Cake Walk: Bride-Pleasing Wedding Catering Tips

I asked Mel from the WeddingDNA blog to help me come up with the best ways wedding caterers can please their pickiest customers—brides! She more than delivered. Thanks, Mel!

Look out! Here comes the bride—and her mother. They're smiling…for now. Can you make sure they stay happy? Yes, with a few tips that will please your main potential critic: the bride.

It's an Experience
As a caterer, you know that any event is about more than just food. Your client expects fast, problem-free service as well as delectable culinary delights. And she should. She chose you out of dozens of potential caterers in the immediate area alone, and she's trusting her Day of Days to you, your experience and your skills.

Every bride and groom deserve a great catering experience. How can you deliver it? It's easier than you think, as long as you know five simple wedding catering rules.

Rule #1: Pleasing the Bride is Your Main Priority
Don't get me wrong: I know plenty of Renaissance men who do dishes, change diapers and know what a duvet is. But let's be honest here. The groom would probably be just as happy with wings and beer as with canapés and some fabulous sparkly.

Therefore, Wedding Catering Rule #1 is to please the bride in any way that's within your capacity. Don't get outlandish about it, but if she wants a substitute coffee flavor for the dessert, see if you can scout one out for her. If she's crazy about green, suggest a beautiful broccoli soup first course and green cake fondant. Make her pleasure your priority and the rest will fall into place.

Rule #2: Make it All Look Easy
Yes, I can hear snickers in the background, but it really is part of a caterer's job to make it all look effortless. Don't be a part of any of the problems—be the (ongoing) solution.

Face potential issues, like a shortage of a food that should have been in season, with a smile. You can panic once you're behind closed doors; while you're in the company of your client, keep a serene smile and a cool head. Then go off on your own (or with your catering partner) to brainstorm a quick fix.

Rule #3: Suggest "Easy" Foods
It still puzzles me that some couples request pasta with marinara sauce, lobster or crab in uncracked shells or teriyaki anything for a reception, but they do. If you know in advance that a food choice will wind up on the front of a $1500 wedding gown rather than in the bride's mouth, suggest easier, less messy choices. You can stay with a flavor theme while substituting great selections for your client.

Rule #4: Pack it Up
Here's a great trend that brides and grooms love: Set aside and package a "dinner at home" for the happy couple. Near the end of the reception, tell them that tomorrow's meal is waiting for them. Let the groom know that you snuck the freshest sushi pick just for him and tell the bride that no, not all the petit fours were actually gone (wink). Then hand off your special package. They'll love it—and they'll get to taste foods that they were probably too busy earlier to sample.

Rule #5: Deal With It
This rule is similar to Rule #2 but includes the entire catering experience, which is by nature full of snags and required action on the part of the caterer. Don't bother your client with every issue; take care of absolutely everything you can rather than making multiple calls to the busy bride's cell phone. Asking frivolous questions—such as whether she wants extra walnuts on the apple salad—will only make an already busy client more frantic. Trust us: she doesn't want to hear it. Only interrupt the bride, groom or their parents if something major (and we do mean extremely major) comes up during the planning process or at the reception.

Most of all, pay attention. Really listen to your client. Sometimes all it takes is a nod and a sympathetic ear to take a harried bride-to-be from frantic to Zen. Treat your clients the way you'd like to be treated on your special day—and it's sure to go off without a hitch.