Big weddings are fantastic if you want to create the most amazing party feeling with all your friends and family. You can invite lots of friends and family to celebrate with you and with a little help, ensure your budget goes a long way. When it comes to catering it can be a headache with a feeling in the run up to your big day that you are feeding the five thousand rather than a few hundred and the budget can seem to get out of control.
Megan Coakley from DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sheffield Park, shares her top three tips on how to keep it all under control and ensure that you have the most amazing time, with your style and personality stamped all over it.
Sharing is caring and helps with budgets!
Sharing platters are a compromise for who want a sit-down meal but don’t want the formality that it can bring. The food served can easily be taken from the buffet menu and presented as sharing platters to ease the pressure on catering staff. The secret is in the presentation – adding height to your display will add to the opulent effect as well as using greenery, fresh flowers and fresh herbs nestled amongst the food.
Get Guests to Serve Themselves
Food that can be prepped in advance and allows guests to eat when they’re hungry rather than at a set time is a popular choice. Another option for guests to help themselves to are ‘small plates’, where couples choose five or six ‘main meals’ laid out in smaller portions. Some of the most successful weddings have a very relaxed approach to dining. A formal sit-down meal is certainly possible when big numbers are involved, but casual dining can limit the logistical headaches of serving hot food to lots of people simultaneously. It will also encourage guests to mingle. Also consider giving guests the chance to sample a few different dishes, eating as much or as little as they like.
Create Your Own Foodie Festival
Space is often an issue with larger weddings, so why not think about embracing street food. Served from food ‘stations’ with dishes such as our vegan menu and guests can sit on long trestle tables. It creates a real festival atmosphere and adds to the theatre of the day or consider a BBQ dinner served outside, if weather permits.
It’s hugely important to have a close relationship with your wedding coordinator and try to keep an open mind and discuss your ideas so you’re all going in the same direction.
With a range of suites available, some with capacity for up to 500 guests and luxury accommodation on-site, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sheffield Park is a versatile venue ideally suited to larger weddings. Visit their website or contact megan.coakley@hilton.com for further information.
Photo by Alasdair Elmes on Unsplash
