Two caterers?

I feel like this would be strange to have two caterers serving the same thing at your wedding. If one was pizza and one was BBQ that might make a little more sense but having them serving the same thing would confuse me as a guest.

Honestly, it just seem's expensive and unnecessary but I don't see it as a big issue if that's what you really want.

I think two caterers would be fine if they were serving different types of food (i.e. Italian and BBQ); however, having two caterers serving the same type of food seems like a recipe for hurt feelings and a competitive disaster.

View Quoted Comment One is bigger on smoked and carved meat while the other is pulled. We weren't planning on getting the same thing from each if them. One has a better sausage than the other.
I told my dad and FH that is rather just get one caterer. My dad said he's paying for it so don't worry about it. 😑

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Ah okay! Well I love BBQ and would love to eat all sorts of different meats: smoked, carved, pulled, sausage so if you want to and have the budget then go for it! Though I do think that the caterers would feel funny about it so keep that in mind

Yeah that would be strange and it seems like it would be more costly having 2 catering companies. Does the venue have a big enough kitchen so both caterers can work efficiently without stepping on each other's feet?

View Quoted Comment That's what I told my dad and FH. I think my FH is thinking of having the two because I like one and he likes the other.

That really makes no sense whatsoever to have two of the same type of caterer, and will be a major pain for the caterers if they have to work around each other. Just flip a coin and decide that way.

View Quoted Comment I am, and have told my dad that. He said he would pay whatever, he's okay with it. But I don't like the two caterer idea.

@Jennifer has a good point about the kitchen sizes. If the venue's kitchen can fit both comfortably, you should be fine. They're businesses, not friendors. You hired them to do a job so as long as neither are getting preferential treatment over the other, then I don't think you need to worry about rivalry. It's not like you're asking them to compete for a prize or your business.

View Quoted Comment I've tried explaining it to my dad. I'm going to have to try harder. But both caterers have food trucks that they work out of.

I know some vendors have clauses in their contract that state they need to be the only ones at the wedding providing that service. Many photographers have it and it states they are the only ones taking pictures, etc. I would make sure that neither have this clause in their contracts because then they may not work together. I would also consider that each caterer has their own way of doing things, so it could cause some issues with them trying to work together.

If they are just dropping off the food and leaving, it might work.

If one of them is staying and serving, they might not serve the other caterer's food. If they are both staying and serving, you would need two different serving areas because they aren't going to put their food in the same area and serve at the same time. Plus, you'll just piss both f them off and that tends to lead to service that is ok, but not great.

View Quoted Comment Exactly. But if we do get two caterers I would like for them to be different. I'm trying to change my dad's mind cause he is paying for it.

That is the oddest thing I have heard, lol! I would really try to talk to dad and get him to choose one. Call the caterers and see if there is a clause that says they are the only ones who can be there, like a previous poster suggested.

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I see what you mean. Have you given your dad alternative caterer ideas?

I think it will be not only confusing for the guests but for the caterers. I'm not sure if I was a caterer that I would want to willingly accept the job either knowing that my competition was going to be there, I wouldnt care what you are contracting me to do, It just doesnt seem fair/right thing to do.

I think it would be awkward for the caterers and they may even consider it a liability issue.

We offer catering services with our business. I couldn't imagine accepting a job where there would be another caterer with the same style of food, unless it was a HUGE event where neither caterer would be able to handle the amount of food required. The only way I can see this working out is if it's served buffet style, the caterers just setup their food and you have someone else to handle temp control and refilling things.

This seems weird for everyone involved.

and like someone else mentioned above, they may have contract clauses of being the exclusive caterer. My venue had in-house catering and an obvious no outside catering statement. Many of my other vendors had exclusive vendor clauses as well, such as Photographer, videographer, and DJ.

View Quoted Comment They would be dropping off the food and leaving. I just don't want the hassle of having to keep track of who's stuff is whos.