Whether you’re planning a 200-person plated dinner for your wedding or a 50-person meeting with a buffet lunch, you will need to plan your menu.

We love meeting with brides, wedding planners, event planners, etc. to plan their special occasions and wanted to give a few ideas to help as you start thinking about what you want to serve your guests. Having these ideas in mind before you meet with your caterer will make it easier for everyone and reduce costly misunderstandings!

One of the top reasons people love working with Piguet’s Catering is because not only do we use largely locally sourced food, we also customize each menu. So many caterers have set packages to choose from and we understand that it’s easy to do it that way. But we love making your catering experience customized to your tastes and guest needs. We want the food to fit the event theme, time of year, and your preferences.

Did you know that we’ve even taken a client’s favorite family recipe and tweaked it just enough that it was easy to make for a large group? It gave their family gathering so much more special to have that familiar flavor highlighted in the menu. Don’t worry, though; we have plenty of our own recipes that we can customize if you don’t want to bring grandma’s secret casserole recipe to your catering appointment.

Here are a few tips for getting the best experience out of your menu planning:

Start with your protein
When most people ask me about protein options, they usually naturally mean meat. After all, our restaurant and catering company specializes in wood-fired steak! We know there are plenty of options and suggest that you start building your menu with your protein/meat options. Some side dishes and flavor options will go better with chicken and fish compared to steak.

What is in season?
Many people love having locally sourced, fresh produce. Having in-season produce isn’t necessarily a requirement, but it can affect the overall quality of your meal and definitely the overall cost. If you have a fall event, know that many of recommended recipes will be more squash-based compared to having more fruit options in the summertime.

Know about food sensitivities and allergies
Don’t wait until the last minute to find out if your guests have specific food requirements such as gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegetarian, etc. We can work around pretty much everything, but we need to know about it as soon as possible.

Decide how you want the food presented
Deciding between a seated meal or buffet (or other options) is key to not only us being able to get you an accurate price estimate, it will also affect what food we make for you. Some items, for example, will not taste as good if served buffet style while others might not stay as warm if served plated. How your food will be served makes a difference!

Working with any caterer should be relatively stress-free if you all go in with some ideas on what to discuss. Making sure your caterer is involved in the process from the beginning is best to avoid costly miscommunication and lost time. We also all want you to have the most genuine, valuable event possible! Give us a call to discuss your upcoming event.