lollipops with sticks personalised using the eponymous character’s signature font. It’s one of our favourite examples of how a small, simple touch can have a great impact and make your guests smile.
Bringing that personal touch to your food and drink can be done with style, personality and, of course, professionalism. With an experienced event planner on your side, your catering will fit seamlessly within your theme to deliver an event to remember.