TL;DR
Outdoor event catering opens up beautiful settings, and it rewards planning the practical things early. A field, a garden or a marquee gives you space and atmosphere, but no fitted kitchen, so the catering has to bring more with it. Here is how we plan outdoor and marquee events at Blame Frank, working across Buckinghamshire and the home counties.
The kitchen comes with us
The biggest question at an outdoor venue is where the food gets cooked. We bring our own cooking and serving equipment and can set up a gazebo kitchen on site, so a venue with no kitchen is no obstacle. What we need is level ground, power, water and vehicle access to load in.
That self-sufficiency is what makes remote and blank-canvas venues possible.
Design the menu for the setting
Outdoor events suit food that matches the relaxed mood. Sharing plates, grazing tables and generous, informal courses tend to work better than fussy plating in a field. We plan the menu around your space, your numbers and the time of year.
For a marquee wedding, a full seated meal is still very achievable with the right setup.
Plan for the weather both ways
British weather asks for a plan A and a plan B. We think through shade and cold drinks for a hot day and cover and warm food for a wet one, so the day holds up whatever arrives. Timings and storage in the heat are handled by our team on site.
You can check whether your venue is in our range on the areas we cover page.
Drinks and licensing outdoors
A bar works well outdoors and we can run one with wine, beer, prosecco, cocktails and softs. Where a licence is needed we arrange a temporary event notice, and you are welcome to supply your own alcohol with no corkage charge. We plan power and layout so the bar and kitchen work together.
All of this is agreed well before the day, so nothing is improvised on site.