One of the things I love about events is how each one is uniquely planned and executed by the couples and celebrants based on their own vision and capacity. Some are budgeted but are still able to pull them off successfully, while others go all out and you'll be surprised to see how extreme people's imaginations are. However, most successful events, whether budget or not, have one thing in common and that's the love for food.
So why does food have such a large impact & contribution to an event and why do we need to pay more attention to it? (And possibly allot more of our budget to?)
1. It's One of the Most Remembered
Aside from the celebrant or the couple, the location and the overall program, the next best thing that people will remember is the food. Sometimes, it's the first thing if it exceeds expectations! It's not uncommon to hear people say:
"Natandaan mo yung birthday ni Pare? Sino yung caterer nun sarap nung salmon!"
"Uy Congrats ha! BTW sarap ng pagkain! Naparami kami."
"Sarap sana yung appetizer pero palpak yung main nung caterer ni Janah nung Debut niya."
Guests, aside from interacting with people, they directly interact with our food. Each one of them would get to taste it. No wonder there will always be snippets of comments here and there about the food, some even last years. That's how restaurants and caterers build their reputation. We can even go back to basics and focus on our everyday events like annual birthdays, Mothers' and Fathers' Day or any occasion where we simply go out and choose a place to eat and celebrate, or even have them delivered to our homes. Isn't food one of the heart and center in any of our events? When do we even hang out with people without a simple snack?
It's not only the delicious meals, people also remember those... unappetizing ones.
2. It's One of the Most Anticipated
People, particularly hungry ones and those typical eat-and-run guests, are always excited to eat. Not to mention if you're delayed or behind your program, your guests will definitely grow more impatient and will only think of the food. Again, it doesn't event have to be big events. Even if we're eating in restaurants, the wait can make or break the experience, and only then if they served good food would we feel that the wait was all worth it.
But! It doesn't mean you can be complacent and think it's ok to delay as long as you have good food. Sometimes, impatience > anticipation.
3. It's One of the Major Event Boosters
No budget for venue styling? Minimalist approach? Not much entertainment or program? Don't fret and think its automatically going to be dull and boring. You just don't know how POWERFUL food can be, and powerful enough to be one of the main topics of discussion and the game changer.
When people eat good food, they tend to forget or even not notice any other mishaps, glitches or imperfections to your event. As mentioned in #2 above, if they waited for some time and they get to finally eat delicious food, the mood will automatically lighten and improve. Technical glitch? Wrong music? Video won't play? Those are just forgettable instances. But bad food? It might take a while to get over it.
Optional: Showing Off
This only applies to those who can be vain, who have the budget, who are concerned to please guests or who felt necessary (or forced) to impress their guests. There are instances, particularly true to Chinese, that food can be the basis of how guests would rate, comment and estimate on how much the couple or celebrant spent for the event. "Scrimp on the others, but never the food!" they would say.
Trivia: It's standard for Chinese to "expect" seafood such as crabs, shrimps, lapu-lapu, and even the expensive sea mantis on the menu. Other specialties such as suckling pigs, pigeons, abalones or scallops are also standard for "good quality" food. No wonder if you've been to Chinese celebrations, the menu are somewhat always similar. Because if you served other cheaper variants such as regular pancit noodles, fried food, pasta, no seafood, etc., it's a huge distaste for the guests and under extreme scenarios, can be seen as a form of disrespect. They also typically prefer lauriat or plated service rather than buffets. So usually, Chinese celebrants and couples leave food choices and preferences to their parents and elders to make sure they select the "right" menu to serve the guests. I guess this is the safer option rather than having guests criticize on why their parents did not teach or assist their children with the food. Crazy, but it's culture!
All these should be reason enough for us to be comfortable with spending a major part of our budget with food. Everybody gets to benefit from eating delicious food, so why not make the experience enjoyable for everyone? Leftover food can even be taken home to eat for the next days. Zero waste! After all, events aside, it's a necessity!
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