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Welcome to episode seven of Let's Plan Your Wedding.
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Today we have a slightly different format.
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I am interviewing Abby because menu planning and tenting are genuinely Abby's wheelhouse.
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And honestly, it's just more fun this way.
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We're going to go deep on menu strategy, the food and bar decisions that matter, hidden costs that will blindside you, and everything you need to know about tenting your backyard or an outdoor venue.
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We're also going to play Feast or Famine, our food and beverage game, at the end of the episode.
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All right, let's go.
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I'm Abby.
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And I'm Tamar, and this is Let's Plan Your Wedding, the podcast where we are your wedding planners, and every episode is a planning meeting just between us.
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When you subscribe online at Let's Plan Podcast.com, you'll get access to our exclusive show notes, timelines, budgets, and all the wedding planning templates we use with our own clients.
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And if you have questions, submit them directly on the site and we'll get right back to you.
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So popping your earbuds, step into our podcast office, and we'll take care of the rest.
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Okay, are we ready?
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Let's plan your wedding.
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Before we get into it, for anyone listening who doesn't know why Abby is the one we're gonna interview today on all things food and beverage menu planning and tending, can you give us a 30-second version of your background here?
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I sure can.
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My first job out of college was in the catering office, first at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, and then at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.
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So before I was a wedding planner, I was on the inside of how large-scale food and beverage actually worked.
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I've sat in a lot of menu planning meetings and I've seen what goes right from both a food choice and a service perspective, and what can go very, very wrong.
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Which is why typically I just love to sit back and watch you do your thing in those meetings.
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Okay, let's talk about menu planning.
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My favorite thing is being in a menu planning meeting with you.
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I just sit back, I'm like, this is gonna be so fun.
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Because a lot of times you'll get some PDFs that will discuss menu packages and then some preordained, you know, choices for your hors d'oeuvres and your first course and your entree and your dessert.
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And a lot of times people think you just are gonna like make a choice.
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You're gonna choose A, B, C, D, and then E.
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And that's your menu.
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But I feel like when you get in the room, you're always like, let's just take the reins off and let's start.
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Where do you start with a client when we're talking about a menu planning meeting?
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I like to start with the entree, but I will say this.
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I think there are several things to consider when considering a menu andor serving uh, you know, uh hundreds of guests.
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The first is the seasonality of food.
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The second might be what uh what the venue thinks that they do best.
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I think you certainly can take trends and fads in food into consideration and what or how you and your fiance like to eat or like to entertain.
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And so there's a little bit of all of this that comes into this, into the conversation.
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But first and foremost, I think it's important to focus on an entree.
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If you're doing a seated plated dinner, start first with the entree.
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Make that choice first.
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Make that choice first, and then make sure that all other food groups are covered in previous courses and/or or d'oeuvre.
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Right.
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If you were chatting with our client and they came in to us for our internal menu planning meeting, what do you ask them to start to get an idea for what kind of a menu they may like?
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Where do they like to eat, what restaurants locally might appeal to them so that I have some baseline, what they like to cook at home, how they like to dine?
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Are they formal diners?
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Do they prefer small Tapa style meals?
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Are they a bowl of cereal on the couch kind of couple?
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How important food is for them when they travel?
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Are their plans made around meals at night, or do they happen into the closest cafe after a day of touring?
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How food influences them and how food plays a part in their everyday life?
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I feel like you've also asked what food experiences or food traditions are like in their families.
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Absolutely.
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There's some cultural and religious influences in food.
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Tamar and I were recently working with a couple.
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The bride was of Jewish descent and the groom of Haitian descent.
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And we thought it would be really interesting to incorporate some Haitian Creole dishes into the meal and did our due diligence and had a conversation with the groom and reached out to the caterer.
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And it turned out that one of their chefs was Haitian.
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And so we created this menu highlighting a delicious Haitian soup as a first course, and it was a wild hit.
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When we talked about design on our last episode, we were talking a lot about feeling and actually what you want to be creating through design is a feeling.
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And I think the same is true of menu.
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I think if you have the opportunity, you also want the menu to evoke a feeling.
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For example, because I'm a chocolate chip cookie fiend, we baked chocolate, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on site 20 minutes before our wedding ended and they were handed out to people like piping hot as people were leaving.
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And you could smell the warm chocolate chip cookies.
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It was so good.
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I would like to say also, it's in terms of personalizing a menu.
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If you are a beer drinker and you spend your weekends at beer gardens or breweries, consider one of your bars being all beer and highlighting a half a dozen brews that you microbrews or local brews that you and your fiance enjoy.
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If you are a Paloma drinker and you can't necessarily afford an open bar, have beer and wine and soda on a bar and one specialty cocktail and pass the Paloma and so that everybody knows that you have your signature on this cocktail hour.
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Those are things that are personalizing your menu that again are reminding your guests that they're not just at any wedding, they're at your wedding.
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So when you're starting with an entree, options typically are in the like a beef option, a chicken option, a fish option.
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Can you outline a little bit?
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There are stereotypes for all of them.
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Do you want to go over the pros and cons of each of those categories?
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I would love to.
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I'm gonna start with a fish con.
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Two hundred steaming hot plates of fish.
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I'm gonna barf.
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I'm sorry.
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Throw up.
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It's so bad.
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Is the moment.
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So I think you have to feel really firm in your conviction to serve fish as an entree before committing to that.
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If you aren't at some like very small local seafood restaurant, if you are, of course, that's what you're doing.
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I don't know who's, you know, like whatever.
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If you're having a clam bake, here we go.
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But what you're talking about is like at a hotel or a country club or a venue that's providing the food, and you have again 150 to 250 of salmon.
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Please don't.
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It's I'm sorry.
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Really creates an olfactory moment.
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Dear gosh.
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It does.
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Does it ever?
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It does.
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So I'll I'll stop there.
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Um wait, what's the pro of fish?
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Sorry.
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Is there a pro?
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Yes.
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And what what fishes would you do?
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Like how the pro of fish is that it is light.
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Many women, if given the choice, and we are making sweeping generalizations in this conversation, but many women, if given the choice, will choose a white flaky fish, while a man will often choose beef as an entree.
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Again, we are a New England-based company, so there are several months of the year where seafood is especially fresh and coming out of the literal ocean or off the dock, very close to where we might be entertaining.
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And so I think there are many pros to fresh seafood as an offering.
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Yeah.
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And I think there are many beautiful ways to highlight some seafood options.
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I think also when you call something fish instead of seafood, it sounds gross.
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It really does.
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Right?
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Like if you're like, oh, we're gonna offer seafood, we're gonna offer sea bass, everyone's like, oh, that sounds delightful.
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But when you're like, we're having fish, it's sea bass, you're like, I don't think I want that, right?
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I don't know what that word is throw it up on the moist board.
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Seafood tower, but a shucking station during cocktail hour.
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Bring it.
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Or a delicious past shot of some fresh soup that has a piece of grilled shrimp or a bloody Mary shot with a piece of grilled shrimp.
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I love a crudeau, a ceviche or a tartare.
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A tartare.
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We love a seared, like God, first of all, a ahi tuna tartare cone is on like every menu we typically plan, but otherwise, like a seared tuna on a crisp or whatever it ends up being.
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So there are a lot of beautiful ways to bring seafood in to your menu.
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But what I'm hearing is I'm not sure we're offering it as your main entree.
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I stand behind that.
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In a real confident You're hearing clear, loud and clear.
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Great.
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Okay.
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Okay.
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So talk to me about chicken.
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I think chicken has gets a bad reputation for being that old school rubbery every man's meal, both on an airplane and in a ballroom.
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And I think chicken has come a long, long way.
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I think there are beautiful ways to present and cook chicken that keep it moist if you have the opportunity to have a statler breast of chicken, which ha is a bone-in breast.
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Bones will always help to maintain the moisture in the meat.
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If you can have a roulade that is stuffed, you know, if the chicken is stuffed with any seasonal vegetables, a spinach and and feta, or any a roulade can also be kept moist by the addition of ingredients in its center.
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So I think there are lots of ways to make chicken a price-friendly and delicious entree option.
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And I would say 90% of the time beef is someone's choice for dinner.
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It's just what's for dinner.
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It's beautiful, it's hearty, it speaks to a little bit of elegance on the plate, a little bit more upscale than chicken, and it seems to be widely accepted.
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I think execution-wise also, tenderloin has there's a real consistency, there's a real science now to how they can get tenderloin out the appropriate temperature in mass, which is something that's also a benefit.
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Absolutely.
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So absolutely.
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Do you want to chat a little bit about a split entree?
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I'm happy to, but it's going to be a short conversation.
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Great.
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I don't care for personally a split entree.
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Sorry, split meaning like a surf and turf.
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A surf and turf.
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Or a duo.
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Mm-hmm.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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Yeah.
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And I think side note, when planning your menu with your catering manager or your venue, hotel, catering facility, you should be mindful to have a conversation with the catering manager about alternatives.
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Typically speaking, in the industry, it is widely acceptable that a kitchen would have a 10% overage in the kitchen of an alternative.
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So most of the time it's a vegetarian alternative, no matter what you're serving, but there would be some alternative in the kitchen if a guest turns away an entree being served to them so that the wait staff can say, May I offer you this alternative this bit.
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Can I also say what we've been doing is not only do we make it vegetarian, we make it gluten-free.
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So it's a twofer.
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Yeah.
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Which I think is smart.
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How do you feel about a choice of entree?
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But then what does that mean, night of, versus putting it on your invitation?
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There's like layers of a choice of entree.
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Tamar and I see this both ways.
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The first opportunity to have a choice of entree would be in the wedding invitation on your response card where you would respond with your name and check off whether you would like beef, fish, or vegetarian for dinner.
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That gives the bride and groom the opportunity to tally those numbers ahead of time, submit them to the venue, and there is typically not an upcharge for that choice of entree.
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In turn, it creates a little bit more work for the bride and groom in that you have to assign seating at the table and then denote on the seating card what each guest will be eating so that the servers come out and see blue dot for fish and a red dot for meat on the back of each seating card and know that there are four meats and six fishes going to table number 10.
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The other thing that can happen in that case, though, is then your guests get there and you the first plate goes down and the person four people over goes, Oh, that looks actually I want that.
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I'm sorry, I actually didn't order the sea bass.
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Can I get it the beef?
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So that happens a lot when you do the advanced choice of entrees.
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Certainly.
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And the second opportunity is a printed menu card.
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Guests are seated night of and have the opportunity to order an entree with the server once they've been seated.
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This typically comes at a premium, and hotels charge an upcharge for a choice night of.
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Most hotels and venues have a limit to how many, how large the event can be before they'll actually offer that as an opportunity.
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But typically all entrees are charged at the higher of the two prices, and it is very costly for the kitchen to produce night of.
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And for anyone who cares about waste, the other issue, not only is it more costly to do a choice of night of, but they have to prepare probably a hundred like one and a half, one and a half times what they think may end up being the ratios that night.
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So there is a lot of food waste.
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A lot.
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So you pick your entree and then you typically would then work backwards actually to your first course, right?
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Yes.
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What are your options for first course?
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What are typically people offer for first course?
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So I think the biggest decision in first course would be whether you wanted to serve something cold or something warm.
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And that is an influential decision in that if it is a cold first course, a salad, a chilled soup, uh a carpaccio, a tartare of some sort.
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The plates, the timing of the night does not need to be quite so specific.
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Yeah.
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Number one, it can be preset because oftentimes it can sit and withstand a 20-minute entrance moment before guests are seated to consume.
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A warm first course needs as much lead time as a warm entree in that once we give the high sign to the catering staff that we are entering the room, they start queuing up the plating and serving.
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They're composing a high composing another dish.
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So we are on a tighter time schedule and need guests to be seated to receive their food warm.
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Okay, Abby, let's talk about hors d'oeuvres.
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We like to see a healthy balance of vegetarian meat, fish, and fowl.
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So something for everyone that nobody's hungry.
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And we like a complement of if they're if you are able, a stationary display of some sort and paste hors d'oeuvre, so that for those people that don't feel comfortable taking off a past tray, they can approach a food station and have a a bite.
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Or don't want to wait.
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Because sometimes things do get bottlenecked and it's just a a nice offering to have something always at the ready.
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How many paste hors d'oeuvre, like minimum maximum, would you say at a cocktail hour?
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Minimum five, maximum eight.
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We agree.
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Yes.
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Yeah.
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Agreed.
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You're always really good about encouraging, not only for us, but encouraging our clients to ask the catering manager, what do you guys do best?
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Like before we even get started, what do you love off of this menu?
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What do you think you guys do that's just such a crowd pleaser?
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You know, sometimes when you say, I only eat X, Y, and Z, they send you a menu proposal reflective only of those choices.
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If you engage in conversation and you're willing to listen and keep mind and think about a menu comprehensively, then you'll get some real brilliant feedback.
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Peanut butter and jelly bar that is totally the most memorable food station, right?
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From my daughter's butt mitzvah started with a simple question to my 13-year-old, and the caterer saying, Peanut butter and hell yeah, we'll make you the best peanut butter and jelly bar with fluff and flavored jams and breads and do you want it panini style?
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Do you want bananas?
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Do you want honey?
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Do you want I mean?
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Yeah.
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Right?
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Yeah.
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I also think like you typically people will get two reactions when they actually start that conversation with the catering manager, which is like, if you could, you know, if you could design this menu, what do you do best, or what would you love to see, or what would you love to try?
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If someone gives you feedback and they're like, I don't know, it's all really good.
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What do you want to choose?
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That's gonna, I would I hate to say this, but then that's when you look down at the packages in front of you and you make choices based on that.
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If someone's like, oh my God, you know what I've always wanted to do?
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We have this chicken dish, but I've always wanted to see it like this, or at one one client, we did it this way.
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Like, you'll be able to tell quickly the flexibility and creativity that the caterer you're working with has.
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And I wouldn't push against someone that isn't offering the ability to be creative, because that's when you're pushing somebody and a team out of their comfort zone from a catering and culinary perspective, which we've seen not doesn't often produce well.
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So take your cue.
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I think taking cues from your person, but starting that conversation is a great place to start.
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I totally agree.
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Hidden fees and menu costs.
00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:32.559
So a food and beverage minimum is not what you're necessarily gonna spend.
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:45.759
Speaking from our state of origin, in the state of Massachusetts, every dollar that you spend on food and beverage, there are service fees, there are taxes, and there are administrative fees totaling 33%.
00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:46.559
Yeah.
00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:50.160
So for every dollar that you spend, you're spending a dollar 33.
00:19:50.400 --> 00:20:04.240
So your$25,000 food and beverage minimum very quickly turns into$32,000,$33,000 before you even have upgraded any food element.
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:04.640
Yeah.
00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:06.319
I'm impressed you did that math in your head.
00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:06.799
Thanks.
00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:07.359
Well done.
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:07.759
Thank you.
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:08.960
It's not your first rodeo.
00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:09.440
No.
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:13.759
I feel like people are actually ask us a lot about like, should I do an open bar?
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:15.279
It's not a big drinking crowd.
00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.640
Maybe I'll do it on consumption because we don't drink a lot.
00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.160
And I it makes me nervous.
00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:22.640
It racks up faster than you think.
00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:27.839
And in a given night, I would never be like, oh my God, I I'll drink five drinks at a wedding.
00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:29.599
I would die if I had five drinks.
00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:36.240
But over the course of five hours, I may have a glass of wine at cocktail hour.
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:44.640
Maybe like by the time I put it down, oh, they think two to three glasses of wine, that's not that I'm drunk, it's that two and a half average per person.
00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:45.279
Yeah.
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:46.559
Two and a half average.
00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:52.160
So those first two are the obvious ones, but Abby, what are the other maybe hidden costs in menu planning?
00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:59.039
So most often we see chef attendant fees local to where we are in Massachusetts.
00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:13.759
They're typically somewhere between$150 to$250 per attendant for any action, live action stations that require like a carving station or you know, they're they're standing behind the table attending to it.
00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.880
We often see fees for champagne toasts.
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:30.319
We often see bar setup fees, particularly if you're working with a caterer, not necessarily in a venue, but in a tent or a caterer working outside of a function venue.
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:41.119
And to that end, if you're working with a caterer, there's often an additional line item for kitchen rentals if they're setting up a field kitchen.
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:49.359
There's often a fee for plating and cutting a wedding cake if you've brought it in from an outside vendor.
00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:51.839
Yeah, those all do add up.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:52.400
Indeed.
00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:52.880
All right.
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:57.759
Well, that was a most excellent education on all things menu and menu planning.
00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.599
Now it's time for episode seven.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:00.559
game.
00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.319
This one is called Feast or Famine.
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.400
It's our food and beverage edition.
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:11.039
We call out a wedding menu or bar element and we tell you straight as we always do feast worth every penny or famine.
00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.480
Skip it and save your money.
00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:13.359
We go fast.
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:14.160
Are you ready?
00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:14.720
Let's do it.
00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:15.920
Champagne toast.
00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.759
It's nice to have if you love champagne, but it's it's a it's an expense.
00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:20.480
I would skip that.
00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:21.200
Okay.
00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:21.759
Famine.
00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:24.559
Pasteur d'oeuvre versus stationary display only.
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:26.559
Paste hors d'oeuvre are feast.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:28.079
I think it's worth every penny.
00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:29.920
Stationary is famine.
00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.079
I think it's like an ancillary edition.
00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:33.359
Wedding cake.
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:34.000
Feast.
00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:34.640
Feast.
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.720
Always late night snacks.
00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:37.519
Feast.
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:38.240
Feast.
00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:38.960
Feast.
00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:59.680
And I think we're finding particularly when we're creating a food and beverage program for a bride and groom's wedding, that there seems to be an opportunity to go from sweet dessert time back to savory once everyone has like reached the peak of their joyful drinking.
00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:02.400
Open bar versus beer and wine only.
00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:09.119
I think if you can afford to do so an open bar is feast, money well spent.
00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:21.759
If you cannot afford to do so, I think any kind of bar that can be hosted is always a gracious addition to your wedding and your food and beverage programs.
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:25.920
How do you feel about a buffet food stations at a wedding?
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.160
Feast or famine Abby food stations.
00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.440
Famine for me.
00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:30.319
Why?
00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:45.279
Because I feel like at a wedding as a guest that people enjoy having a place to go, a seat, a table to go to and you've invited them there's something ungracious about it.
00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.599
Thanks for coming now go get your own dinner.
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.119
And there's usually a line and it's slow.
00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:57.680
And I think people think that a buffet because it's more casual is cheaper and that's not actually the case.
00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:06.240
The reason catering outfit or a venue will ask you to do a buffet is because from a service standpoint they can service it.
00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.640
It's their own capability or if I'm being honest, lack the right of right?
00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:15.440
It's that they're maybe not fully equipped to do a fully beautifully plated meal.
00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:25.599
And so they're going to push you and say oh we do stations and it's great and you know and I'm and they are if you need to do them but if if you have an option, I agree with you fully plated.
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:26.720
Surf and turf.
00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:28.480
That's famine for me.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:39.920
I feel like as a host, when you welcome people to your home for a dinner party, you don't offer your guests an opportunity to make a choice at your dinner table.
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:47.119
So I think that you should make an educated comprehensive and delicious choice and serve one entree to all of your guests.
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:50.960
Well that was the game of today's episode that was feast or famine.
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:58.720
And now we want to spend the last part of this episode on something that comes up constantly with our clients who are planning outdoor or backyard weddings.
00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:00.480
And that is tenting.
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:05.920
It can be one of the biggest budget surprises and can become logistically complex even when it's casual.
00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:11.839
We're going to do a quick but deep review on what you want to consider when you're going to have a wedding in a tent.
00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:17.839
How do you feel in general about a tented wedding I love a tented wedding I love a tented wedding too what do you love about it?
00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:40.400
I love the idea of marrying the inside and the out or the outside in I love the idea of being in nature and capturing landscape and I particularly love a clear structured tent so that you can see 360 degrees around you while you're outdoors.
00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:42.880
What might be a deterrent?
00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:59.200
I think the costs add up and I think the wear and tear on your house there's a lot of people coming in and out there's a lot of lifestyle interruption and for some people if your home is your safe haven and you want to really relax and or your office if you work from home.
00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:05.839
Or your office you know for a little a couple days you're on like a construction job site and then for a couple days after you're on a construction job site.
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:06.720
So it's great.
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.279
But there's definitely a lot of foot traffic and wear and tear.
00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:18.960
What is the first question you need to ask yourself before you have a tented wedding can a ceremony a cocktail reception and a dinner dance all happen in one structure?
00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:20.640
Is the structure large enough?
00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:29.440
How can your you, your designers, your floral designer, if if you have them, create separations of space?
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:34.160
And you need to ask yourself whether or not you're okay with the rain plan.
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:35.519
Say more.
00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:40.079
Every bride's dream is to have beautiful weather on their wedding day.
00:26:40.240 --> 00:27:00.480
Oftentimes we will call a bride on an inclement weather day and ask them how they're feeling on that morning because so much has gone into the decorating of this beautiful tent, assuming that it's going to be this bright, beautiful day or clear starlit evening sky.
00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:02.720
And that might not be the case.
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:16.160
And so the question you have to ask yourself is are you okay if that clear top tent that you spent 10 months or 12 months planning on is streaked with raindrops?
00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:27.839
And the answer from our perspective as planners is always yes because we've thought of every detail and every possible scenario but are you okay with it?
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:40.880
Is it okay that your guests might get a drop on them because a gutter isn't working perfectly as you're walking from the dinner dance tent to the restroom trailers?
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:48.240
That's the most important question to ask yourself because you always have to plan for the worst and be happy with the worst and then the best happens.
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:48.799
Exactly.
00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:56.880
What is the best way to manage and what is typical of managing sort of a rain plan for your ceremony if your plan for your ceremony is to get married outside?
00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:58.079
Have one.
00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:00.559
Automatically put a tent up anyway?
00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:01.759
What if you don't want a tent?
00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:03.279
What is the backup plan?
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:33.680
The backup plan is that you in our professional opinion, you pay to reserve that tent structure with the right to 72 hours out, check the weather forecast and make the commitment whether or not you're going to pay the remaining 75% of that bill and have the structure put up or lose the 25% deposit, but always pre-reserve the tent.
00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.720
You don't want to be scrambling two days before trying to find a tent.
00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:40.480
What makes a good site for a tent and what makes a bad site?
00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:43.119
Because I actually think it also relates to your weigh and plan.
00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:50.160
I think there's two things and I'm going to answer this as it relates to the guest experience and as it relates to the vendor experience.
00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:59.279
The vendor experience has to do with loading in and loading out tents require a great deal of equipment and trucks.
00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:24.000
Trucks driving over your nicely manicured lawn often leave tracks and so the yard is often not in the best shape post the the erection of the tent stop saying erection I'm sorry what I mean Post tent construction.
00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:25.759
Thank you we'll start calling it construction.
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:35.359
What does cause the most common damage to someone's property after a tent has come the grass and the irrigation system.
00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:47.920
Some varieties of tents, a sailcloth tent for example is staked into the ground and they hammer these large metal stakes like three feet iron stakes.
00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:59.119
Often pierce irrigation lines and I don't even want to talk about what else they can pierce in terms of you should know where your septic tank is septic and sewage.
00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:10.240
Yep town sewage yup there's a lot to think about it seems like a casual decision but even a casual wedding tenting is something that you need to be very thoughtful about.
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:20.720
So I love to floor a tent but it is an extraordinary expense.
00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:30.240
And so if your tent costs X, your flooring costs two to three X as we recently, it used to be 2X, now it's three X as we're finding out.
00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:36.240
What's great about flooring and sometimes what necessitates it is if you have an uneven backyard.
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:47.279
So you may think it's even, but when you have a 50 by 100 tent or a 50 by 80 tent, it may not be the level it is at you know foot zero where it is at foot 80.
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:53.359
So it even if it's a foot of a difference or usually it's two feet of height, you'll need to build out the floor.
00:30:53.599 --> 00:31:00.960
It's very gracious and everyone will thank you, especially women in heels, but it is a significant expense.
00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:20.000
In addition to a large tent for entertaining, what are some ancillary structures that need to be considered when you're building a tent site for a wedding sure so you want a tent for the caterer hopefully adjacent and connected to the prime the reception tent.
00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:21.039
That's a big one.
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:28.160
And oftentimes we will tent a little bit of a breezeway to wherever the restrooms are.
00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:41.680
So if we have a restroom trailer and sometimes people actually tent over the restroom trailer, which is fine, but you definitely want not definitely want but I think if you can like having a covered breezeway to where the restrooms are.
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.640
I think those are the like kind of core ones.
00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:51.200
And what other vendors do we need to engage with alongside a tent company?
00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:52.240
That's a great question.
00:31:52.400 --> 00:32:03.039
So we love to have the caterer there because they're thinking about it from how they're servicing the entire night and what that often brings with not only the caterer is power.
00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:11.519
Everybody, the band, the caterer, lighting teams everybody needs power where's everybody going to the bathroom so they're not going in the house.
00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:13.920
So you typically bring in a restroom trailer.
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:28.559
Lighting lighting is another one even on the most beautiful of days if you have a sailcloth tent or a white top tent and not a clear top tent, it can be dim inside of a short even during the day.
00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:32.160
And in the evening certainly lighting is needed.
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.440
Okay here's what we want you to remember from today.
00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:44.880
When it comes to tenting the most important question you can ask yourself is if it rains on my wedding day, am I still completely happy with this decision?
00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:47.279
If the answer is yes, tent it.
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:53.119
For food, work with what the caterer feels confident they can do well and the rest will fall into place.
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:57.759
Your homework is to send us a question and tell us how it's going.
00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:04.480
This is episode seven we really would love to hear how you're doing with your plans and be helpful if we can.
00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:12.079
Head to let'splanpodcast dot com for all of our podcast content and follow us on Instagram at Let's Plan Podcast.
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:23.200
Our next episode is the final episode of our series it's the episode where we're going to talk all about the weeks immediately leading up to your wedding and the wedding weekend itself.
00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:27.519
We'll help you make sure that you can actually be a guest at your own wedding.
00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:40.079
Alright guys this was another great meeting we'll see you next time this podcast is for entertainment only the Let's Plan Your Wedding podcast assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:48.720
It is produced by AGTF LLC in a separate capacity and is provided as is with no guarantees of accuracy, completeness or usefulness.
00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:58.400
The podcast is for informational private and noncommercial use only reproduction, modification or redistribution without AGTF LLC's consent is prohibited.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.479
Welcome to episode seven of Let's Plan Your Wedding.
00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:04.320
Today we have a slightly different format.
00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:09.359
I am interviewing Abby because menu planning and tenting are genuinely Abby's wheelhouse.
00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:11.279
And honestly, it's just more fun this way.
00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:21.199
We're going to go deep on menu strategy, the food and bar decisions that matter, hidden costs that will blindside you, and everything you need to know about tenting your backyard or an outdoor venue.
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:25.440
We're also going to play Feast or Famine, our food and beverage game, at the end of the episode.
00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:26.399
All right, let's go.
00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:27.199
I'm Abby.
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:35.280
And I'm Tamar, and this is Let's Plan Your Wedding, the podcast where we are your wedding planners, and every episode is a planning meeting just between us.
00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:45.520
When you subscribe online at Let's Plan Podcast.com, you'll get access to our exclusive show notes, timelines, budgets, and all the wedding planning templates we use with our own clients.
00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:49.520
And if you have questions, submit them directly on the site and we'll get right back to you.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:54.560
So popping your earbuds, step into our podcast office, and we'll take care of the rest.
00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:56.320
Okay, are we ready?
00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:58.320
Let's plan your wedding.
00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:11.519
Before we get into it, for anyone listening who doesn't know why Abby is the one we're gonna interview today on all things food and beverage menu planning and tending, can you give us a 30-second version of your background here?
00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:12.640
I sure can.
00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:21.439
My first job out of college was in the catering office, first at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, and then at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:27.840
So before I was a wedding planner, I was on the inside of how large-scale food and beverage actually worked.
00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:38.719
I've sat in a lot of menu planning meetings and I've seen what goes right from both a food choice and a service perspective, and what can go very, very wrong.
00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:43.200
Which is why typically I just love to sit back and watch you do your thing in those meetings.
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:45.599
Okay, let's talk about menu planning.
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:48.400
My favorite thing is being in a menu planning meeting with you.
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.719
I just sit back, I'm like, this is gonna be so fun.
00:01:50.959 --> 00:02:02.719
Because a lot of times you'll get some PDFs that will discuss menu packages and then some preordained, you know, choices for your hors d'oeuvres and your first course and your entree and your dessert.
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:06.000
And a lot of times people think you just are gonna like make a choice.
00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.400
You're gonna choose A, B, C, D, and then E.
00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:09.120
And that's your menu.
00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:15.199
But I feel like when you get in the room, you're always like, let's just take the reins off and let's start.
00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.639
Where do you start with a client when we're talking about a menu planning meeting?
00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:22.560
I like to start with the entree, but I will say this.
00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:31.759
I think there are several things to consider when considering a menu andor serving uh, you know, uh hundreds of guests.
00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.080
The first is the seasonality of food.
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:40.080
The second might be what uh what the venue thinks that they do best.
00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:55.360
I think you certainly can take trends and fads in food into consideration and what or how you and your fiance like to eat or like to entertain.
00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:01.199
And so there's a little bit of all of this that comes into this, into the conversation.
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:06.560
But first and foremost, I think it's important to focus on an entree.
00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:12.639
If you're doing a seated plated dinner, start first with the entree.
00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:13.840
Make that choice first.
00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:23.199
Make that choice first, and then make sure that all other food groups are covered in previous courses and/or or d'oeuvre.
00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:23.680
Right.
00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:34.800
If you were chatting with our client and they came in to us for our internal menu planning meeting, what do you ask them to start to get an idea for what kind of a menu they may like?
00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:45.919
Where do they like to eat, what restaurants locally might appeal to them so that I have some baseline, what they like to cook at home, how they like to dine?
00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:47.919
Are they formal diners?
00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:51.919
Do they prefer small Tapa style meals?
00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:56.240
Are they a bowl of cereal on the couch kind of couple?
00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.840
How important food is for them when they travel?
00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:10.080
Are their plans made around meals at night, or do they happen into the closest cafe after a day of touring?
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:17.279
How food influences them and how food plays a part in their everyday life?
00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:23.040
I feel like you've also asked what food experiences or food traditions are like in their families.
00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:24.240
Absolutely.
00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:29.040
There's some cultural and religious influences in food.
00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:32.240
Tamar and I were recently working with a couple.
00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:38.240
The bride was of Jewish descent and the groom of Haitian descent.
00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:52.959
And we thought it would be really interesting to incorporate some Haitian Creole dishes into the meal and did our due diligence and had a conversation with the groom and reached out to the caterer.
00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:57.439
And it turned out that one of their chefs was Haitian.
00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:06.720
And so we created this menu highlighting a delicious Haitian soup as a first course, and it was a wild hit.
00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:14.399
When we talked about design on our last episode, we were talking a lot about feeling and actually what you want to be creating through design is a feeling.
00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.600
And I think the same is true of menu.
00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.680
I think if you have the opportunity, you also want the menu to evoke a feeling.
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:34.720
For example, because I'm a chocolate chip cookie fiend, we baked chocolate, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on site 20 minutes before our wedding ended and they were handed out to people like piping hot as people were leaving.
00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:38.639
And you could smell the warm chocolate chip cookies.
00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:39.680
It was so good.
00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:43.839
I would like to say also, it's in terms of personalizing a menu.
00:05:44.240 --> 00:06:03.600
If you are a beer drinker and you spend your weekends at beer gardens or breweries, consider one of your bars being all beer and highlighting a half a dozen brews that you microbrews or local brews that you and your fiance enjoy.
00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:23.040
If you are a Paloma drinker and you can't necessarily afford an open bar, have beer and wine and soda on a bar and one specialty cocktail and pass the Paloma and so that everybody knows that you have your signature on this cocktail hour.
00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:30.639
Those are things that are personalizing your menu that again are reminding your guests that they're not just at any wedding, they're at your wedding.
00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:38.319
So when you're starting with an entree, options typically are in the like a beef option, a chicken option, a fish option.
00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:40.240
Can you outline a little bit?
00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:42.240
There are stereotypes for all of them.
00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:46.399
Do you want to go over the pros and cons of each of those categories?
00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:47.680
I would love to.
00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.800
I'm gonna start with a fish con.
00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:56.000
Two hundred steaming hot plates of fish.
00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:57.120
I'm gonna barf.
00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:57.759
I'm sorry.
00:06:58.959 --> 00:06:59.439
Throw up.
00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:01.759
It's so bad.
00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:02.959
Is the moment.
00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:14.240
So I think you have to feel really firm in your conviction to serve fish as an entree before committing to that.
00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:22.240
If you aren't at some like very small local seafood restaurant, if you are, of course, that's what you're doing.
00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:23.920
I don't know who's, you know, like whatever.
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:26.399
If you're having a clam bake, here we go.
00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:36.959
But what you're talking about is like at a hotel or a country club or a venue that's providing the food, and you have again 150 to 250 of salmon.
00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:38.399
Please don't.
00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:39.920
It's I'm sorry.
00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:42.959
Really creates an olfactory moment.
00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:43.920
Dear gosh.
00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:44.319
It does.
00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:45.360
Does it ever?
00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:46.079
It does.
00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.000
So I'll I'll stop there.
00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:50.160
Um wait, what's the pro of fish?
00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:50.639
Sorry.
00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:51.680
Is there a pro?
00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:52.639
Yes.
00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:54.480
And what what fishes would you do?
00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.519
Like how the pro of fish is that it is light.
00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:13.600
Many women, if given the choice, and we are making sweeping generalizations in this conversation, but many women, if given the choice, will choose a white flaky fish, while a man will often choose beef as an entree.
00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:30.560
Again, we are a New England-based company, so there are several months of the year where seafood is especially fresh and coming out of the literal ocean or off the dock, very close to where we might be entertaining.
00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:37.919
And so I think there are many pros to fresh seafood as an offering.
00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:38.480
Yeah.
00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:45.200
And I think there are many beautiful ways to highlight some seafood options.
00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.720
I think also when you call something fish instead of seafood, it sounds gross.
00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:49.440
It really does.
00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:49.759
Right?
00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.919
Like if you're like, oh, we're gonna offer seafood, we're gonna offer sea bass, everyone's like, oh, that sounds delightful.
00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:58.879
But when you're like, we're having fish, it's sea bass, you're like, I don't think I want that, right?
00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.600
I don't know what that word is throw it up on the moist board.
00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.200
Seafood tower, but a shucking station during cocktail hour.
00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:09.919
Bring it.
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:20.639
Or a delicious past shot of some fresh soup that has a piece of grilled shrimp or a bloody Mary shot with a piece of grilled shrimp.
00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.799
I love a crudeau, a ceviche or a tartare.
00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:25.679
A tartare.
00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:36.399
We love a seared, like God, first of all, a ahi tuna tartare cone is on like every menu we typically plan, but otherwise, like a seared tuna on a crisp or whatever it ends up being.
00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:41.200
So there are a lot of beautiful ways to bring seafood in to your menu.
00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:44.879
But what I'm hearing is I'm not sure we're offering it as your main entree.
00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:45.759
I stand behind that.
00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:49.440
In a real confident You're hearing clear, loud and clear.
00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:49.919
Great.
00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:50.240
Okay.
00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:50.639
Okay.
00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.039
So talk to me about chicken.
00:09:53.360 --> 00:10:05.279
I think chicken has gets a bad reputation for being that old school rubbery every man's meal, both on an airplane and in a ballroom.
00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:08.559
And I think chicken has come a long, long way.
00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:18.799
I think there are beautiful ways to present and cook chicken that keep it moist if you have the opportunity to have a statler breast of chicken, which ha is a bone-in breast.
00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:23.120
Bones will always help to maintain the moisture in the meat.
00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:38.720
If you can have a roulade that is stuffed, you know, if the chicken is stuffed with any seasonal vegetables, a spinach and and feta, or any a roulade can also be kept moist by the addition of ingredients in its center.
00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:47.360
So I think there are lots of ways to make chicken a price-friendly and delicious entree option.
00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:53.679
And I would say 90% of the time beef is someone's choice for dinner.
00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:56.159
It's just what's for dinner.
00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:08.559
It's beautiful, it's hearty, it speaks to a little bit of elegance on the plate, a little bit more upscale than chicken, and it seems to be widely accepted.
00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:24.720
I think execution-wise also, tenderloin has there's a real consistency, there's a real science now to how they can get tenderloin out the appropriate temperature in mass, which is something that's also a benefit.
00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:25.679
Absolutely.
00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:26.720
So absolutely.
00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.600
Do you want to chat a little bit about a split entree?
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.480
I'm happy to, but it's going to be a short conversation.
00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:33.039
Great.
00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:36.480
I don't care for personally a split entree.
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:38.399
Sorry, split meaning like a surf and turf.
00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:39.279
A surf and turf.
00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:40.080
Or a duo.
00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:40.320
Mm-hmm.
00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.039
Exactly.
00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:42.399
Exactly.
00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:43.120
Yeah.
00:11:43.440 --> 00:12:00.399
And I think side note, when planning your menu with your catering manager or your venue, hotel, catering facility, you should be mindful to have a conversation with the catering manager about alternatives.
00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:10.799
Typically speaking, in the industry, it is widely acceptable that a kitchen would have a 10% overage in the kitchen of an alternative.
00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:29.360
So most of the time it's a vegetarian alternative, no matter what you're serving, but there would be some alternative in the kitchen if a guest turns away an entree being served to them so that the wait staff can say, May I offer you this alternative this bit.
00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.759
Can I also say what we've been doing is not only do we make it vegetarian, we make it gluten-free.
00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:34.960
So it's a twofer.
00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:35.840
Yeah.
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.039
Which I think is smart.
00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:38.799
How do you feel about a choice of entree?
00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:42.720
But then what does that mean, night of, versus putting it on your invitation?
00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.799
There's like layers of a choice of entree.
00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.519
Tamar and I see this both ways.
00:12:47.840 --> 00:13:04.159
The first opportunity to have a choice of entree would be in the wedding invitation on your response card where you would respond with your name and check off whether you would like beef, fish, or vegetarian for dinner.
00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:18.480
That gives the bride and groom the opportunity to tally those numbers ahead of time, submit them to the venue, and there is typically not an upcharge for that choice of entree.
00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:48.000
In turn, it creates a little bit more work for the bride and groom in that you have to assign seating at the table and then denote on the seating card what each guest will be eating so that the servers come out and see blue dot for fish and a red dot for meat on the back of each seating card and know that there are four meats and six fishes going to table number 10.
00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:58.159
The other thing that can happen in that case, though, is then your guests get there and you the first plate goes down and the person four people over goes, Oh, that looks actually I want that.
00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.879
I'm sorry, I actually didn't order the sea bass.
00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:01.919
Can I get it the beef?
00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:06.799
So that happens a lot when you do the advanced choice of entrees.
00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:07.679
Certainly.
00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:13.200
And the second opportunity is a printed menu card.
00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:24.399
Guests are seated night of and have the opportunity to order an entree with the server once they've been seated.
00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:34.000
This typically comes at a premium, and hotels charge an upcharge for a choice night of.
00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:43.919
Most hotels and venues have a limit to how many, how large the event can be before they'll actually offer that as an opportunity.
00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:53.120
But typically all entrees are charged at the higher of the two prices, and it is very costly for the kitchen to produce night of.
00:14:53.360 --> 00:15:08.240
And for anyone who cares about waste, the other issue, not only is it more costly to do a choice of night of, but they have to prepare probably a hundred like one and a half, one and a half times what they think may end up being the ratios that night.
00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:09.679
So there is a lot of food waste.
00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:10.480
A lot.
00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:16.720
So you pick your entree and then you typically would then work backwards actually to your first course, right?
00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:17.279
Yes.
00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:18.960
What are your options for first course?
00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:20.879
What are typically people offer for first course?
00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:27.279
So I think the biggest decision in first course would be whether you wanted to serve something cold or something warm.
00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:39.360
And that is an influential decision in that if it is a cold first course, a salad, a chilled soup, uh a carpaccio, a tartare of some sort.
00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:45.200
The plates, the timing of the night does not need to be quite so specific.
00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:45.679
Yeah.
00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:57.120
Number one, it can be preset because oftentimes it can sit and withstand a 20-minute entrance moment before guests are seated to consume.
00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:14.799
A warm first course needs as much lead time as a warm entree in that once we give the high sign to the catering staff that we are entering the room, they start queuing up the plating and serving.
00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:18.080
They're composing a high composing another dish.
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:24.639
So we are on a tighter time schedule and need guests to be seated to receive their food warm.
00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:27.200
Okay, Abby, let's talk about hors d'oeuvres.
00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:33.360
We like to see a healthy balance of vegetarian meat, fish, and fowl.
00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:38.399
So something for everyone that nobody's hungry.
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:57.840
And we like a complement of if they're if you are able, a stationary display of some sort and paste hors d'oeuvre, so that for those people that don't feel comfortable taking off a past tray, they can approach a food station and have a a bite.
00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:58.960
Or don't want to wait.
00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:05.119
Because sometimes things do get bottlenecked and it's just a a nice offering to have something always at the ready.
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:09.920
How many paste hors d'oeuvre, like minimum maximum, would you say at a cocktail hour?
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.880
Minimum five, maximum eight.
00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:13.839
We agree.
00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:14.799
Yes.
00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:15.279
Yeah.
00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:15.920
Agreed.
00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:24.160
You're always really good about encouraging, not only for us, but encouraging our clients to ask the catering manager, what do you guys do best?
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:28.000
Like before we even get started, what do you love off of this menu?
00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.359
What do you think you guys do that's just such a crowd pleaser?
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:39.839
You know, sometimes when you say, I only eat X, Y, and Z, they send you a menu proposal reflective only of those choices.
00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:52.319
If you engage in conversation and you're willing to listen and keep mind and think about a menu comprehensively, then you'll get some real brilliant feedback.
00:17:52.799 --> 00:18:00.000
Peanut butter and jelly bar that is totally the most memorable food station, right?
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:19.279
From my daughter's butt mitzvah started with a simple question to my 13-year-old, and the caterer saying, Peanut butter and hell yeah, we'll make you the best peanut butter and jelly bar with fluff and flavored jams and breads and do you want it panini style?
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:20.319
Do you want bananas?
00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:21.200
Do you want honey?
00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:22.240
Do you want I mean?
00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:22.960
Yeah.
00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:23.599
Right?
00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:24.160
Yeah.
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:36.880
I also think like you typically people will get two reactions when they actually start that conversation with the catering manager, which is like, if you could, you know, if you could design this menu, what do you do best, or what would you love to see, or what would you love to try?
00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:40.640
If someone gives you feedback and they're like, I don't know, it's all really good.
00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:41.920
What do you want to choose?
00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:48.079
That's gonna, I would I hate to say this, but then that's when you look down at the packages in front of you and you make choices based on that.
00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:51.039
If someone's like, oh my God, you know what I've always wanted to do?
00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:56.720
We have this chicken dish, but I've always wanted to see it like this, or at one one client, we did it this way.
00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:02.799
Like, you'll be able to tell quickly the flexibility and creativity that the caterer you're working with has.
00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:18.319
And I wouldn't push against someone that isn't offering the ability to be creative, because that's when you're pushing somebody and a team out of their comfort zone from a catering and culinary perspective, which we've seen not doesn't often produce well.
00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.400
So take your cue.
00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:25.119
I think taking cues from your person, but starting that conversation is a great place to start.
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:26.400
I totally agree.
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:28.960
Hidden fees and menu costs.
00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:32.559
So a food and beverage minimum is not what you're necessarily gonna spend.
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:45.759
Speaking from our state of origin, in the state of Massachusetts, every dollar that you spend on food and beverage, there are service fees, there are taxes, and there are administrative fees totaling 33%.
00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:46.559
Yeah.
00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:50.160
So for every dollar that you spend, you're spending a dollar 33.
00:19:50.400 --> 00:20:04.240
So your$25,000 food and beverage minimum very quickly turns into$32,000,$33,000 before you even have upgraded any food element.
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:04.640
Yeah.
00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:06.319
I'm impressed you did that math in your head.
00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:06.799
Thanks.
00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:07.359
Well done.
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:07.759
Thank you.
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:08.960
It's not your first rodeo.
00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:09.440
No.
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:13.759
I feel like people are actually ask us a lot about like, should I do an open bar?
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:15.279
It's not a big drinking crowd.
00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.640
Maybe I'll do it on consumption because we don't drink a lot.
00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.160
And I it makes me nervous.
00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:22.640
It racks up faster than you think.
00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:27.839
And in a given night, I would never be like, oh my God, I I'll drink five drinks at a wedding.
00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:29.599
I would die if I had five drinks.
00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:36.240
But over the course of five hours, I may have a glass of wine at cocktail hour.
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:44.640
Maybe like by the time I put it down, oh, they think two to three glasses of wine, that's not that I'm drunk, it's that two and a half average per person.
00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:45.279
Yeah.
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:46.559
Two and a half average.
00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:52.160
So those first two are the obvious ones, but Abby, what are the other maybe hidden costs in menu planning?
00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:59.039
So most often we see chef attendant fees local to where we are in Massachusetts.
00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:13.759
They're typically somewhere between$150 to$250 per attendant for any action, live action stations that require like a carving station or you know, they're they're standing behind the table attending to it.
00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.880
We often see fees for champagne toasts.
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:30.319
We often see bar setup fees, particularly if you're working with a caterer, not necessarily in a venue, but in a tent or a caterer working outside of a function venue.
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:41.119
And to that end, if you're working with a caterer, there's often an additional line item for kitchen rentals if they're setting up a field kitchen.
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:49.359
There's often a fee for plating and cutting a wedding cake if you've brought it in from an outside vendor.
00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:51.839
Yeah, those all do add up.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:52.400
Indeed.
00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:52.880
All right.
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:57.759
Well, that was a most excellent education on all things menu and menu planning.
00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.599
Now it's time for episode seven.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:00.559
game.
00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.319
This one is called Feast or Famine.
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.400
It's our food and beverage edition.
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:11.039
We call out a wedding menu or bar element and we tell you straight as we always do feast worth every penny or famine.
00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.480
Skip it and save your money.
00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:13.359
We go fast.
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:14.160
Are you ready?
00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:14.720
Let's do it.
00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:15.920
Champagne toast.
00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.759
It's nice to have if you love champagne, but it's it's a it's an expense.
00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:20.480
I would skip that.
00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:21.200
Okay.
00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:21.759
Famine.
00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:24.559
Pasteur d'oeuvre versus stationary display only.
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:26.559
Paste hors d'oeuvre are feast.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:28.079
I think it's worth every penny.
00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:29.920
Stationary is famine.
00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.079
I think it's like an ancillary edition.
00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:33.359
Wedding cake.
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:34.000
Feast.
00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:34.640
Feast.
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.720
Always late night snacks.
00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:37.519
Feast.
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:38.240
Feast.
00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:38.960
Feast.
00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:59.680
And I think we're finding particularly when we're creating a food and beverage program for a bride and groom's wedding, that there seems to be an opportunity to go from sweet dessert time back to savory once everyone has like reached the peak of their joyful drinking.
00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:02.400
Open bar versus beer and wine only.
00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:09.119
I think if you can afford to do so an open bar is feast, money well spent.
00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:21.759
If you cannot afford to do so, I think any kind of bar that can be hosted is always a gracious addition to your wedding and your food and beverage programs.
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:25.920
How do you feel about a buffet food stations at a wedding?
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.160
Feast or famine Abby food stations.
00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.440
Famine for me.
00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:30.319
Why?
00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:45.279
Because I feel like at a wedding as a guest that people enjoy having a place to go, a seat, a table to go to and you've invited them there's something ungracious about it.
00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.599
Thanks for coming now go get your own dinner.
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.119
And there's usually a line and it's slow.
00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:57.680
And I think people think that a buffet because it's more casual is cheaper and that's not actually the case.
00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:06.240
The reason catering outfit or a venue will ask you to do a buffet is because from a service standpoint they can service it.
00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.640
It's their own capability or if I'm being honest, lack the right of right?
00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:15.440
It's that they're maybe not fully equipped to do a fully beautifully plated meal.
00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:25.599
And so they're going to push you and say oh we do stations and it's great and you know and I'm and they are if you need to do them but if if you have an option, I agree with you fully plated.
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Surf and turf.
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That's famine for me.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:39.920
I feel like as a host, when you welcome people to your home for a dinner party, you don't offer your guests an opportunity to make a choice at your dinner table.
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So I think that you should make an educated comprehensive and delicious choice and serve one entree to all of your guests.
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:50.960
Well that was the game of today's episode that was feast or famine.
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:58.720
And now we want to spend the last part of this episode on something that comes up constantly with our clients who are planning outdoor or backyard weddings.
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And that is tenting.
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It can be one of the biggest budget surprises and can become logistically complex even when it's casual.
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We're going to do a quick but deep review on what you want to consider when you're going to have a wedding in a tent.
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How do you feel in general about a tented wedding I love a tented wedding I love a tented wedding too what do you love about it?
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I love the idea of marrying the inside and the out or the outside in I love the idea of being in nature and capturing landscape and I particularly love a clear structured tent so that you can see 360 degrees around you while you're outdoors.
00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:42.880
What might be a deterrent?
00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:59.200
I think the costs add up and I think the wear and tear on your house there's a lot of people coming in and out there's a lot of lifestyle interruption and for some people if your home is your safe haven and you want to really relax and or your office if you work from home.
00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:05.839
Or your office you know for a little a couple days you're on like a construction job site and then for a couple days after you're on a construction job site.
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:06.720
So it's great.
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But there's definitely a lot of foot traffic and wear and tear.
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What is the first question you need to ask yourself before you have a tented wedding can a ceremony a cocktail reception and a dinner dance all happen in one structure?
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Is the structure large enough?
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How can your you, your designers, your floral designer, if if you have them, create separations of space?
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And you need to ask yourself whether or not you're okay with the rain plan.
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Say more.
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Every bride's dream is to have beautiful weather on their wedding day.
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Oftentimes we will call a bride on an inclement weather day and ask them how they're feeling on that morning because so much has gone into the decorating of this beautiful tent, assuming that it's going to be this bright, beautiful day or clear starlit evening sky.
00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:02.720
And that might not be the case.
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And so the question you have to ask yourself is are you okay if that clear top tent that you spent 10 months or 12 months planning on is streaked with raindrops?
00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:27.839
And the answer from our perspective as planners is always yes because we've thought of every detail and every possible scenario but are you okay with it?
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Is it okay that your guests might get a drop on them because a gutter isn't working perfectly as you're walking from the dinner dance tent to the restroom trailers?
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That's the most important question to ask yourself because you always have to plan for the worst and be happy with the worst and then the best happens.
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:48.799
Exactly.
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What is the best way to manage and what is typical of managing sort of a rain plan for your ceremony if your plan for your ceremony is to get married outside?
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Have one.
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Automatically put a tent up anyway?
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What if you don't want a tent?
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What is the backup plan?
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The backup plan is that you in our professional opinion, you pay to reserve that tent structure with the right to 72 hours out, check the weather forecast and make the commitment whether or not you're going to pay the remaining 75% of that bill and have the structure put up or lose the 25% deposit, but always pre-reserve the tent.
00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.720
You don't want to be scrambling two days before trying to find a tent.
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What makes a good site for a tent and what makes a bad site?
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Because I actually think it also relates to your weigh and plan.
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I think there's two things and I'm going to answer this as it relates to the guest experience and as it relates to the vendor experience.
00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:59.279
The vendor experience has to do with loading in and loading out tents require a great deal of equipment and trucks.
00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:24.000
Trucks driving over your nicely manicured lawn often leave tracks and so the yard is often not in the best shape post the the erection of the tent stop saying erection I'm sorry what I mean Post tent construction.
00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:25.759
Thank you we'll start calling it construction.
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:35.359
What does cause the most common damage to someone's property after a tent has come the grass and the irrigation system.
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Some varieties of tents, a sailcloth tent for example is staked into the ground and they hammer these large metal stakes like three feet iron stakes.
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Often pierce irrigation lines and I don't even want to talk about what else they can pierce in terms of you should know where your septic tank is septic and sewage.
00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:10.240
Yep town sewage yup there's a lot to think about it seems like a casual decision but even a casual wedding tenting is something that you need to be very thoughtful about.
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:20.720
So I love to floor a tent but it is an extraordinary expense.
00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:30.240
And so if your tent costs X, your flooring costs two to three X as we recently, it used to be 2X, now it's three X as we're finding out.
00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:36.240
What's great about flooring and sometimes what necessitates it is if you have an uneven backyard.
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:47.279
So you may think it's even, but when you have a 50 by 100 tent or a 50 by 80 tent, it may not be the level it is at you know foot zero where it is at foot 80.
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:53.359
So it even if it's a foot of a difference or usually it's two feet of height, you'll need to build out the floor.
00:30:53.599 --> 00:31:00.960
It's very gracious and everyone will thank you, especially women in heels, but it is a significant expense.
00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:20.000
In addition to a large tent for entertaining, what are some ancillary structures that need to be considered when you're building a tent site for a wedding sure so you want a tent for the caterer hopefully adjacent and connected to the prime the reception tent.
00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:21.039
That's a big one.
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:28.160
And oftentimes we will tent a little bit of a breezeway to wherever the restrooms are.
00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:41.680
So if we have a restroom trailer and sometimes people actually tent over the restroom trailer, which is fine, but you definitely want not definitely want but I think if you can like having a covered breezeway to where the restrooms are.
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.640
I think those are the like kind of core ones.
00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:51.200
And what other vendors do we need to engage with alongside a tent company?
00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:52.240
That's a great question.
00:31:52.400 --> 00:32:03.039
So we love to have the caterer there because they're thinking about it from how they're servicing the entire night and what that often brings with not only the caterer is power.
00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:11.519
Everybody, the band, the caterer, lighting teams everybody needs power where's everybody going to the bathroom so they're not going in the house.
00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:13.920
So you typically bring in a restroom trailer.
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:28.559
Lighting lighting is another one even on the most beautiful of days if you have a sailcloth tent or a white top tent and not a clear top tent, it can be dim inside of a short even during the day.
00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:32.160
And in the evening certainly lighting is needed.
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.440
Okay here's what we want you to remember from today.
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When it comes to tenting the most important question you can ask yourself is if it rains on my wedding day, am I still completely happy with this decision?
00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:47.279
If the answer is yes, tent it.
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:53.119
For food, work with what the caterer feels confident they can do well and the rest will fall into place.
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:57.759
Your homework is to send us a question and tell us how it's going.
00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:04.480
This is episode seven we really would love to hear how you're doing with your plans and be helpful if we can.
00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:12.079
Head to let'splanpodcast dot com for all of our podcast content and follow us on Instagram at Let's Plan Podcast.
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:23.200
Our next episode is the final episode of our series it's the episode where we're going to talk all about the weeks immediately leading up to your wedding and the wedding weekend itself.
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We'll help you make sure that you can actually be a guest at your own wedding.
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Alright guys this was another great meeting we'll see you next time this podcast is for entertainment only the Let's Plan Your Wedding podcast assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:48.720
It is produced by AGTF LLC in a separate capacity and is provided as is with no guarantees of accuracy, completeness or usefulness.
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The podcast is for informational private and noncommercial use only reproduction, modification or redistribution without AGTF LLC's consent is prohibited.
