Another new venue for us – this time it was the Queens Hall in the little village of Cuckfield.
wedding set up – Queens Hall
Katie and Simon tied the knot in nearby Hurstpierpoint before making their way back to Cuckfield. The hall, despite being in a tiny village is really huge, with a well-equipped kitchen, separate bar area and private garden. It doesn’t take much to transform a bare hall into something really beautiful.
Just as well it’s a large hall as there were quite a few of them! Over a hundred in the day and an extra 50 or so in the evening.
Katie and Simon chose our Silver Package which includes 4 canapé of the couples’ choice. They chose herby scones with smoked mackerel pate, Mediterranean vegetable and goats cheese filo tartlets, Thai crab & chilli toasts, and the amazing quails’ scotch eggs. All washed down with lashings of Prosecco.
After the speeches we set up the buffet table ready to serve guests as they came up for their food. Katie and Simon chose our Cold Fork Buffet Menu which is a great summer choice. It gives plenty of variety and choice which is good for fussy eaters, and there is always plenty to go around, so guests are encouraged to come up again for seconds and thirds. There’s also no need for guests to pre-order so that keeps the work load down for the bride and groom who probably have quite enough to think about in the lead-up to the big day.
Herby Scones with Smoked Mackerel Pate
It’s also food that most people really enjoy. Filling and comforting, this menu really is a popular choice. If you are getting married in a marquee or somewhere with an empty shell for the catering kitchen, this menu also keeps the costs down considerably as we don’t have to hire in ovens, hot cupboards etc.
On Katie and Simon’s menu were home-made quiches, poached salmon platters and cold meat platters as the main items. These were accompanied by self-serve salads. Home-made crunchy pink coleslaw, roasted butternut squash & rocket salad with toasted seeds, and spinach leaves with mushrooms, pine nuts, parmesan & pesto. And of course, breads and condiments as well.
To finish off the guests helped themselves to rich chocolate brownies and zesty lemon pots, along with tea and coffee.
Brownies & Strawberries
The evening entertainment was a band so some tables were put away to make room for the dance area. Meanwhile the bar in the neighbouring room was heaving. They were certainly a thirsty bunch from start to finish! But it was great fun on the bar serving the guests who were all in very high spirits!
To soak things up a bit we served an enormous paella for the 150 guests. We cooked it outside and it took 4 of us to carry it into the room; it had to be placed on 2 tables pushed together it was so huge!
A really great couple and a lovely bunch of guests to cater for. Things were still in full swing when we left at 11pm and I would imagine there might of been a few sore heads the next morning!
It was a long day but an absolute pleasure to cater for Katie and Simon. We wish them all the very best and thank them for their kind words (see left).