Hints and Tips

Vaughan’s Kitchen have put together these helpful hints and tips to help you plan for your special event, hopefully with our unique food! It might seem a daunting task but, the sooner you start, the less stressful it will seem! Save the most memorable memories with pro stockmaster.

The Venue

Vaughan’s Kitchen has access to some unusual and stunning venues from beautifully restored barns, to classic castles, and terrific tepees.

Take a look at our venues page.

• Based in Devizes, the heart of rural Wiltshire, we cover the entire county and the surrounding counties. If you are concerned your venue may be too far away, check with us first – nothing is impossible is our motto!
• Once you have confirmed a venue, you will need to consider the logistics – for example if hosting your event in a marquee, think about access to power and a water supply. It may necessitate the hiring of kitchen equipment, but not always! Keep on reading…
• If we have not worked at your venue before, we will arrange a site visit before your event to discuss the logistical details of the day.

The Food

1. Greet your guests with canapes. This will take the edge off their hunger, stop them getting too merry too early and give them a taste of what is to come.
2. Our menus are tailor-made to reflect your style and characters – so why shouldn’t the format? Don’t feel you have to stick to a traditional seated three-course plated dinner. Why not consider sharing platters for your main course? This allows a number of dishes to be show-cased, as well as getting your guests interacting with one another!You can be as fun and quirky as you like with your format.
3. Ask us about our interactive and exciting dessert option that will get your guests talking.
4. Dare we say it but simplicity works every time! Offering a choice of plated dishes whereby guests have to pre-order can usually become a nightmare for you as you will have to collate all the information, pass it onto the caterers at least 2 weeks beforehand – only for most guests to have forgotten what they ordered!
5. But don’t be put off by offering a choice – to help remind guests what they have chosen just simply pop their choices on the back of their name cards.
6. Allergies or dietary requirements can be catered for without any issue, just let us know in advance the specifics – we are masters at creating exciting dishes for those who are gluten free or vegan. Have you tried our vegan friendly chocolate fudge cake from Peter’s cookbook?
7. No matter the size of your event from a small intimate get together to a rowdy shindig, supplying the caterer with a table plan will always go down well with them! It is useful to know where those with special dietary requirements will be and allows us to serve them in the same fashion as everyone else – friendly, professional and seamless.
8. Don’t forget to consider your photographer / band members / even nanny when it comes to planning the catering! If you would like us to provide them with a meal, prices begin at £10.00 per person.
9. If you’re feeling a more fun and informal style of service such as sharing platters do take into consideration your table decorations – will there be enough room for those delicious sharing platters? Can your guests see each other?
10. Evening guests and happy wedding revellers will become hungry after a night of dancing and drinking – what will you provide?
11. We have many suggestions – from a good old fashioned bacon bap with smoked Wiltshire bacon and a homemade tomato chutney sauce to crispy wraps from our Tennessee Hot Smoker with a variety of delicious fillings to help fuel the party spirit.
12. Don’t forget to add yourself to your final numbers for the caterers – forgetting this is more common than you would believe!

The Drinks

• Trying to figure out how many bottles of wine and beer to buy? Here is a handy link to a  wine calculator and remember places like Majestic do free glass hire and ice bins so it is worth having a look. You may prefer the Calais booze run and places like The Calais Wine Superstore will pay for your ferry there and back!
• Drinks service  if you are holding your event in a marquee/village hall you will need to consider who will serve your drinks, how they will be served and what to do about bottles afterwards. Vaughan’s Kitchen would be delighted to help you out with drinks service and we offer several options

When we quote you for an event we will always include the cost of crockery, cutlery, service, linen, commission (if the venue charges one) plus VAT. We  try to make sure that there are no hidden charges further down the line.  Your quote will  state clearly what is included.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 9:00 am