Fewer people may be getting married now than at any other time in the last 100 years, but there’s still just under a quarter of a million loved up couples tying the knot annually in the UK.
We all have different ideas and preferences when it comes to what a wedding should be. Big, white-wedding, Church affair, festival feel in a field or vintage tea party in a traditional English garden.
Irrespective of choice there are two things everyone can agree on: It’s going to be expensive and there’s a lot to organise. Figures released in March last year show that the annual wedding bill has risen a whopping £7,000 in the last decade, to £22,000.
The biggest spending increase has been the honeymoon, and with newlyweds spending on average £3,548 it’s now the most expensive part of a wedding. Next on the list are the wedding and engagement rings which average in at £3,315. More than a fifth of the budget is spent on food, with an average bill of £3,313, and drink, which costs £1,328.
Regardless of the size of your budget, your to-do list is still going to be vast. Find a venue, organise transport, pick a colour scheme, choose outfits, wrap favours, select flowers, write speeches, send invites, the list goes on and on.
Catering, however, requires more than one check box on your never ending list of to-dos. Once a style of catering has been decided upon, a caterer needs to be chosen (or in some cases the venue will force you to use theirs choose one for you).
Our Top 3 Tips For Choosing a Wedding Caterer:
- Nothing beats personal experience or recommendations from friends when it comes to choosing a caterer.
- Read impartial reviews on the web (not testimonials on the caterers own site!) and follow up on any references caterers provide.
- A food hygiene rating is a basic requirement, and not one to be skipped. Make sure you see a copy of it.
Assuming some of your options are still in the running (and available on your chosen date!), it’s *apparently* common to whittle them down to 3 before heading out to sample their wares.
Providing a taster of the chosen menu to two people is clearly much simpler than preparing it for 50! Many venues and catering companies hold taster days where they provide samples of their menus to a group of interested bride and grooms to be. This will provide you with a much better idea of how they cope catering for large groups.
While researching this article I was surprised that hardly any of the “top tips” or “questions to ask your wedding caterer” blog posts, even touched on food hygiene standards. A bad meal on a night out and the weekend on your bathroom floor is one thing - forty of your nearest and dearest getting sick from food at a wedding and the bride and groom spending their honeymoon locked in a hotel room in a far-flung place wracking up medical bills, is quite another.
If, despite all your best efforts, the worst should happen and your guests are struck down by food poisoning then you may be entitled to claim for compensation. While it won’t change what’s happened it can at least help cover any costs incurred.
For a checklist of the information you’ll need to proceed with a wedding food poisoning claim see our previous blog post Heartbreaks and Tummy Aches.
If you’ve sufered food poisoning at a wedding, or any other function, that wasn't your fault, call us now on 0800 756 7774 and talk to us to find out if you have a claim - or fill in our Quick Claim form (on the right of this page).
http://info.mayiclaim.co.uk/personal_injury_compensation_claim_news/bid/345174/Here-Comes-the-Guide-How-to-Avoid-Food-Poisoning-at-Your-Wedding
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