Can any food truck cater your wedding?

The food at a wedding is as important as, well, almost anything.
Let's be honest here, weddings are judged on the food, how the bride looks in her dress,
and the beer selection - For the most part.

So many couples tell us the hardest two things in planning a wedding is booking the caterer and picking out invites.
We are here to help with one side of the equation - Picking the caterer.
In this case, we are going to assume one thing - The couple is going to use a food truck.
Food trucks are like bras, finding the perfect fit is not that easy.

There are several factors that come into play at the very start.
We are going to walk through each piece of the puzzle to help you select the best
crew for the job.

1. Cost - No need to beat around the bush
At the end of the day, we almost all have a budget for whatever we do.
Weddings are often times no different. A good way to start the process is to decide on a ballpark budget for your meal. Most good food trucks will have a wedding menu for you to look at. A good rule of thumb, if the food trucker doesn't have a wedding menu, they may be the right person for the job. When you get some menus/estimates you will get a chance to compare between trucks. What you are comparing is way more than food - Which leads up to the next factor.

2. Service Styles - Who doesn't love some good food trucks eats. There is just something really cool about getting your grub from a food truck. What you need to decide at this point is if you want that for your wedding party. Some people say yes, hands down - Truckside is the way to go! Just know there are other options - Buffets, family style, passed appetizers, and then maybe having truckside as one of the courses.
Ask your food trucker about their styles of service - If you want more than a truckside element to your wedding service, some truckers might not be a good fit.
More and more couples are choosing food trucks because of the added "Cool" factor.
What they are also finding out is that they can still have all the luxuries of a traditional wedding, just with a food truck as part of the service.

3. Stations - The station setup has taken over the wedding world. From traditional grilling setups, to flatbread pizza, to cool build your own dessert bars.
Sadly, a lot of food truckers don't take part in this trend. The interactive experience that your guests can have truly make the wedding meal unforgettable.
A great example, our grilled flatbread station is one of our most popular appetizers.
Could we easily grill the flatbread in the truck - Absolutely. By adding an outdoor grill, the guests can see the work being done. They take in the sights, smells, and know that the food did not come out of a warmer. If you want this experience, just look for it and you can find it. If you find the right truck, lots of these options are available as part of the service, not as an added cost.

4. Staff - This is where the right trucks really shine.
Each truck is only as good as the staff. Food is just one piece of the puzzle. These are your guests, attending your big event, how do you want them to feel?
You don't have to do a full plated meal with someone placing the napkin on the guests laps to have great service. When the guests are done with their food, no matter what style of service, what happens? Who throws the plates away? These people can relax and enjoy some dancing and visiting with a little TLC - Have some staff included to at least handle the garbage. Just ask what the prices include? This is your wedding, these people came to relax, and there are some food truckers that plan for every piece of the service.
This part is the hospitality side of catering, which is more about people than food.

5. The Good Stuff - The Bar!
If you want some great craft beer or maybe some sangria, you can find trucks that will take of all of that stuff. What style of food goes great with a cold craft beer? Any style of food. We hear this all the time, my mom is going to handle the beer and wine. We understand that cost thing, that is why it was #1. Some trucks put together really great bar packages - Rustic old wine barrels with a wooden bar, professional bartenders, and the cost is not that much different than mom going to BJ's. The X Factor is letting mom and the family relax and enjoy the night. The right food trucker will have a bar that is a great addition and also a professional feel.

If you do your homework and ask the right questions, you will have no problem finding the right food truck to cater your wedding. At the end of the day, there is a truck for everyone! Happy Hunting and if you have any questions, please shoot me an email and I will do my best to help - info@wanderingdago.com or leave a message here on the blog.

Food Truck Weddings and Barn Venues - A true perfect marriage

The Great Northeast is known for many things - One is magnificent wedding venues.
From historic mansions to waterfront landings to extravagant ballrooms, there are more
fantastic venues than I could ever list. We are lucky to get to cater weddings all over the northeast
and most of the venues are great for food truck weddings.
One venue style in particular is at the top of our list for places to work - The Barn Venue.

To start, almost every venue works for a food truck wedding - That is important to note.
We typically don't play favorites, but this is one case where I am a little partial.
I am sure that some of my love is from my roots growing up on a ranch in Montana.

Everyone knows how hip and trendy barn weddings have become. However, I think there is
more to this partnership than trendiness. Many of the barn venues in the northeast have embraced the true heritage of the properties. From rustic redesigns to repurposed woods for tables, lots of the properties have really stayed true to the eras they were built in.
That being said, many of the barns have retro-fitted their property to be a wedding wonderland
of sorts. From theme lighting to outdoor pavilions, and even guest cottages for the wedding party,
many of these places are like a resort.
Whether the barn is rustic or whether the barn has air conditioning, they will all have one thing in common - Food Truck Friendliness.

Here are some reasons we think a barn venue and a food truck are the perfect marriage.

1.  Food trucks are great for any kind of outdoor wedding - Barn Venues are usually situated on
a larger piece of property. Imagine having a grilling station outside in the beautiful weather. Lots of open air pavilions like this one at Owls Hoot Barn are perfect for cocktail hour stations or even some buffet style setups. This wedding had a mix of passed appetizers, grilled appetizers at a station, and one table with plated appetizers in the middle. The sun was shining and the day was absolutely perfect.

2. Barn venues often do not have a full kitchen - A wedding equipped food truck is a mobile kitchen with all the equipment on board. Do your homework, tour the truck, and you can choose a barn venue that has all the old charm and still have a full catered meal that your guests will love.

3. Photos - Don't get me wrong, some of the ballrooms in the area are amazing for backdrops.
If you are someone that wants some character and charm in your wedding photos, a barn venue is right up your alley. Your wedding photographer will love the natural light for starters. On a lighter note, having an old barn in your photos is pretty cool. Many of these venues have lots of old buildings, trees, and all kinds of places to take pictures that nobody could ever duplicate.

This wedding was near and dear to my heart. I enjoyed every minute of the experience and I think the guests had a wonderful time. Congratulations to Tom and Lisa.
If you have any questions about how a food truck would fit into your wedding, please contact us through our website - www.wanderingdago.com

Buffet Style Service - Tired or Necessary?

I say this over and over that the best part of my job is meeting the couples.
Each and every one is so full of joy, excitement, and ideas.
Their stories are unique, yet very similar in many ways. We talk location, we talk appetizers, desserts, favorite dishes for the main entree, what types of craft beer they are going to have, but one
of the hottest topics during the meeting is this - Style of Service.

One word is mentioned and many of the young brides make what I call the "Icky" Face.
The same face a baby makes when they don't want the food in the spoon you put in front of them.
Nose wrinkled up, etc, etc..... That word is "buffet."

Couples don't call on their favorite food trucker to put on a buffet style service.
Food trucks are so hip and trendy, while buffet service is often viewed in the same category
as Scrabble - acceptable, but no fun.
There are actually many factors to a successful wedding meal, believe it or not.
By success, I do not mean getting the people fed.
My personal nemesis - I am at a wedding, stuck in assigned seating (Insert Icky Face),
and like usual, my table is one of the last to get their meals. The meat has been under a warmer for what tastes like 2 weeks, the veggies are now cold and chewy like bubble gum, while the mashed
potatoes now have butter that has seperated back into a cube.

This is one example of a wedding meal that failed in many people's opinions, mine included.

Obviously buffets were born of necessity, not glamour.
Which brings us back to initial problem - Hip and trendy is part of the draw for these young whipper snappers. Let's insert some cool to your wedding service.

Here are 3 things to help your service be effective, tasty, and amazeballs cool.
 1. Mix it up - Do a different style of service for every course. We do a lot of these weddings.
Cocktail Hour/ Appetizers - Family Style for 2 of the appetizers. They are arranged on plates at the table for your guests to pick and choose as they like. This is a great place for apps that require a fork or that have sauce. Passed for the other 1 or 2 Appetizers.
Guests that are walking around looking for future dance partners can also nosh on hand held bites.
Great place for skewers and one biters.
Main Course - Great place for a station - Perhaps a grill style setup - pick 3 meats and let your guests choose from freshly grilled meats. Toppings are also very effective here - Grilled flank steak and the guest adds some bruschetta on top. Another hugely popular station is a build your own anything - Insert taco bar. No Taco Bell, we are talking nicely done fried tilapia, smoked pork belly, fresh qucamole, and all the fixins. Guests can take as much as they like and all the food is super fresh.
Your food trucker can make smaller batches as the service goes on, so the food is perfect.
Sides - We also see a lot of family style sides, or even a....buffet table or two.
Guests can get their food in a timely manner, no waiting and no fuss.
Dessert - Truckside!!!! Let the guests go get their dessert on their time.
Pie Holes (Bite Size Pies) with a milkshake station is the perfect end to any meal. If someone wants to make three trips, let them - That is the fun of a food truck style service.
2. Really go over the flow of the service with your food trucker. Waiting kills a service like nothing else. We shoot for 75 people max at any one station. If you have 180 people at your wedding, you would need 3 stations. That way nobody ever waits very long. And let's be honest, stations are so much fun - The more variety, the better.
3. Be realistic. A wedding service with 125 people ordering from the truck for every course is not a good idea. Make sure you are talking to the right crew to handle your wedding. If a food trucker tells you otherwise, they are not being realistic. There are a lot of factors, like the crazy summer humidity that make a 15 min wait seem like 3 hours. Nobody wants crabby pants at the reception.

If you don't want your wedding dinner to have the same feel as a church pot luck, just follow
these three steps. If you have any quesitons, please leave a comment or email us at
info@wanderingdago.com. If you get a chance, please sign up to follow this blog or share
on your Facebook Page.
Thank You -

Brandon - Chef/Owner
Wandering Dago Catering Co. & Food Truck