Whether you are hosting a small party for your nearest and dearest in your own home, or are planning a party for hundreds in a hired venue you will want to make sure you choose catering options that will delight your guests. Luckily, there are thousands of different party foods you can choose from and you’ll definitely be able to find something appropriate for the type of gathering or party you are having.

As with anything to do with party planning you will need to make sure that the type of foods you are serving suits the style and level or formality of the event. For example, the last thing you would want to do is serve greasy finger foods at a black tie event, and likewise you would probably not serve a four course formal meal for a young child’s birthday party.

Getting the balance right when it comes to catering can be a bit of a challenge but once you understand how to match food types to event types it becomes much easier. Aside from the venue, the food is the most important element of any gathering and can really set the tone of an event. You can use food to bring people together, impress them, make them feel comfortable, or use it as an icebreaker.

Food for a kids’ party

Choosing food for a childrens’ party is often a simpler affair than choosing something for a more formal, more important event such as a wedding. Kids tend to have simpler tastes than many adults and often have a strong preference for simple food that is not too strong, unusual or flavourful. Of course, cultural foods are an exception to this rule so this should be taken into consideration when choosing food for a kids’ party.

There are plenty of options to cater a kids’ party with simple foods like burger sliders, pizza, fries and BBQ foods like wings, all of which are good for those who like western flavours and dining styles. You can also choose simple dishes that are not Americanised such as dumplings and spring rolls. For dessert, keep things sweet and uncomplicated with ice cream, cupcakes, cake pops, candies and fruit based desserts.

Catering for a wedding

There are no rules as to how you can cater for a wedding or vow renewal ceremony and it all depends on what the couple prefer, and you can have everything from a charcuterie course to a full hog roast. A formal wedding needs to have an equally formal wedding breakfast that is served at the table. These kinds of meals are generally three or more courses and can be any cuisine that the couple enjoys such as Italian, traditional Chinese, American, Mexican, or something more unusual like a fusion cuisine.

For a less formal wedding you might like to match the event with a more casual dining style. For example, a hot or cold buffet gives the wedding a more intimate, easygoing vibe that is perfect for a smaller wedding or for a couple that are not interested in having a formal dinner or wedding breakfast on their big day.

Catering a birthday party

Choosing a dining style and a cuisine for a birthday party can be a tricky decision. There are some foods that are considered traditional for a birthday celebration and these are always fun to include, such as a birthday cake with candles. While it’s important to make sure you choose something that will be crowd pleasing, you also need to take into consideration the preferences of the person whose birthday you are celebrating. For example, if they hate spicy food it wouldn’t make much sense to only plan to serve spicy food at their birthday party.

Unless you intend to throw a very formal birthday party, you might like to keep things more casual and less stuffy so that a wide range of guests can enjoy themselves. If you are planning on a very formal birthday party with a sit down dinner then you need to make sure any children are properly catered for because their palettes are likely to be different from the adults in attendance, so they’ll need smaller portions and perhaps more child friendly versions of the main menu.