Catering

Top Pakistani & Indian Wedding Caterers in Texas - Dallas, Houston, Austin

Beverages and food, including appetizers, entrees, and desserts served, is central to entertaining the guests of your Desi wedding. Quality and quantity are going to be key here - you want to serve your guests a delicious meal, and make sure there’s enough for everyone! Whether you plan on a North Indian or South Indian wedding feast or a Tex Mex themed Sangeet night, your catering provider will be an integral part of all of your wedding events. Check out the best Desi wedding caterers in Dallas, Houston, and Austin on The Desi Bride.

FAQ


Finding a Caterer

 

What are initial quick tips for South Asian wedding catering?

 

What questions should I ask a catering company or restaurant?

 

What questions should I ask about payment and charges?

Before you get to the payment conversation, we recommend understanding your budget, drafting the type of food and budget per event, and communicating the rough budget to your caterer as they might be able to recommend a menu to fit the budget.

 

Catering for Desi Weddings and Cost

 

How much should wedding catering for a Desi wedding cost?

So how much is Indian food catering at Desi  Wedding in Texas? Buffet lunches are around $15-25 per head and elaborate dinners can go up to $50-75 or more. A 300 person dinner bill at a sangeet or Indian wedding reception in Texas would be around $15,000+ ($50 per guest).

 

What charges should I look out for besides the per person or per plate charge?

Catering charges are usually quoted at a per person charge. Often, this charge is not an umbrella quote that covers everything. The extra costs that drive up the total amount may include the following:

 

What questions can I ask to understand the total cost of wedding food?

 

Food and Beverage

Did you know that it traditionally it was common to have a maharaj or head chef in the house specifically for weddings? The maharaj was designated with the task of cooking special wedding food and sweets for all the ceremonies for all the family members and guests!

Traditionally, the wedding card/invite is accompanied with a mithai box or box of sweets. In a typical Punjabi wedding, for instance, the box of sweets comprises mathri (flattened and fried dough) and shakkar pare (sweet strips) whereas choorma laddoos and kaju katli (cashew sweet) are considered auspicious in a Marwari wedding. Often, the maharaj would make this prasad for the invitation boxes as well.

While caterers may not have a majaraj or maharani, it’s important the discuss the entire menu and vision with them.

Quick tips:

 

What are the different ways to serve wedding food – buffet, individual plates, family-style?

Here are the different meal styles or dining options you can choose from:

 

When do we need to finalize the menu?

The finalized menu choices should be conveyed to the caterer well in advance so that they have sufficient time to source and prepare the items. We recommend taking your parents, bridesmaids, or groomsmen for a tasting, so you can create a menu your guests will enjoy.

 

How much food should I order for a typical Desi wedding?

Consult your caterer for the quantity of food as the amount depends on guest count and type of event: formal, seated dinner, or buffet style wedding. We recommend including your on-site vendors, like photographer, wedding planner, and DJ, in the total headcount, ordering enough food for 85% - 90% of your headcount. Also, make sure you split out children from adults.

 

What questions should we ask the caterers about the menu and food?

 

What does the caterer do with leftovers? Can we donate leftover food? For those who favor zero-wastage, it is better to ask the caterer upfront whether they are affiliated with any organizations that can take leftover hot food. If not, there are several organizations around DFW, Houston, and Austin that will accept food. Bonus here is that you can ask for a tax receipt for the donations.

 

How can I accommodate the dietary preferences or restrictions of my guests?

A simple way to tackle this is to offer a variety of meal or buffet options that fall into common Desi dietary preferences, such as vegetarian, Jain, or vegan. If you’re concerned about any potential allergies, you can consider the following:

 

What does an ideal menu at an Indian wedding reception or sangeet look like?

For the sangeet, wedding ceremony, or wedding reception, you can choose across many Indian cuisines, like Gujarati, Punjabi, Keralan, Rajasthani or a non-Indian cuisine like Mexican, Italian, Asian, or Mediterranean. We’ve included a list of popular items below:

Gujarati cuisine:

Rajasthani cuisine:

South Indian cuisine:

Mexican or Tex Mex cuisine:

Italian cuisine:

Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cuisine:

Asian Fusion cuisine:

There are also plenty of live station options including:

 

What are the trending wedding food ideas for South Asian weddings?

Some offbeat hors d’ouvres / self-serve snack options include:

 

Bartending

 

What questions should I ask my bartender or catering company?

 

How much alcohol do I need for my wedding? The alcohol amount will really depend on the number of guests, duration of events, events where you serve alcohol. ShaadiShop put together tips on how to estimate the number of drinks, and from there you can work backward on total alcohol required.

 

Service and Staff

 

How many servers/waiters will be available at the wedding event(s)? How will they be dressed? Ask about the number of waiters for all the functions and main ceremony so that your guests can enjoy a memorable experience. Make sure their uniforms are neat and in accordance with your theme.

 

What is your server to guest ratio? This will help you decide if the caterer requires more manpower to handle your guests or whether the current staff will be enough to manage your guests well. The ideal ratio is 1 server to every 10 guests or 1 server to every 3 tables.

 

Do you provide table settings, linen, and silverware? If so, what style options do you have? Ask if the caterer handles rental equipment such as tables and chairs and that too, according to your theme and vision. You can also enquire about upgrades such as lounge chairs or chair covers but make sure you ask for the charges. If the caterer doesn’t provide table settings and accessories, then make sure to coordinate with your venue or decorator.

 

Do you offer full service including delivery, bar, table settings, and clean up? Make sure you know the details from hiring to delivery. The setup and clean-up services are as important as serving.

 

Who will oversee the event? Can we meet the supervisor and their replacement? Ask the caterer if they will provide you a banquet manager or coordinator for running the entire event including meal service. Understand what time they will be arriving and available until at the event(s).

 

What other services do you provide apart from catering? Some caterers have partnerships with other vendors and provide wedding-related services. Whether you’re hiring a caterer independently or via a wedding planner make sure you ask your caterer about additional services such as décor, event design, lighting or props.

 

Who are the top South Asian wedding caterers in Texas?

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