Weddingbee Blog

I’m in the wrong business. Here I was all these years thinking healthcare was a solid foundation with good opportunities for growth.

What I should’ve done was start a wedding catering company, because they are making BANK.

I started my quest to book a caterer a few months ago—it’s the biggest expense by far. And jeez louise are there a lot of options—buffet, heavy hors d’ouevres, sit-down dinner, food stations.

Back in the olden days of the 1990s and 2000s, people had their standard chicken/fish, vegetable, and starch buffet with a roll or two. Their guests ate it, didn’t make a fuss, and didn’t have any strong opinions toward it either way. It was easily forgotten, and as such not a big deal.

These days, there are a ridiculous amount of options out there. I’ve gotten information about sushi bars, make-your-own bruschetta stations, sliders, mini grilled cheese sandwiches, and the list goes on and on. The downside to this is the cost. Boy has it skyrocketed.

One caterer quoted me a minimum of $10,000. For our estimated guest count of 125. Not including the bar service. I just about melted into my couch at the thought.

Finally, I found a caterer with reasonable prices who shared my ideas of mixing old and new, vintage and modern—just like the rest of this wedding.

We will be booking Cafe Catering in Charleston, South Carolina and will have food stations in the tent! We have up until two weeks before the wedding to finalize the menu, but for now we have:

Shrimp cocktail in shooter glasses, and beef tenderloin crostini with horseradish creme as passed hors d’ouevres

Station 1: Low-Country Picnic Station

• Pulled pork BBQ with traditional, mustard base, and fiery vinegar sauces (YUM)
• Mac & cheese bar with lobster crumbles, roma tomatoes, bacon bits, and green onion
• Fried green tomato stacks with pimento cheese spread
• Jalapeno cheddar cornbread, sweet potato and buttermilk biscuits

Station 2: Carving Station

• Chef-carved, lime-marinated flank steak with chipotle honey
• Hollowed new potatoes stuffed with gruyere sour cream and chives
• Green beans with carmelized onions and bacon
• Assorted rolls

Station 3: Culinary Station

• Chicken Saltimbo (stuffed chicken with prosciutto, spinach, and asiago with a white wine dijonnaise sauce)
• Parmesan risotto
• Individual Caesar salads in crisp toast cups

Station 4: Garden Display

• Build your own bruschetta: olive tapenade, balsamic-marinated tomatoes, sun-dried tomato relish, fresh artichokes with artichoke relish, avocado serrano pepper spread, roma tomatoes, parmesan, herbed goat cheese and fresh mozarella with sweet basil dressing, and herbed olive oils served with French bread croustades and pita crisps

We recently went to Charleston for two days to meet with our cake baker (more on that later) and Lauren from Cafe Catering and have a tasting, even though our wedding isn’t for six-and-a-half months. Everything’s a little different when you’re planning a destination wedding. Luckily, she very graciously accepted us and gave us a delish lunch! We tried the crostini HOD, pulled pork, mac and cheese, fried green tomato stacks, flank steak, and potatoes. I was STUFFED, and she made us feel so comfortable about everything wedding related that was about to come down the pipe. She’s probably going to be doing all our design work for furniture/decor/linens, etc. I only remembered to take one photo, but below you can see the potatoes, mac and cheese (with bacon!), and flank steak.

Personal photo

Now who wants to make me a to-go plate so I can actually enjoy it? My mouth’s watering already.