The culinary experience is an important pillar of any wedding – from hors d’oeuvres and cocktails to main dishes, service, china, glassware, flatware and beyond. Your guests look forward to enjoying a beautifully presented meal and the festivities ahead with a satiated appetite. The question is: How do you select the right team to deliver this exceptional culinary experience?

There are many perks to selecting a wedding venue that offers in-house catering and beverage services: flexibility, logistics, convenience are just a few. If you’re looking for a guide to the benefits to booking in-house catering over outside catering, here we’ll give you all the details why in-house catering makes a difference.

1. One-Stop-Shop Convenience

Planning a wedding takes time, energy, and coordination. Finding the right team of professionals for each element of your wedding can be stressful. Walters Wedding Estates provides in-house catering – and an abundance of key wedding services – to create a more streamlined planning experience. You no longer need to spend hours, days or weeks trying to find the perfect caterer for your big day.

Walters Wedding Estates understands that you have a long list of commitments outside of wedding planning. That’s why when you secure your big day at a Walters Wedding Estates venue, you’re booking with our Walters family. From their knowledgeable Wedding Specialists to your passionate Planning Rep and your dedicated General Manager, their team is here to assist in coordinating each detail of your culinary experience.

2. Exceptional Experience

With several years of experience under their belts in weddings and events, Walters Wedding Estates is the industry leader in setting the standard with their all-inclusive wedding venues and culinary experience. With in-house catering, they can protect the integrity of your event by utilizing their experience to keep your event running smoothly.

3. Crowd-Pleasing Selections

You might be (as many couples are) under the impression that choosing in-house catering means giving up customization. That’s not often the case. At Walters Wedding Estates, for example, you’ll find a wide variety of cuisines to select from. There is a menu for every taste, and their team of highly trained Chefs are always happy to accommodate any dietary needs, dreaming up thoughtful menus to appease every palette.

4. Food Safety

Food safety practices should be top of mind when selecting a caterer. There are high benchmarks for quality, making food handling practices a top priority and taking extra steps to guarantee proper safety measures. At Walters Wedding Estates, they ensure that all of their Chefs and General Managers are certified with a ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification to safely serve you and your loved ones.

5. Quality and Presentation

When it comes to food, quality and presentation matter. Creating visual balance and appeal with textures, colors and garnishes all play an important role in elevating the dining experience for your guests. When you book with Walters Wedding Estates, you can rest assured that every detail – from plate presentation to the precision of what local ingredients we source for your menu – is measured, calculated and perfected. While all eyes are on you during your wedding, our eyes are on the little things that make a big impact, making sure your big day goes as smoothly as possible.

Still on the fence? We understand. Making sure you select the right menu for your wedding is a big decision. As tenured leaders in the industry, we invite you to experience our Walters Culinary Experience. Our Showcase events offer an opportunity for couples to meet our planning team and sample popular menu items in an event-style setting.

6. Affordability

Selecting in-house catering doesn’t just save you time and energy; it can also be cost-effective. At Walters Wedding Estates, for example, menus are competitively priced for the service and quality of our offerings. Not to mention, there’s a variety of options to select from. Both plated and buffet menus are available with options for passed appetizers, late-night snacks, and custom cuisines and Walters Wedding Estates includes full service catering which includes all servers, china, glassware, silverware, linens, cake cutting and more where most Catering companies will charge additional for these services or rental items.

Still shopping around? 6 questions to ask an outside caterer:

Selecting a caterer is a big decision; we understand if you are considering all of your options. If you’re in the process of browsing, these are the most important questions to ask, according to Walters Wedding Estates Wedding Specialists:

1. Are you available on my date? (Walters Wedding Estates guarantees when you book our venues that your Catering and other Vendors Services are secured for your date!)
2. What are your specific needs in order to cater at my venue? Do you prepare the food fresh on site? (Walters Wedding Estates works at our venues week in and week out, and their food is always prepped fresh on-site in their kitchens.)
3. Do you provide chinaware, silverware, glassware, napkins, and staff? (Walters Wedding Estates includes all of these with your package!)
4. Do you take care of setup and cleanup? (Walters Wedding Estates takes care of this!)
5. Is cake-cutting included at no extra charge? (Walters Wedding Estates includes this with your package!)
6. Do you offer a payment plan? (Walters Wedding Estates includes a very flexible payment plan.)