Catering a Venue With No Kitchen

The venue you fell in love with is a barn. Or a field with a view, or a family farm, or a hall the church built in 1961. It has a bathroom, some power for the lights, and nowhere to cook.

This is the point where a lot of couples discover that their caterer’s quote assumed a kitchen. Somewhere to plate. Somewhere to plug in six chafing dishes. Access to hot water. A room they can use for two hours before service. None of it was hidden, but none of it was asked about either, and it turns up as a problem three weeks out.

What we need from a venue

For a one-day event, no power, no water and no kitchen. The trailer carries its own. What it needs is somewhere to sit and a way to get there:

  • The trailer is 22 feet long and is towed by a full-size Chevy van, so it needs a route in and room to maneuver into the spot.
  • Solid ground. A trailer this heavy will sink or get stuck in soft ground, and that matters most after a wet week.
  • Nothing else for catering or a one-day festival. We are self contained.
  • For festivals of two days or more, a 50-amp RV-style outlet within 50 feet, and access to potable water.

Inside the venue, the only thing we ask for is tables:

  • One 8-foot table for every two serving points, with at least 3 feet of clear space behind it for staff. Tablecloths welcome if you want them.
  • A rough potato-versus-pasta split about 14 days out. An estimate is fine.
  • Plates and utensils, if you would rather supply your own. We can also provide them for a fee, and you pick which way at booking.

The questions a coordinator will ask you

Venue coordinators have a standard list for food trucks, and having the answers ready makes you an easy booking rather than a discussion. These are the ones that come up:

  • How big is the vehicle? The trailer is 22 feet, towed by a full-size van. It gets unhooked once it is in place.
  • Do you need power? Not for a one-day event.
  • Do you need water? Not for a one-day event.
  • Are you licensed and insured? Yes. The coverage applies automatically wherever we work. If the venue wants to be named as an additional insured, say so and we will arrange it and send the certificate to them directly rather than routing it through you.
  • What happens to waste? It leaves with us. We never leave gray water or any of our garbage on site, and that’s what the venues expect from their vendors.
  • How long are you on site? Longer than the service window, because setting up and breaking down take time at both ends. We will give a real arrival time rather than an optimistic one.

If your venue wants to talk to us directly, that is usually faster than passing messages. Give them 931-271-7455.

Serving indoors from an outdoor trailer

A trailer in the parking area does not mean guests eating in the parking area. Loaded Stations sets up inside the venue and runs off the same kitchen, so the cooking happens outside and the serving happens wherever your guests are sitting. That is the usual arrangement for a barn in October and the only sensible one in January.

Loaded Stations

Serving stations set up inside your venue. You pick four entrees off the menu and choose potato, pasta or both. Guests walk up, say what they want, and watch it built. Up to 300 guests.

Loaded Truck

The same four entrees you picked, ordered at the trailer window and handed over a minute or two later. The trailer ends up being part of the event. People like watching the window.

Loaded Bar

The buffet. You pick three proteins, two toppings and three sauces. Potato and pasta go out in bulk, guests walk the line, and our staff top each plate as it passes. Up to 400 guests.

Ground, weather and the week before

The one genuine risk at a rural venue is soft ground. A loaded trailer on wet grass is a recovery vehicle waiting to be called, and it is the single most common thing that goes wrong at farm weddings for every vendor, not only caterers.

Worth doing early: ask the venue where trucks have parked before, and whether there is a gravel or hardstanding option if the week turns wet. Most places have one and nobody thinks to mention it. Tell us what they say when you book and we will plan around it rather than discovering it on the day.

Where this sits in the day

Setup happens well before guests arrive, and the cooking starts close to service rather than hours ahead. How that fits around photographs, toasts and the band is laid out in the wedding day timeline.

Asking about your venue

Tell us where it is and we will tell you what we would need there. Most of the time the answer is a table and somewhere firm to park.

Call 931-271-7455 or email nicholas@itsloaded.com. The whole subject of feeding a wedding is in wedding catering, and how a truck compares with a caterer bringing food in is in food truck or buffet caterer.