Luckily, the San Francisco Bay Area has numerous catering companies who specialize in wedding and vow renewal services.  All of them are eager for your business, but choosing one can often be difficult.  Here are some guidelines to help narrow down your choices.

Wedding catering tends to be somewhat tricky, as it’s often a multi-course meal served to a very large group of people, all at the same time.  You’ll want to work with a wedding catering company that has a proven track record of being able to handle a reception of any size and ensure food is presented on time, hot (or cold) and that all guests are accommodated for.  It can be a somewhat of a monumental task to take on, especially for large wedding parties.  What sets most wedding catering companies apart from a traditional caterer is their ability to set up and cook food wherever the venue may be.  This usually involves transporting large quantities of food, some pre-prepared, along with specialized catering equipment to help finish cooking, preparing, serving and cleaning up the reception.

Logistics play a key role in choosing a wedding catering company, as they need to be close enough to your Bay Area reception to ensure proper arrival time, and then follow through with appetizers for the down time between the ceremony and reception, then stay on track for the food service during the reception.  Seek out companies with established business models that specialize in just these tasks.

Two of the most common ways of doing a catered wedding reception are buffet style and served.  Both have advantages and disadvantages and there is no right or wrong, but there is a right for your type of event.  Talk this over with prospective caterers to help determine which option makes the best choice for your wedding reception.

Lastly, the overall theme of your wedding and the food served should all be considered when catering the event.  If there are specific diet needs, foods that can or can’t be served or a specific style, say kosher or vegetarian for example, ask the wedding caterer what experience they have doing this.  Most catering companies can accommodate many different styles and regional cuisines, but doing a tasting will confirm the quality and level of precision they perform them at.

While unemployment rates are up, catering jobs are still plentiful.  Take this into consideration when hiring though, as more and more start-ups are in the Bay Area, ensure they have enough experience to handle the specific needs of your wedding, and follow through to make the catering a seamless part of the day.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, catering an event has been taken to a whole new level.  The quality of the fresh food available combined with regional and international flair from talented cooks and chefs is second to none.  From those who specialize in large events like wedding catering and monumental lifetime moments like 40^th wedding anniversaries and retirement dinners to simply hiring a caterer to do brunch at your home, the options are endless.  Narrowing down those options can often be a bit trickier and require some pre-planning.  Create a list of what your needs are prior to contacting a caterer and you’ll find it much easier to choose one right for your needs.

If you’re more of a hands on type of person, it’s now possible to rent catering equipment.  For a fairly reasonable price, you can rent everything you’ll need to properly serve a small crowd to several hundred people without the added overhead of hiring the staff to do it.  Of course, you’ll be the one responsible for cooking, timing and presentation, but renting catering equipment is fast becoming a popular way to serve guests who prefer to cook themselves.

Catering companies within the San Francisco Bay Area are more than capable of providing you with catering equipment, or they can do the entire job for you.  This usually includes an initial consultation, discussion of food type and total number of guests, creation of menu and then the actual event.  Your input will help the catering company provide you with the best service possible, so being sure to listen to their suggestions and answer their questions will in the end, get you the best results.  Many events in and around San Francisco tend to be outdoors because of the beautiful weather.  Some food choices simply don’t hold up well to even 20 minutes in the sun, and your caterer may have a substitute suggestion for you.  They do this because they want every guest to be equally happy with the food they eat.

Don’t let the paper fool you either; there are plenty of catering jobs available for those who want to work.  Catering an event can often be a really fun and rewarding job, dealing hands on with people or working behind the scenes.  Some of the different positions include the planner, chef and line cooks, servers and dishwashers.  For larger events, a hostess is often used to float around and ensure things in the front of the house are working smoothly and to help delegate tasks to the servers.  The hours vary and if you live an active life and don’t want to be stuck in an office Monday through Friday, a catering job might be a great solution for you.