6 mistakes couples make when choosing their wedding menu, according to a wedding caterer

When planning a personalized wedding menu, some couples make simple mistakes that could leave a bad taste in their guests’ mouths.

Catering can be one of the biggest costs associated with weddings, so it’s important for couples to communicate their needs and make sure they work well with their chosen caterer.

According to The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study, the average catering price is $80 per person. However, pricing can vary depending on your location and the planner you choose.

Couples are happy to splurge on their wedding food — 58% of couples said food and beverage were top of mind during the wedding planning process, according to the study, which surveyed 17,000 couples in the US who married in 2024.

Business Insider spoke to Lexi Ritsch, the cofounder of Hamptons Aristocrat, a catering, events, and design company based in the Hamptons, New York, and Palm Beach, and Miami, in 2024 about her biggest tips for couples planning their wedding menu.

Here are the six biggest mistakes she sees couples make.

One common mistake is choosing dishes that rely on out-of-season or non-local ingredients.

Ritsch said that of all the mistakes she sees couples make when starting to plan their wedding menu, choosing produce that isn’t available is one of the most obvious.

“If someone is passionate about some sort of, like Brussels sprouts in June, I would roll my eyes immediately,” she joked.

Instead, she tries to guide couples toward ingredients that are more in-season and from local farms.

“A tomato that’s been on a plane, and on a plane and in a box for a week, is not going to taste as good as something plucked off the vine two hours ago,” she said.

Couples should stay away from unoriginal menu choices like basic salads.

Ritsch said that one of her least favorite wedding menu trends is a simple salad as the first course.

“Can we not do a salad for the first course? Or at least if we’re going to do a salad, let’s do a sexy one that’s got whipped ricotta and Carissa’s croutons and shaved summer squash with a basil vinaigrette and farm greens,” she told BI. “The days of the simple salad can die for me.”

She added, “I just hate boring, especially non-local salads, or ‘preset’ salads.”

Family-style buffets are another played-out choice for weddings, Ritsch said.

“I think people are starting to get away from the family-style buffet, which is interesting, and kind of going a little more back to traditional, but traditional with a high-end flair,” Ritsch said, adding that more clients are coming to her looking for a restaurant-style menu and service.

“It gives our clients the confidence to do things that are a little more fancy and a little more kind of like things that they would enjoy at a five-star restaurant or a Michelin-star restaurant,” she continued.

Couples often overspend on a wedding cake.

Ritsch said that one wedding tradition she’s “seeing kind of going out the door” is the wedding cake.

“Back in the ’80s, ’90s, and the early 2000s, the cake was the kit and caboodle. Everyone was getting these cakes the size of your body, spending two grand on an enormous cake,” Ritsch said. “I’m finding that budgetarily, clients are kind of bailing on that.”

Ritsch said that big, giant traditional cakes and cake-cutting ceremonies are things she sees taking a back seat to an ice cream sundae bar or dessert options “that are a little more interactive and fun,” such as personalized nods to the couple with their favorite dessert, family recipes, or seasonal-inspired pies.

It can also be a mistake to stick to standard “wedding food” like chicken, fish, or steak.

Ritsch told BI that while the standard chicken, fish, or steak menu options at weddings are still common, she thinks couples and caterers can get more creative than “fish over mashed potatoes.”

“With big-scale events, a lot of the catering companies will cut corners,” she said. “So they’re like, ‘OK, do you want the salmon or the steak? But both are going to come with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.’ What? Why would you ever do that? Instead of doing that, all of our dishes are fully curated, fully designed.”

Be wary of choosing a caterer who offers little opportunity for personalization.

Ritsch said one of the biggest red flags couples should look out for when choosing their wedding caterer is sample menus with little room for customization.

“So I think any caterer that really just has a, ‘Pick six hors d’oeuvres off of this menu and then pick two proteins off of this menu and pick a side dish for each, and then pick a dessert’ — anytime that you’re doing a build off of an existing catering menu, it just appears to me that maybe that’s all that company can do,” she said.

Instead, she suggests looking for a caterer who can be more creative.

“Not once have any of my wedding clients had the same menu because they’re all different,” Ritsch said. “They all have different preferences. Even despite the allergies, despite the dietary stuff, it’s really about what they want to eat.”

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