The Wedding Shower: To Cater or Cook It Yourself
Catering the wedding shower vs. cooking the menu yourself.
When it comes to planning a wedding shower, food is a big part of the process. One of the most common decisions to make during the wedding shower planning process is whether to cater in the food in or to cook the menu yourself.
When deciding which option is best for you, there are a number of factors to take into consideration.
Time Available
If you have the time, you may want to cook the food for the wedding shower on your own. It will give you more control over what is served and can save you quite a bit of money.
Oysters Rockefeller catered in will cost you a pretty penny. However, if you make the hors d' oeuvres for the wedding shower yourself, they are not quite as expensive to serve.
Budget
If your budget is unlimited but your time is precious, you will probably want to have the wedding shower catered. The caterer can take care of the food, the serving dishes and the place settings as well.
Oftentimes caterers will also lay out the food and perform cleanup after the wedding shower is over. When hiring your caterer, you'll want to find out exactly what services they will provide and what the costs will be.
Special Needs
If you have people with special needs such as allergies or diabetes attending the wedding shower, you may want to have the menu catered in, letting the caterers know about the special needs of the guests.
Oftentimes special dishes will need to be made and you will need more of a variety to accommodate the needs of the guests. This can add up to a lot of work. If you're up to it, by all means, do it yourself. But if you feel overwhelmed at the thought of cooking a variety of dishes to meet everyone's needs, a caterer will be more than happy to assist you.
Location
Whether to have the wedding shower catered also depends on the location of the party. If you're renting a banquet hall, you might have to use a specific catering service or the restaurant's menu.
If you're hosting the wedding shower at your home, you have freedom as to whether or not you have the menu catered in.
Pride of Results
While it's nice and easy to have a menu catered in, there's a lot to be said for the pride of creating a spectacular menu. If you're really digging into the details of the wedding shower, you'll probably want to cook the food for the party yourself.
If you do decide to give it a go, you'll probably want to start cooking for the wedding shower a few days in advance. You'll be able to keep some of the items in the fridge until the day of the wedding shower.