Should You Have Food Truck Catering at Your Wedding?

Most brides and grooms want a memorable event when it comes to their wedding. Nowadays, weddings are becoming more and more focused on the guest experience, and catering is the best way to ensure an unforgettable event. From the pre-ceremony snacks to the extravagant grazing table at cocktail hour, there are countless ways to try something unique, and one increasingly more popular option is bringing in a food truck.

Food trucks often serve gourmet dishes and are popular with hip couples. With unique food spreads, creative cuisine, and endless options, it's no wonder food trucks are a hit at receptions. Food truck catering can also be more budget-friendly, but it also has its own set of considerations and limitations.

Check out a few Pros and Cons of food truck wedding catering:

Pros of Food Truck Wedding Catering

Unforgettable & Instagrammable Experience

One of the biggest pros is that your food truck wedding will be a unique experience for your guests. Not only will it provide your guests with delicious, authentic food, it will also create an Insta-worthy photo opportunity. 

Culture Representation

A wedding is a chance to introduce out-of-towners to the best aspects of where you are marrying. Show your guests the best of your town, by bringing in a local food truck. 

Outdoor Receptions

A food truck is ideal for a venue that doesn’t have a traditional kitchen. If you want to have an outdoor reception in a field or open-air space, a farmhouse, or somewhere completely non-traditional, a food truck can be the most convenient and economical fix than creating a prep space from scratch. 

Budget-Friendly

The average food truck cost can vary from $8 to $30 or more per guest. The cost will depend on the ingredients used, the amount of food being served, and the number of extras included.

Cons of Food Truck Wedding Catering

Longer Wait Times

One of the main pain points with food truck weddings is longer wait times for food because everything is cooked to order. However, this can be mitigated in plenty of ways. For instance, you can ask your vendor to limit the menu to a few options and have several of each ready to go as the guest approach the service window. Most of the event-experienced food trucks offer the option of having a buffet-style table, so guests can easily help themselves. 

Specific Food Truck Appointment Hours

One of the main considerations of having a food truck is how long the truck will be on-site for your wedding event. Unlike other traditional caterers, who arrive hours before to set up and stay through the end of the event, food trucks are booked for a limited number of hours. Be sure to discuss this with your food truck vendor and make sure you can book them for a few hours.

Finally, you will likely need to dedicate additional time and financial resources for appointing vendors to handle setup, beverage service, dessert, and clean-up, etc. Ask yourself what you are willing to do to make your wedding unforgettable. Also, consider the budget and comfort of your guests. If you’ve used a food truck vendor at your wedding, please share your experience in the comment section below!

Our experience: we had a pizza food truck (The Hen & Hound Wood-Fired Pizza) at our wedding and it was a top hit amongst all our guests. We decided on 3-4 pizza options and guests could order individual pies. The speed at which the pizza came out was impressive. We didn’t have long wait times and there were no long lines! We also booked the food truck for a few hours, so people could come and go as they please. We would book them for another event in a heartbeat!