Food is the thing your guests will talk about. Not the flowers, not the music — the food. It is the most personal, most shared, most sensory aspect of a wedding reception. Get it right and the evening feels effortless; get it wrong and people remember.
The Format Question
Formal Seated Dinner
The most traditional format. Guests sit, courses arrive, speeches happen between courses. Creates a clear structure and sense of occasion. Requires the most coordination and typically represents the highest per-head cost.
Sharing / Family Style
Large platters arrive at each table for guests to serve themselves and each other. Immediately more relaxed, encourages conversation, and allows flexible timings. Particularly well-suited to barn venues and celebrations with a warm, communal atmosphere.
Bowl Food / Grazing
Stations of food that guests circulate around freely. Works beautifully for summer garden parties and smaller guest counts. Less effective for weddings of 120+ guests who need to be fed efficiently within a set timeframe.
Consider a hybrid: a drinks reception with substantial canapes, followed by three courses using sharing boards rather than plated starters. Structure with warmth.
The Menu Architecture
Welcome Drinks and Canapes
Often underestimated. Your guests have been travelling, waiting, and standing for an hour before they sit down. Substantial, delicious canapes promptly on arrival make an immediate positive impression. Budget: £15–£25 per head for a proper canape reception.
The Evening Food
Often the most genuinely enjoyed food of the night. Pizza, fish and chips, a taco bar, or a simple bacon sandwich station around 10pm — when guests are dancing and hungry — creates an atmosphere of abundance that guests discuss for months. Budget: £10–£18 per head for quality evening food.
The Dietary Requirement Question
Ask for dietary requirements in your RSVP process and take them seriously. Your caterer needs to know total numbers for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and any specific allergies at least four weeks before the wedding.
- Ensure all dietary alternatives are served simultaneously with the standard course — not five minutes later.
- Confirm how allergen information is tracked on the day.
- Brief the head of service to proactively check with dietary-requirement guests rather than waiting for them to identify themselves.
The Bar
A hosted (open) bar typically costs £40–£65 per head for a full evening. A cash bar at a wedding creates an atmosphere most couples and guests find uncomfortable. The middle path: a hosted bar during the reception with a cash bar for spirits in the evening.
"We spent £4,200 on catering for 80 guests and it was the most-praised element of the day. Our photographer told us it was the best wedding food she'd eaten in four years of weddings."
— Amelia & Sam, married in Norfolk, August 2025
Choosing Your Caterer
- Attend a tasting. Non-negotiable. Trust what you eat, not what the menu promises.
- Ask for a wedding reference. Speak to a couple whose wedding they catered in the last 12 months.
- Understand what's included. Crockery, linen, cutlery, staffing, service charge — every item not explicitly included is an additional cost. Get a fully itemised quote.
- Confirm the head chef for your wedding. Large catering companies may send a different team to each event. Know who is cooking your wedding.