A Dinner to Remember: Five Tips for Choosing a Wedding Caterer

You’ve heard all the horror stories about caterer disasters at weddings. Whether it’s your best friend’s wedding or the latest reality television episode of "Caught On Tape: Wedding Food Fights", catering gone wrong can ruin any South Carolina couple’s nuptials. Choosing a wedding caterer may be one of the most important tasks attached to your wedding plans, after setting the date. After all, it's not only about choosing a good caterer. By referring you to other services or simply adding other services you need to the list, your South Carolina wedding caterer is worth his or her weight in gold. Here are five tips that will help you separate the catering wheat from the chaff.

How to choose a wedding caterer

If you want to avoid choosing the "wedding caterer from hell", here are some simple guidelines to follow that will make your decision easier:

The best place to start is always with people you know well—anyone other than a bride or groom who had the misfortune to contract the "caterer from hell." People who had good experiences with their South Carolina wedding caterer will be more than happy to share their experiences with you. One key factor to keep in mind is that while all weddings have caterers, not all caterers have wedding experience. There is a difference between catering a wedding and the annual banquet of the local civic club.

The next avenue to try is any of the various venues in your area of South Carolina that host wedding receptions. From your local country club to a VFW hall to a hotel ballroom, the operators of these facilities have a great deal of experience handling caterers not only from your area but sometimes from out-of-town. These individuals will be happy to share their knowledge with you; they know the good and the bad because their reputation depends on having quality wedding caterers to choose from. Even if this fails, you can still consult with anyone who works in a wedding-related industry for a good recommendation.

Compare the South Carolina wedding caterers on your short list. Call or email the three or four candidates and ask questions. How much wedding catering experience do they have? Do they have past customers with who you can speak? Availability is also as important as pricing and what particular wedding fare specialties the caterer may offer.

If possible, meet with the caterer face to face to see if you can get a feel for how well you can work with him or her. Again, this will confirm a 'feeling' for the catering company, allow you to tell them about you and your wishes and get their feedback.

In order to do a process of elimination, the final step you can take is to do a 'taste test' of some food samples from one or two of them. Ask for an appointment, and let them know you'd like a couple of samples of the type of food you would order for your wedding.