After you secure your venue, you will follow a timeline towards your magical day that includes a catering experience. The cuisine will be one of the most defining elements of your celebration, and will be one of the most remembered. There is a lot weighing on getting the fine dining right, and a few tips to delivering an unforgettable wedding catering experience.
Envision Your Wedding Catering
Imagine your wedding celebration. Think about the music, the lighting and the décor. Envision your theme and all the details that will convey it. You will want the food to be part of that complete experience and carry the theme. A winter wonderland might involve a warm soup and foods for a colder season. A Beauty and the Beast inspired theme demands the French cuisine from the classic love story. If you imagine a travel theme that is all about Mexico, you might have Mexican cuisine to compliment the mariachi band. If you are planning a multicultural event, you might consider a fusion menu that balances the flavors. Beyond the dish on the table, you need to imagine how it will find its place before each guest. That detail comes down to the style of service.
Service à la Russe
Service à la Russe brings waiters to the tables to serve each dish sequentially from platters. One waiter might deliver the entrée or a choice of entrees, while another serves vegetables. This service creates an elegant and Old World vibe.
Service à la Française
Service à la Française brings waiters to the table to serve the entire meal. Banquet French service serves plated meals from platters. Waiters place each dish on the table in front of each guest. French table side service involves portable table side food prep, such as tossing salads or flaming a steak. Food is prepared on a réchaud atop a gueridon and served to each individual guest to the right. This is the only service where guests are served to the right. Table side dining creates an impressive show for an upscale event.
Family-Style Service
Family-style service brings the cuisine to the center of the table on platters for guests to serve themselves. This creates more interaction between guests. It also allows guests to customize their plate from where they are seated.
Full-Service Wedding Catering
Formal weddings bring guests to the table for formal service. Traditional wedding catering is planned to deliver the sit-down dinner style. If you desire the elegant and upscale vibe of the tradition, you will want plated meals and full-service catering. Full-service catering serves plated meals to each guest, which can eliminate waste and avoid portion control issues that are commonly associated with a buffet. Full-service catering is not right for every event. The atmosphere and your vision will decide the dining experience you create.
Buffet-Style Event
We do not all envision full-service wedding catering. Sometimes, a buffet-styled event is in the plan. This is the perfect option to mix and match a variety of foods and beverages. Having food on display in an artistic spread on a buffet can be combined with full-service catering options. Drop-off service is designed to deliver your cuisine to banquet staff and food managers for a buffet-style dining experience. Buffet-style is less formal than plated meals and table service. If you envision guests lined up to plate food, the buffet option could be right for your event. Think about how you envision your day and choose the type of service for the dining experience you want to create.
Cocktail Hour
The cocktail hour creates that hour escape for the couple to sip champagne and capture the moment with wedding photography. Regardless of how you envision the dining, the cocktail hour will serve as that little taste of the bar and what is to come. Your guests will mingle with hors d'oeuvres and delectable cocktails. You might consider creating a signature drink for your guests. Stocking the bar and service during the cocktail hour are part of your wedding catering. It is important to consider the theme and make this experience blend into the next. Catering companies usually have bar packages that can be bundled with your catering.
Crystal Ballroom North Tampa
Create the experience at Crystal Ballroom North Tampa. The talent and imagination behind every event is discovered inside the design studio. Meet the in-house design team and create a fairy tale. Set your tables with luxurious Crystal Ballroom décor and the finest cuisine. Bring imagination to this all-inclusive wedding venue and deliver an extraordinary wedding catering experience.
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