One of the most important aspects of wedding planning is catering. Catering is very important for wedding receptions, whether they are simply quick cocktail hours or full-service dining receptions. But did you know that wedding catering is also full of pitfalls and potential mistakes? Catering can make or break a wedding, to make sure to take a look at the following wedding catering mistakes and avoid them at all costs!

Mistake #1: Trying to do it yourself

Unless you are hosting a wedding reception for a very small, immediate family wedding party? Do not try to cater your own wedding. Catering is costly, time consuming, and requires professional know-ho. It can be tempting to think that you will save money by bringing your own food and setting up your own dinner service, but there are so many things that go into proper catering that you will almost certainly be biting off more than you can chew. A professional catering company will cook the tasty food, bring the food, set up the food, serve the food or display it for self-serving, bring the wedding cakes etc. Make your life—and your wedding planning—easier by not trying to do it on your own.

Mistake #2: Not knowing when to choose buffet-style or tableside service

Another common catering mistake is choosing buffet-style service over tableside (in other words, restaurant-style) service for their guests. Buffet-style service has both pros and cons—it is considerably less expensive than tableside service, but it can become cramped in a reception venue with too little space to accommodate the buffet tables and the lines. Tableside service is more elegant, but sometimes the food cools down too much before it actually reaches the guests tables. Before you decide on either type of service, make sure that it suits the venue space, your guests, and the layout of your reception.

Mistake #3: Not tailoring the food to your guests

It’s important that the food you decide to have catered for your wedding is something that most everyone—but the pickiest of eaters, anyway—can enjoy. For example: this means that you should not decide to exclusively serve spicy Indian food to guests at your reception unless you are 100% sure that almost every guest at your reception also enjoys spicy Indian food. Your best bets are classic reception dishes, such as pasta dishes, chicken dishes, salads, mashed potatoes, and similar foods.