A brief guide based on our experiences with caterers at our barn wedding venue
Choosing a caterer will be one of your most important tasks when organising a barn wedding.
A good caterer will work with you to create the perfect schedule for your wedding day and for the majority of the day, they will manage that schedule and make sure things go to plan.
So, what do you need to consider when choosing a caterer for your barn wedding?
Firstly, you need to think about what type of food you would like. There are so many options out there, so think long and hard, as a couple, about what type of food you and you’re guests would enjoy. If you are not sure, a good caterer will be able to advise based on your tastes.
Secondly, you need to have a rough idea of what your budget is (per head). Caterers, just like restaurants, can vary hugely in price.
Thirdly, a barn wedding is different to a standard hotel wedding. You need a caterer who understands this and can work just as well, if not better, within a barn setting.
What types of Caterers do we work with here at Kinkell Byre?
The All-in-One caterer – This is a very popular type of caterer and one that we see most often here at Kinkell. ‘All in one’ essentially means they take care of it all for you – they have their own cater hire, décor, staff, and front of house coordinator. They also set up everything for you, take care of all the catering during your day and stay until the end to clear up. This option is a low hassle option for couples, especially if you are planning your wedding at a distance from the venue. They also often work out to be the cheaper option as they sometimes offer reduced rates on cater hire.
Catering & Service – This type of caterer will work closely with you to choose the perfect menu and timings for your wedding. They will arrive on the day of the wedding with staff and deal with all the catering side of your event. The responsibility to organise cater hire and set up tables tends to be left with you but most Catering & Service caterers will help you with this. You may need to organise suppliers to break down the furniture and contribute towards clearing up the venue at the end of your wedding.
Street Food – Food vans or stalls can be located on-site and serve up their speciality food to you and your guests. This is a lovely, fun and relaxed option but street food caterers can vary a lot in terms of what’s included so make sure you understand the package on offer.
All options are fantastic in their own right and they allow you to choose exactly what you want for your wedding day.
I have asked all of our recommended caterers “What does your company offer a Kinkell Byre couple?” and you can read through their replies below.
Caterers
Gourlay Events
The Gourlay business started as a family butcher in 1946 based in the Perthshire town of Crieff. In 2009 the family business expanded to launch an external catering service for weddings and other events. This venture has been very successful and becomes one of the foremost catering businesses in Scotland.
We can deal with the table setup including tablecloths, crockery, cutlery and the provision of glasses. We also provide a fully operational portable kitchen for cooking your menu onsite. We aim to help you enjoy the wedding day by ensuring all arrangements for the catering behind the scenes are managed in a professional manner and your guests are well cared for.
Patrick Gilmour Event Catering
Patrick will plan and undertake your event catering personally. With 18 years experience as a chef and caterer, the menu is always at the heart of the planning, and each and every event he undertakes will be tailored to the client’s personal tastes and favourite flavours, to suit all budgets.
Lazy Sunday
Lazy Sunday is the relaxed approach to how food should look, adventurous, generous and happy, colourful and tasty. Perfect for feasting with family and friends, created with joy and smiles.
St Andrews Event Catering
We cater at Kinkell throughout the year and have done so for the last 15 years. Every event is different and totally unique to each client – which the venue lends itself to. We do everything from formal dining and casual sharing to street food style, grazing and many more. If the client has a food idea we will implement this for them. We have been told we are very calm and discreet caterers. We pride ourselves in being so much more than caterers as the same team look after our clients from first contact until the end of their event.
Big Bite Catering
A personal catering company striving to exceed your expectations.
Bespoke Catering & Events
Bespoke Catering & Events is a well-established and highly respected catering and events company based in Stirling.
The Bespoke team is filled with some of the most creative and experienced professionals in the industry, bringing with them a wealth of experience in high-end catering, event styling and event management.
Our approach to menu planning for our couples means that we get to work with a huge variety of styles of cuisine and presentation, we feel this makes us an ideal choice for a venue like Kinkell, where you have free-reign in creating any style of wedding that you wish. Our chefs all have very diverse backgrounds and have trained all over the world. This comes in very handy when we are asked to recreate some far-flung dish that one of our couples has tried while travelling. We are also increasingly being asked to cater for fully vegan or gluten free menus and we really enjoy rising to these new challenges.We truly believe that each wedding should be unique to the couple who are tying the knot – in fact, we are yet to do the exact same menu twice for any of our weddings to date!
Wilde Thyme
At Wilde Thyme we create menus which are individual to each client and their event. Whether we
are producing a canapé menu for a drinks reception, an intimate dinner party menu, a wedding
breakfast or a corporate dinner for VIP guests, we always work closely with the client to produce a
menu that reflects their food preferences. We only use highly reputable local Scottish suppliers and
growers, and we have over the years put great emphasis on using those suppliers who can give us
provenance of our food. When you decide on Kinkell as your venue we will work together to ensure
that your day goes seamlessly, we jump into your vision and are with you every step of the way to
ensure your friends and family will always remember your special day.
En Croute
En Croute Catering ltd is an award-winning caterer with 25 years’ experience in the wedding industry. Our talented and progressive chefs, together with our fantastic front-of-house teams, will ensure your day is as memorable as you have always dreamt it would be. We will work with you to create a bespoke menu, which perfectly reflects your tastes and aspirations.
Ginger Snap
The ethos of Ginger Snap is to create seasonal food that tastes and looks spectacular, with an innovative, flawless approach to service. Whatever the occasion Ginger Snap can provide you with everything from event management, to food styling, bringing you an unforgettable experience, with memories to savour.
Ginger Snap doesn’t do ‘packages’, we think each client deserves more and is special to us.
We use our extensive experience, ties with local suppliers, to create unique, faultless events, which work for you.
Our top-notch chefs are passionate, driven and experienced, allowing them to push the boundaries of traditional British cuisine to create delicious, seasonal and exciting food inspired by the beauty and diversity of Scotland’s landscape.
Our innovative, symbiotic approach to food and service is really starting to turn heads in Scotland.
King Boar
King Boar Catering are recognised as a premier Spit Roast Specialist, however we offer so much more than the Boar!!
With a wide range of services available from Canapés, Wedding Breakfasts, BBQ’s, Buffets and Spit Roast’s, we will adapt to any occasion and our menus are tailored to you, not to us.
Using local suppliers and seasonal produce, we are passionate about quality ingredients and traceability.
Along with our delicious food, we provide crockery, cutlery and glassware hire and we have all the catering equipment needed to create a kitchen at Kinkell!
Our friendly team of waiting staff are there to make sure you don’t have to lift a finger, so you can sit back and enjoy your event.
We can also help to arrange any additional services that we are unable to offer through our trusted partners.
STREET FOOD
Street Food is a big trend at the moment so we have put together a list of some great street food suppliers and some info on how to make street food work for your event.
A lot of street food providers do not necessarily provide staff and therefore it is important to ensure the smooth running of your event that there will be sufficient staff available to take care of serving and clearing of food, wine & water. This may also need to include setting tables and clearing at the end of the night.
Wild Rover
We would love to bring seasonal, scrumptious, sustainable food to your wedding at Kinkell Byre.
Our focus is on sourcing the best quality ingredients from our farmer friends and artisan suppliers and cooking your food fresh on the day with a touch of theatre to boot! With our quirky Land Rover Gracie and our ex-army Field Kitchen, we bring more to your day than scrumptious food. There is something inherently fun about the break out into canapés which are made, cooked on our Field Kitchen and served straight to your friends with a bit of character. Ultimately, we aim to encourage a relaxed, communal approach to eating and an experience you will be talking about long after bellies are filled!
The Crepe Shack
At The Crepe Shack we provide freshly made to order authentic French crepes with a Scottish twist. We offer a personalized service to please every palate with a wide range of sweet and savoury toppings.
If you are looking for something different, convivial and of high quality with “ce je ne sais quoi”, look no further and get in touch with us!
Wild Fire Pizza
Wild Fire Pizza Serves freshly made pizzas from a beautifully converted horsebox. It’s the perfect addition to your wedding day. Ideally suited for your evening buffet or as an addition to a festival style wedding breakfast. We have a range of pizza packages for you to choose from, all to fit your tastes and budget.
The Cheesy Toast Shack
The Cheesy Toast Shack is the perfect accompaniment to any wedding. They come in at a time of your choice, and serve a selection gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches to your guests. Setting up in their purpose built popup, it perfectly compliments the aesthetic of Kinkell Byre, with its rustic and raw materials, yet still maintaining the street food element that is ever so popular at the moment. These guys offer thick, generously filled toasties, made with locally and ethically sourced ingredients, which will leave your guests talking about them even after the wedding.
Screaming Peacock
Screaming Peacock is a unique and quirky catering company offering the highest quality Gourmet Venison & Pheasant Burgers at events all around Scotland. They bring charm and class whilst serving up top of the range burgers hand-made in Fife using the best Scottish Game, right from their statement Peacock-clad food truck.
Highland Spit Roasts
Highland Spit Roasts has been providing FABULOUS spit roasts since 1989.
We specialise in producing crispy golden crackling and moist tender meat from locally bred pigs.
We are famous for our crackling and were chosen to provide the roast for Prince William and Kate on their recent visit to Strathearn – the crackling definitely met with royal approval!
Our roasts are cooked on a spit which turns, letting the juices run through the meat and keeping it tender and moist – ( the knights of old knew a thing or two about roasting meat!).
We can carve either straight off the roast or onto platters for table service.
The roaster is designed to work indoors so guests can admire the roast turning and then – see it lifted up above the roaster, sizzling and delicious, ready for carving – Great theatre!
Fish & Frites
Fish & Frites Anstruther is a Citroen HY Van sure to wow your guests. We serve the freshest local food from the East Neuk of Fife and pride ourselves on being unique.
and Finally…
All of the above caterers have at some point worked at Kinkell Byre and we can confidently recommend them for your event at Kinkell Byre. With over 14 years of experience working alongside many caterers we have got to know many of them very well. However, Just because a caterer is not on our recommended suppliers list, it doesn’t mean they are not great at what they do, we just might not have worked with them enough to add them to our list.
Sandy and Sam are always here to offer their advice, knowledge and experience so do not hesitate to get in touch with any of your catering queries and they will do their best to point you in the right direction.
