Hindu & American Fusion Wedding

First, does your venue allow outside catering or are you locked into theirs? That will determine what your options are.


With a venue that allows outside catering, you will have more luck with what you are planning. You can taste test independent catering companies before booking them, and they often have customizable menus. But not all caterers are great at everything. They may be great at American meat and potatoes but they don’t excel at ethnic cuisines, and vice versa. Someone great at ethnic dishes may not be able to prepare an edible American menu you are familiar with. A popular budget option is drop off catering from your favorite local restaurants. That way, you know that they know how to cook how you are familiar with it tasting and it’s often more better quality food at a lower price than an independent caterer. It allows you to get Menu A from one ethnic restaurant and Menu B from another restaurant you enjoy. By hiring event staffing from Thumbtack.com or Yelp.com, they can serve guests at a buffet/stations or plate it which requires knowing ahead which guests want which entrees and is more work for you.

The same applies for dessert. You can get a grocery store cake that you already know you like and/or serve an ethnic dessert from the same restaurant you are getting the drop off catering from.

I agree with PP that you should check with the venue to see if they allow outside caterers, and when dealing with all caterers (venue and outside alike) to be really clear that they won't be the only catering service responsible for your event. Caterers may take offense at not being the only caterer for your event. I know of people who have run into some pushback from one caterer for having a separate caterer to serve a different type of food. As long as you're upfront about what you want, I think that you'll be able to come to an understanding with everyone.

Once you've figured out the catering situation, then you'll be able to figure out how much food/stations/etc. But, overall, I would split everything equally 50/50 and serve everything the same way. Essentially, you want to make sure that all of your guests feel like they're being treated equally. Have the same number of choices ("American" vs. Indian) for appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts. The serving style (buffet, plated, vs stations) should depend more on what your budget, preference, and reception timeline will allow for, but again, serve the same course the same way. So, you can do passed appetizers, a buffet for dinner, and a dessert station - the key is not to single out a type of food and serve it differently.