Congratulations on your engagement! This is a really exciting time in your life. It’s also probably going to be a bit stressful.
During this next year, I want to walk through this process with you. I’ll give you a 12 Month Guide to planning your wedding and explain things along the way. You can start from the beginning here (click). Come back to this blog each week for the next installment.
Week Nine – Bakers and Caterers
Hope you’re search for photographers and videographers is off to a good start! This week we’ll look at bakers and caters. Yes, they’re two different vendors (most of the time). But we’re going to tackle them together
Again, there are many lists available about what questions to ask when talking to bakers and caterers. Again, you’re welcome to use them, but should think through the questions about what is actually important to know.
Here are the top four things I recommend you look for in a baker and caterer:
Wedding Cake by Simply Delicious Bakery in Waco, TX
1. Taste
Your cake could be absolutely gorgeous, but will anyone want to eat it. This means you’ll have to have cake tastings (a real hardship, right…wink, wink). Bakers should offer this. You’d think it would be obvious, but I remember contacting two bakers for my wedding and when I sat down with them there was nothing to sample. They thought I’d be happy just with the look, but the way things taste was just as important to me. I ended up going with somebody who A) less expensive and B) gave me samples of the flavors she offered. You know what? I still have people telling me how amazing the cakes were.
Catering was one of the most important things for my husband and I. We didn’t necessarily care if it was excessive or elegant, we just wanted to make sure our guests were well taken care of and full. The caterer we chose gave us several samples of the food. It was amazing! I’ve even booked them for company events a few times since then.
2. Price
You can tell I’m going to be a stickler about this. What does your budget say you can spend on cakes? Please try to stay in that price range. This is tricky with selecting wedding cakes because the price varies based on size and embellishments. However, if you have a small budget don’t ask the most popular baker in town to do gold-leaf on your cake. Have an estimate of the amount of people you expect to be at the wedding (not your whole guest list), your budget for the cake, and a few design ideas. I did not choose my top design, but the second one was great.
Catering can be very expensive…very expensive. Look at the budget and the feel you’re going for. Then shop around. We called a few people and eventually found somebody who was amazing, sat down with us and offered us several options within our price range. Have a general idea of what you want (but keep and open mind) and keep calling.
3. Personality
It really is important to find people that you can discuss ideas with easily. If the baker or caterer doesn’t ask for an idea of what you want, or doesn’t offer options that are similar but affordable, you may not be on the same page. It can be really difficult for two creatives to work together when they’re not in sync. Find people you will enjoy working with. That said, keep an eye out on yourself. With the stress of planning a wedding it can be easy to have ridiculously high expectations for the price you intend to pay. Ask your fiance, friends and family to help keep you on track.
4. Experience
While this is not the most important (everyone starts somewhere), you want the baker or caterer to have a general idea of how the wedding day timeline works so that everything will run smoothly. This may mean you want somebody with 15 years of experience, or it means that you find the new person who has worked with other experienced professionals in their field. Regardless, everybody gets a timeline in the end. Experience is a factor because you want them to know how to go through the day, but it doesn’t have to be the most important reason for hiring one person over another. Just make sure the people you hire will deliver.
Next week we’ll talk about DJs and Musicians! Have fun with all the tastings! Be sure to tell us your favorite flavor!
Katelyn is a certified wedding planner. She is available for consultations.
She will even meet with you on Skype to help you work through part of your wedding planning.
Click here for more information.