Choosing your wedding caterer is one of the most important decisions of the entire planning process. It shapes how guests remember the day, how the reception flows and how much of your budget genuinely feels well spent. It is also one of the easiest decisions to get wrong, because glossy websites and cheap headline prices hide a lot.
This guide is the checklist we wish every couple would work through before booking anyone, including us. Use it, ask the questions, and you will end up with a wedding caterer who genuinely earns the trust you are handing them.
Why Your Caterer Choice Matters More Than Most Suppliers
Your florist can be forgiven for a bloom that opens early. Your DJ can recover from a slow first hour. Your caterer cannot easily recover from cold food, missing dietaries or an under-staffed bar. Catering touches every guest, at multiple moments, in a way no other supplier does. When it lands well, the entire day feels effortless. When it does not, the day is remembered for it.
That is why the caterer you pick should be judged on more than menu photos. Reputation, standards, evidence and clarity all matter.
Check The Food Hygiene Rating
The single fastest credibility check you can run in the UK is the Food Standards Agency rating. Every registered food business is inspected and scored from 0 to 5. A 5-Star Food Hygiene Rating means the business meets the highest standards for food handling, cleanliness, structural condition and safety management.
Mijays Bar is ★★★★★ 5 Star Food Hygiene Rated. You can verify our rating directly on the Food Standards Agency website. Any premium caterer should be happy for you to check the same for them.
- Search the caterer's business name on ratings.food.gov.uk
- Anything under 4 stars deserves a serious conversation
- Unregistered businesses cannot be verified, treat with caution
Look For Real Event Evidence, Not Just Stock Photos
Any caterer can buy beautiful stock imagery. Fewer can show you real weddings and events they have delivered this year. Ask for recent photos, ask for their TikTok or Instagram, and look at how they show up mid-service, not just in the polished flat lays.
Our TikTok at @mijays_bar shows real event setups, food prep, bar service and guest experiences from Mijays Bar weddings and events. That kind of transparency is what you should expect from any caterer you shortlist.
Check Reviews, But Read Them Properly
Star ratings are a starting point. The gold is in the wording. Look for reviews that mention how the team handled last minute changes, how the food arrived at the table, how the bar staff treated elders and children, and whether guests were still talking about the food a week later. Those details reveal how a caterer actually operates under pressure.
Understand The Packages, Not Just The Prices
Two quotes at the same headline price can hide wildly different levels of service. A proper wedding catering package is line-itemed, not a single lump number. You should see menu detail, bar inclusions, staffing levels, service hours, styling, travel and breakdown clearly separated.
- Per-guest catering with menu detail
- Bar package with drinks list and inclusions
- Number of chefs, bar staff and floor servers
- Setup, service window and breakdown timings
- Travel into your specific venue postcode
- Deposit, payment schedule and cancellation terms
Ask About Setup, Service And Breakdown
The parts of catering that go wrong most often happen before guests arrive and after they leave. Ask how many hours before your event the team will arrive. Ask who leads on the day. Ask what happens if the venue kitchen is smaller than expected. Ask how the team leaves the venue. A caterer who has answers ready has done this many times before.
Discuss Dietary Requirements Early
Modern weddings have real dietary complexity: vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, halal, allergies and cultural preferences all in one room. A premium caterer takes this seriously, asks for a full list well before the day and labels food clearly at service. If dietary handling feels vague at proposal stage, it will feel worse on the day.
Confirm Professional Standards
Beyond hygiene, ask about food safety training for the whole team, allergen management, public liability insurance and how the business is registered. These are baseline questions any professional caterer will welcome. Mijays Bar is a registered food business with full insurance, trained staff and 5-Star Food Hygiene Rating from the Food Standards Agency. That combination is the floor, not the ceiling, of what you should look for.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I verify a caterer's food hygiene rating?
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Search the caterer's business name directly on ratings.food.gov.uk. You can view Mijays Bar's 5-Star rating at ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1954848/mijays-bar.
How far in advance should I book a wedding caterer in London?
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For spring and summer weddings, aim to secure catering nine to twelve months in advance. Autumn and winter dates typically need six to nine months of lead time.
What is a fair deposit to secure the date?
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Most premium London caterers, including Mijays Bar, take a deposit on signed proposal to hold the date, with staged payments across the run up to the wedding and the balance settled shortly before the day.