A bride called us the other day, excited about the prospect of having Peaches' cater her wedding. "Do I want people eating a plain ol' chicken breast and some boring mashed potatoes at my wedding? No way, that's not me." Hell. Yeah. We couldn't have said it better.
That's one of the benefits of having a food truck cater your wedding-- it's a fun experience and usually cheaper than standard catering. Part of this is purely logistical. Food trucks usually roll up charged up, fully equipped and ready to go with less set-up and less clean-up.
That said, planning a food truck wedding requires a little know-how about a unique industry. Below is a list of frequently asked questions we get regarding food truck weddings. Email us anytime and we can send you a checklist of things to think about as you plan. You can also submit a catering form and we'll email back a proposal with packages and pricing. Our friendly staff are here to help!
Food Truck Wedding FAQ:
I've read that food trucks go out of business often so it's risky to book a food truck for my wedding, is this true?
Okay, on the real, that's a tiny bit true. BUT, it's really only true for trucks that haven't been around for very long. Most trucks that have been around for two or more years are around for a reason-- they have staying power and a strong customer base that you can only build with time. So ask the food truck you want how long they've been in business. If you see they cater a lot of events, that's a good sign. If they have a brick-and-mortar location, even better-- it means they have the facilities and staff to execute bigger and more complicated events.
Note: if you are interested in a particular truck, you can always ask us what we've heard about them.
Someone told me that if I have a food truck cater my wedding, my guests will wait a long time for their food. How can I prevent this?
The way we explain it is: if you have 150 guests and each guest gets served in 30 seconds, it will take an hour and fifteen minutes to serve everyone. The more experienced food trucks have done this a million times and can move your line quickly. We also recommend a limited menu (for example, 3-4 entrees and 2-3 sides options), which is typical even for standard plated dinners. Peaches' has served as many as 150 guests in an hour with a limited menu, but for most trucks, you can expect a 1-3 minute wait time with a limited menu. Now, if you're expecting more than 75 guests at your wedding and the food truck you want hasn't suggested a limited menu, that's a red flag. Just think about it-- no matter how many people you staff or food you prep, you can't make a patty melt actually melt without time. Your other option is to make a whole bunch of food and leave it sitting there until someone orders it. Which is not how food tastes best.
What we typically recommend is if you definitely want food served from the food truck directly, then release your guests by tables (2-3 at a time). Otherwise, you can do a split service (e.g. entrees from the food truck, sides from a buffet) or you'll want to consider full buffet, family-style or plated dinner.
Because Peaches' has two trucks, we sometimes bring both trucks to serve large events quickly. There are a few other trucks in LA that have multiple trucks. For those that don't, ask them about what other options they provide to speed up service.
Why do some food trucks charge for "overages"?
With a standard caterer, they'll estimate portions for the number of guests you expect (e.g. 6 ounces of protein, 4 ounces of chilled salad and so on) and when you're done, you're done. With our truck, we stock extra food (even when we're doing buffet) because our food truck has refrigeration. When you agree to overages, this means last-minute guests and hungry relatives can come up for seconds. Overages are actually good because you only pay for the actual meals we serve above your estimated guest count.
Not all trucks offer an overage option, so ask them about that. And double check that they are calculating portions so that they don't run out of any menu item early. For example, for a 150-person wedding with Pulled Pork Sandwich, Fried Chicken Sandwich and Heirloom Tomato Sandwich on the menu, our team will bring enough pulled pork for 70 people, fried chicken for 90 people and heirloom tomatoes for 25 people (total entrees: 185). Now, we won't fry off all the chicken or charge you for it, but it's in our fridge waiting to be cooked off if your guests are extra hungry for fried chicken. Whichever food truck you choose should be doing this math. The last thing you need is the people at the end of the dinner line missing out on a dish they were waiting to order.
I got quotes from other trucks and their prices are lower than yours, why is that?
Peaches keeps really busy-- not because we're dirt cheap, but because for the quality of food and service, you are getting a big bang for your buck. As far as we know, there's no other food truck that does what we do. Our food is made from scratch, our servers are top-notch, we have two food trucks for high volume services, a 10x10 walled tent we can set up as an outdoor staging area, and we have an in-house design team that will carefully craft your cheese and charcuterie board and even create floral arrangements to integrate into your buffet. All those wood boards and adorable farmhouse decorations? We own those, so you're not paying extra for us to rent them from someone else.
In LA, the average cost for wedding catering is about $60-100+ per person. Our couples typically request tray pass, dinner and an additional service (such as coffee service or cheese & charcuterie boards for cocktail hour). Our average couple pays anywhere from $40-60/person ($20-35 on the low end with fewer services and $75+ with all the extras). We're as busy as we are because we do a great job and have the reputation and repeat business to show for it.
Now, that said, you can probably get a taco truck to cater your wedding for about $12-$15/person. And we know some good ones, if that's your jam. But if you're getting quotes for less than $12/person, run run run for the hills.
There's a food truck booking company that wants to help me book food trucks for my wedding. Is this a good idea?
All food truck booking companies/middlemen pull a commission. So bar none, you'll pay more for your wedding catering. That said, if you want someone else to take care of the correspondence between you and your caterer, the extra cost might be worth it for you, especially if you really trust they'll do a good job. Not all food trucks have an administrative team, so having a food truck booker that can bug them constantly isn't a bad idea. If you prefer to book your own trucks, you can always find contact information on a food truck's website. If the food truck you want doesn't have a website or easily identifiable contact info, you're probably okay moving on to the next food truck on your list. =)
SEE ALSO: Food Truck-Friendly Wedding & Event Venues (Los Angeles)
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