September and October are the most popular months for weddings in the United States, followed by June, May and August. Over the years, fall weddings have become more and more popular due to the mild weather and beautiful scenery. Since this time of year is so busy, it’s important to plan catering in advance.

Choosing a menu for your fall wedding seems daunting, but you can make decisions much easier and faster by first asking yourself a few questions:

Where are you getting married?
What is the theme or feel of your wedding?
How formal is your wedding?
Are you having a small wedding or large wedding?
What’s your budget?
What have you liked or disliked about other wedding dinners?

The first thing to consider when deciding on a catering menu for your fall wedding is how your venue will impact the food you choose. Think about how warm or cold the venue will be during that time of year – heavier foods can be too much for really warm venues or outdoor venues. Look at the tables and serving space available. This may determine how many entrees you can fit in a buffet, or if having additional sides will reduce eating space.

Having an overall theme for your wedding is incredibly helpful in the entire wedding process, but especially for choosing food. In this case, theme doesn’t mean the same thing as it would for a birthday party. Theme can be more of the overall atmosphere, ambiance and feel of the wedding. Do you want your wedding to feel rustic, lowkey, city-inspired, upscale, natural or romantic? Each of these feels lean toward different menus.

Along the lines of how general theme and feel impacts catering, the formality of your wedding is an important aspect in choosing a menu. This goes beyond just what’s on the menu. You’ll also want to consider how the meal is served: buffett style, family style or plated. If your wedding is a more formal affair, a plated dinner with pork loin with wine mushroom sauce and garlic mashed potatoes will fit the atmosphere. For a more casual wedding, BBQ beef brisket or fried chicken served buffet style might be a better choice.

If you have a larger guest list (over 150 people), you’ll want to choose food that’s easy to serve and more simple in presentation. There’s nothing worse than hungry wedding guests, so choosing a plated dinner with complicated presentation will slow down the dinner process.

Budget is the most challenging part of wedding planning. Your budget will influence every decision you make about catering. Plated dinners are more expensive than family style or buffet, especially for a large guest list. The number of entrees or sides you choose, or any extras, can increase the cost of catering. Know what your budget is ahead of time so we can guide you on how to achieve your perfect wedding dinner with your budget.

If you’ve been to a few weddings in the past, think back on the dinners. Ask yourself what you liked and disliked about others’ wedding dinners. If you enjoyed the number of dressing options for salad or didn’t like that the tea was sweetened, you can use these experiences to guide your decisions.

Weddings are an incredible and special time in anyone’s life. Argyle Catering has a wealth of wedding experience under our belt, and wants to make your special day magical and stress-free. Contact us to learn more about our pricing and availability, and check our our online menu.