When we started having weddings here 10 years ago we decided we couldn’t run a permanent professional kitchen because guess what? We were off Grid and had no continuous power supply.

 We got round the problem by bringing in a generator for every wedding & event we had (and brides & grooms had to pay around £550 extra at every wedding as a result) just to get electricity for their catering, lights, music etc.

We’ve come a long way since then - & are now fully connected up to the National Grid (a little later than most places it has to be said, even in rural Cornwall 😊) which chefs and catering teams can access in our dedicated catering area at the back of the main marquee.

We looked around the County for people we could develop a real relationship with when it came to helping couples decide on that all important part of their wedding day – the food.

Wedding breakfasts, like caterers, come in all shapes and sizes and there’s no need these days to stick to tired old menus or ideas of what ‘should’ be served. The world’s your oyster (& we’ve got fabulous suppliers of those in Cornwall too – we’ll be featuring Cornish seafood in a later post) as far as menu planning is concerned.

Canapes are a fantastic way to kick off the party after your wedding ceremony, and these are normally served from our biggest tipi (known as the Grand Lodge) down in the woods outside our wedding pavilion where you’ve just exchanged your vows.

Kerra’s friendly staff will serve your drinks (jugs of Pimm’s/champagne cocktails/artisanal gin + tonics) along with platters of hot and cold bite size delicacies. There’s so many options; choose from filo prawns or crab tartlets, perhaps aubergine rolls or watermelon and feta squares, or how about mini Yorkshire puds with beef and horseradish or cocktail sausages with honey and mustard – always a winner! (If you’ve got hot canapes being prepared up in the catering tent Kerra’s van or our quad will run them down the hill so they’re still warm for your guests!)

After a couple of hours wedding parties move up to the main marquee in the meadow and it’s here that the catering tent is a hive of activity with staff putting the finishing touches to the wedding breakfast. Professional caterers like Kerra and her team will happily move from large party meat cookery like a hog roast (a well-known way of feeding lots of people within budget with something you could never do at home) or BBQ’s complete with great sides, maybe big bowls of new potatoes (Cornish of course – oh and did we mention that Kerra’s family are potato farmers, so she knows her potatoes!) with lashings of butter to non-meat fare featuring veg or fish.

So you can opt for a pescatarian menu with incredible local caught mackerel and crab, to great options for veggies and vegans with Cornish asparagus, seared red pepper & halloumi, or giant pan dishes served outside the main marquee to fully table served plated dishes in fine dining style. Decide what excites you globally; maybe Singapore noodles, paellas, Thai curries or Moroccan tagines. Don’t forget our national dish – the humble Cornish pasty – be it steak, vegan, or heart-shaped, there’s a pasty to suit everyone.

 Then there’s grazing tables and oyster bars, home made picnics in wicker hampers & baskets (served inside or alfresco), to puds and desert tables (often doubling as wedding cakes – another budget tip) like profiterole towers, Eton Mess, polenta slices, brownies & Cornish strawberries & clotted cream and a giant ‘plank’ of mixed fruit pavlovas…Insta gold…

 Kerra believes strongly in getting the balance right when it comes to budget; and wowing guests with great food which exceeds expectations. We find her mix of rustic styling with roots in fine dining (she used to run a restaurant before starting her own catering company) has been a huge success with our wedding couples over the last 10 years and she’s our go to external caterer for weddings and parties.

Kerra and her husband are often here at the venue themselves on wedding days, or other senior member of their team like Nicky their incredible maître d. When you work with another family business on such a regular basis it means that everything runs like a well oiled machine and on the day your wedding planning and food choices take centre stage, without any of the hiccups that can occur with one off suppliers who don’t know us and our beautiful outdoor venue.

When the wedding cake gets delivered to the wrong part of the venue one of Kerra’s staff will even sit in the boot of a staff car to make sure it gets safely through the woods to the main marquee – that’s real service for you!

To discuss menu plans you can contact Kerra's Catering on 01326 231245 & check out her website here... https://www.kerrascatering.co.uk/

photo cedits: appleBimages; Kerra's catering; Shu Qi Man