Let's face it. Wedding food almost always blows. We knew we didn't want to go the easy route and settle for another mediocre, over-priced catering service that charges an arm and a leg for crappy, "salt n' pepper chicken or pasta". So we found a loop-hole in the wedding industry: Find a restaraunt that can do large takeout orders and then hire waitstaff to "cater" it. Panini cafe is no stranger to preparing wedding-sized takeout orders...and for a surprisingly low price and excellent quality. With this strategy and the help of Nikky at Panini Cafe, we were able to serve roughly 100 guests a choice of FILET MIGNON or chicken breast entrees (kabobs) with rice, two types of salad, and an appetizer on a TOTAL wedding budget (including honeymoon) of just $15,000. Beat. That. It ended up being almost $2,000 less than a quote we got from another caterer for two types of lame pasta entrees, and their staff to do a buffet.....no thanks. Believe me when I tell you that our guests were RAVING about every aspect of the meal! From the whole wheat pita bread in their signature Hummus Trio appetizer, to the flame-grilled veggies, even the basmati rice had people going!
My only recommendation if you decide to go the "takeout + waitstaff" route, is to make sure you explain to your waitstaff how they should portion what they will be serving. Everything turned out excellent from Panini Cafe, but since our waitstaff was unfamiliar with the meal and how it should be correctly portioned, they rationed it WAY more than they needed to.
Thank you, Nikky at Panini Cafe for making our wedding the one our friends and family remember as, "The one with the incredible food"!