We know that gourmet food trucks are all the rage, especially after the huge success of the Food Network's The Great Food Truck Race. But food trucks catering the food at a wedding? Color me skeptical.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, hiring gourmet food trucks to provide the food is one of the newest trends in weddings. (In fact, some truck owners generate a significant part of their income catering weddings and bar mitzvahs.) The advantages of using food trucks to cater the reception are two-fold: Couples getting married are always looking for that unique, over-the-top idea that sets their wedding apart from all the others and makes it particularly memorable. Eating samosas, meat pies, and other food truck fare on paper plates might just be that idea.
More important, food trucks are typically less expensive than traditional caterers -- sometimes costing only a third of the price. Amy Maureen Yee hired three food trucks to cater her 110-person New York wedding last month: She ended up spending about $3,580 on food, plus the cost of hiring separate vendors for appetizers, coffee and dessert, food staffing, and chair and table rentals. Still, the total cost was less than the $20,000 other caterers had quoted her. But for her and her husband, the food trucks were more than just a cost-saving measure:
We love food trucks ... this is sort of a big part of our relationship together.
But how do guests receive such an unconventional idea? I'd be thrilled to be invited to a wedding reception featuring food trucks -- but I'm a huge fan of street food, not to mention cool, out-of-the-ordinary wedding traditions. I could see more traditional guests who are more accustomed to a buffet or formal sit-down dinner balking at eating greasy food off paper plates. But at the end of the day, isn't a wedding about what the couple getting married wants?
Do you think food trucks at a wedding is a cool idea?
Image via striatic/Flickr
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Comments 17
I suppose you could make it fit with a theme. Plus honestly I'd rather have a burrito than a stuffy fish dish but that's just me.
I think it would be a blast! Provided the location and weather were appropriate, of course.
Sounds like a really interesting idea. I would love to be there to see if it is a comfortable situation. Kinda reminds me of more of a birthday thing.
You're absolutely right - it's about what the couple wants. The guests are GUESTS, and what our entitled society has forgotten is that you take what you get and say "thank you." You can drive through McD's on the way home if you're still hungry.
I think it sounds cool. And most of the guests at a wedding are friends and family of the bride and groom so you would think their tastes would be somewhat in line with the bride and groom's (although I know there are plenty of cases where "the apple does fall far from the tree", so to speak :)
When a food truck caters it isn't as if it only pulls up and opens its window. Food trucks have a lower over head due to not having a traditional kitchen, if you are having a smaller venue.. they can still put out beautiful food at about half the cost...a lot of times they even use real plates rented from a venue...or high quality plastic that has the feel and look of glass or china... There are mannnnny options
Christine, I DID have a potluck reception! It was fantastic. My parents provided the meat, buns and condiments, and we assigned different food and/or drinks to our guests. Maybe some people would be appalled that I assigned what people would bring, but I didn't want to end up with half a dozen people bringing the same dish. And I gave everybody choices based on what I still needed.
i think its cool
I was a wedding planner for years and have attended over 250 weddings. I personally do not like it. I think it's tacky at best. A word to the wise.. if your guests are made to feel less then welcome or feel as if you're skimping on food, entertainment or the venue.. they will give you less in the way of a gift. Most wedding guests will figure in your cost per plate and then add to that. If they feel insulted they will do the opposite. I have seen guests take money out of envelopes in the ladies room. I have seen checks ripped. While a hotdog cart may be thought cute for a child's birthday party it will not go over well at a wedding. That is a very immature theme. Sorry.. If you're old enough to get married you should be able to handle real food.