It’s a fact in every Indian wedding, food is the most important element, and if it’s Hyderabadi wedding then there is no doubt on the importance of food as this city is known as the city of food lovers. But what comes along is the “food wastage”. We understand everyone want to make their wedding a talk of the town esp. with food, vast list of dishes are ordered in vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, Kebabs, Platters, Gravies, Breads, Biryanis, this often result in too much food being wasted as the people put all items in to their plates, taste some and leave the rest resulting in wastage. In a country where millions of people survive with less than two meals a day, as a responsible citizen or rather a responsible human being, we need to be considerate while spending extravagantly. This can be achieved without compromising on preparations for your beautiful and lavish wedding. Here are some of the pointers that will help you avoid wasting tons of food on your big day!

1. Professional Caterers:

First and foremost hire a professional caterer, they are experienced and know in and out of everything that a function requires. With their experience they know, how much exactly on average a person consumes, and with multiple dishes in the Menu, they have a very fair idea of how much quantity of each dish is required. Elite Caterers have a track record of having no food wastage in any of the event catered. Be it small or large, a birthday party catering or catering for grandeur wedding, the chefs at Elite Caterers are so experienced that the cooked food is optimum in quantity.

2. Type of Catering:

Either you can choose, to give complete catering to the caterer, where in you pay per pax which mean you pay only for the no. of guests who ate at a rate agreed as per the contract. Other way is to order the food (as per desire quantity) and after the event, you take away the leftover food. We suggest you take the first option, since it is the Caterers responsibility of any excess food, they will cook as per the guest list, as any leftover costs them money. But in case, you’d like to go with the second option, then chose an experienced caterer and discuss with them about how much you expect to have the leftover food (which you can take away after party is over or give to your guests), as per the Caterers suggestion, you can order the quantity. But we strongly recommend to go with 1st option if food wastage is your concern, also, if your guests are vivid food lovers like we all know of our Hyderabadi weddings, you might not want to take chances of food shortage or excess wastage if you go with the latter option.

3. Choosing the serve ware:

Instead of large, you can opt for smaller to medium plates/bowls and glassware. The reason is obvious, these days Hyderabadi weddings are late night affairs with dinner being served past 10pm or in certain occasion past mid-night, which results in starving guests, the very first sight of beautiful presentation & aroma of food sends hunger waves in the bellies, and people tend to put much more in their plates, only to feel full midway and leave rest of the food in the plates. This can easily be avoided, if smaller plates are arranged. And it’s no harm, if people serve themselves couple of more times rather stuffing their plates at once, only to waste the food later on.

4. How To Serve:

You as a host may want everything to be perfect and guests being served with a Royal treat, this is not wrong however, we suggest you let your caterer handle the serving, they know exactly when and what is to be served in what quantity. We are not saying, you should underfeed your guests. Point here is, you should ask, realistically, how much will your guests eat? An experienced Caterer knows that best way to avoid food waste is not to create it in the first place. At Elite Caterers, we cook all the dishes that won't be excessive, and hence while serving, we don’t send too much food. Being into business for more than half decade and catering for various functions and from different areas of the Cities, we know exactly, the appetite of our Clients and their Guests.

How did you think about food waste in planning your own wedding (or other large event)? Share any tips you have in the comments.