What is Full Service Catering?

If you're in the process of planning your dream wedding, you're likely asking yourself, do I need full service catering or will traditional caterers be enough? The team here at CLAY Venues has over 20 years of experience in the wedding industry, and we are here to heavily encourage you to hire a full service catering staff for your wedding day.

Why Do I Need Full Service Catering?

To put it plainly, they will handle majority of the behind-the-scenes work that is required for your wedding day to run smoothly. Some of the behind-the-scenes work are handling the set-up, "flipping" the room, clearing plates during dinner, and cleaning up at the end of the night.

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What Is the Difference Between Full Service Catering and Traditional Catering?

When organizing an event, one of the toughest decisions to make is whether to go for full-service or traditional catering. While both options offer a unique menu to impress guests, they differ in many other ways.

Full Service Catering: Will take care of everything for your special event in regards to experience, so you don't have to worry about the little details.
Traditional Catering: These catering partners are suitable for both formal business meetings and informal gatherings like luncheons. They deliver fresh and tasty food while also providing a hassle-free experience by taking care of the buffet setup for example.

While both forms of catering handle aspects of the food, one focuses on providing the actual food itself, while the other focuses on the serving aspect of your day.

Consider planning your full service catering staff well in advance as adding this last minute the week of your wedding will likely be a very stressful process and we at CLAY want to ensure you have the most stress-free wedding planning possible!

What Will Full Service Catering Handle?

Let's dig a little deeper into what full service catering handles on the wedding day so you can accurately budget for your catering staff needs.

Full Service Catering Will Handle Your Set-Up

Your full service catering staff will help set up your ceremony site, tables, and other decorative items for your big day. Setting a table with multiple linens, plates, silverware, and tabletop decorations is no small feat. It takes a crew to pull this off and pull it off well especially if you have a wedding guest count of upwards of 200 people!

Full Service Catering Will Take Care of "Flipping the Room"

If you need to ‘flip the room,’ catering staff is a must. ‘Flipping the room’ is when you utilize the whole space for your ceremony, and then convert the back half of the building to the dining room. Here at CLAY Venues, we are proud to be a 'flip' space-- allowing for a flexible and seamless wedding day.

The ‘flip’ typically happens when we draw our floor-to-ceiling curtains and usher people to the front of the space for a cocktail hour. In order to set the tables during cocktail hour, a full service catering staff provides the manpower to make this happen in that designated time frame and to make sure your reception space looks exactly like you imagined. The more hands on deck, the faster a 'flip' can occur!

Full Service Catering Will Clear Plates During Dinner

The phrase, “Full service catering” is a bit of a misnomer. It does not imply that the food will be served to guests. A full service catering team can host a dinner that is a buffet or plated. Either way, the plates, and drinks will need to be cleared from tables throughout the night. You may think, “My guests can clear their own plates, so we don’t need that service”. Think of it this way, your guests are at a semi-formal or formal event. Much like if they go out for a nice dinner, it would never be expected for a guest to get up and bring their plate to the kitchen to be washed. Expecting guests or family, who are flying in from out of town to celebrate your big day to clear their place settings is not usually well received.

Most Importantly, Full Service Catering Will Clean Up At The End of The Night

The venue rental typically does not include clean-up at the end of the night. At CLAY, we do not charge you a “cleaning fee” as some venues do. We like to make our prices visible without ‘nickel and diming’ you though. As you can imagine, cleanup at the end of the night is a big job. If we did not require a full service catering staff to help with this, we would have to charge to get a separate cleaning company in late at night (since events are sometimes back-to-back on a weekend). If a full service catering staff is not hired, venues will expect families and friends of the bride and groom to stay late and fulfill the necessary cleaning requirements. That’s why we require a full service catering staff to be hired for our rentals. Trust us, it's better for all parties that a separate staff is hired for cleaning up as no one wants to spend an hour cleaning after drinks and dancing.

What About Handling The Bar Set Up and Tear Down?

Many catering companies work hand in hand in providing a bar service along with their food, however, not every caterer has this option. When you are looking for a bartending service, remember that they are the ones who will provide your cups, mixers, garnishes, cocktail napkins, and usually, the alcohol! It should not be expected that your caterers will be providing the necessary equipment for a full bar service.

This is very important to remember especially if your venue allows alcohol to be supplied outside of a bartending service. Make sure you are asking your venue the right questions before you book as you'll want to ensure to plan accordingly and buy extra cups and napkins for your guests' drinks.

Here at CLAY, we have an incredible bar team along with competitive bar packages. Come tour CLAY Venues and let us dream with you about your big day!

do caterers provide plates and silverware?

No. Not all caterers will provide plates and silverware. However, if you hire a full service catering staff, they will likely provide the plates and silverware along with potential table clothes, and drink-ware. Make sure you ask your caterers these kinds of questions to ensure you and your partner prepare accordingly.

CLAY Venues Wants You to Have the Best Wedding Possible

All in all, full service catering is required because we want you, your family and your friends to have the best experience at CLAY. No one wants to be scraping plates and moping floors after dinner and dancing. Leave the work to an experienced team that is there specifically to serve you on your wedding day!

Don’t know where to start looking for a full service catering team? Click here to find a few of our favorites!