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 <h1 class="title">Arizona Wedding Articles</h1>
 <h2>The Catered Affair...that caters to your every whim</h2>
 By Maria Vogel-Short
 <img class="img-left" src="images/cateredAffair01.jpg" alt="The Catered Affair" />
 If you have a love affair with fine dining, finding the right caterer for your wedding is like finding the right partner. It takes time. With careful selection, the event will be a catered affair to remember. There are so many choices available for dining that any couple can give guests a memorable dining experience if it is planned properly. The key to any good party is delicious food, and weddings are no exception. By now, a bride and groom have a fair understanding of what kind of dining they enjoy, and can plan accordingly.
 Before deciding on where to have your fete, you must decide if you want a formal sit-down dinner, a buffet or simply cocktails and appetizers. You must select a theme and agree on the kind of atmosphere you want. You also need to determine a budget for your celebration. Ain't that Sweet!
 Brides are sweet on &quot;sweet tables,&quot; says Robert Richter, owner of Robert's Catering in Chandler. The tables display sumptuous collection of elaborate pies, cakes, fresh fruit and gourmet desserts.
 Hot Items There are exciting surprises in store for brides and grooms looking for unusual venues and sumptuous appetizers. &quot;Shooters,&quot; forks and knives speared with luscious appetizers are a popular item. The &quot;shooters,&quot; include everything from little saut&eacute;ed shrimp scampi, Mexican shrimp cocktail, pureed gazpacho soup in an aperitif glass, to lollipops of goat cheese wrapped in smoked salmon. Another hot item is multi-cultural food stations, as well as more varied and diverse selections on buffet tables. 
 <img class="img-right" src="images/cateredAffair02.jpg" alt="The Catered Affair" />&quot;Grooms are asking for sliders, and a popular item is an oyster in a shot glass with cocktail sauce,&quot; says Richter, who has a collection of 500 cookbooks and specializes in different ethnic foods. Couples are moving more towards fish entrees, too, according to Richter.
 Brides are matching food to their venue, caterers say. &quot;We want the menu to go along with the atmosphere of the venue. If you have a Tuscan venue, for example, you may want that kind of Italian food with a Tuscan taste. The more diverse the better. It can be a medieval feast with soups that people drink straight out of the bowl or edible centerpieces, but it's all up to the couple. One couple wanted a midnight snack at the end of the reception. We can do anything.&quot;
 Climbing the Highest Mountain Many caterers are willing to climb the highest mountain to give couples what they want. Janet Thebarge, of Personal Chef, climbed up South Mountain in Phoenix to create a one-of-a-kind event. &quot;One couple met hiking on South Mountain. They fell in love on South Mountain and wanted to have their wedding there,&quot; said Thebarge. &quot;I fell in love with their story, especially since I had worked for the bride years ago and learned the groom had traveled all the way to Iraq to check up on his son fighting in the war. His son was stationed there and he wrote about it in the Arizona Republic.&quot;
 <img class="img-left" src="images/cateredAffair03.jpg" alt="The Catered Affair" />Talk about a view. &quot;On the wedding day, we carted all the food three-quarters of mile up. It felt like we were walking miles with all the food, but it was worth every minute. I had the tiered cake in Tupperware containers and set it up on the top,&quot; Thebarge reminisced.
 Stop and Go Weddings Weddings don't have to begin in the evening or afternoon. Thebarge caters pasta bars, crepe and omelet tables and even soup stations for &quot;Stop and Go&quot; Open Houses favored by Mormons, where as many as 500 people can meet and greet. Morning affairs are a new way to get elegant food at lower rates. &quot;Morning weddings are a great way to make things affordable,&quot; says Thebarge. &quot;We offer all kinds of unusual ideas for the adventurous bride, and conventional ideas for the traditional ones, too.&quot;
 Having It All Some caterers do everything from soup to nuts. Debbie Gatz, director of catering at Plaza Perfect Catering in Scottsdale, says customers generally want one-stop shopping, so the catering company does it all. &quot;When you hire us as your caterer you get a planner, coordinator, staff, designer, chef and even sommelier,&quot; says Gatz. &quot;We'll even take care of decorating your venue and provide all of the rental needs. We call this one-of-a-kind unique service 'Plazabilities!'
 Frank Vara, of Creations in Cuisine in Tempe, said the company has a 30-page menu and caters everything from cowboy cookouts with big smoking pits to Arabian themed-soirees complete with whole lambs on spits, low tables and silk pillows. 
 From zoos to back yards, reception sites run the gambit. Match the reception venue with the caterer and it will be an affair to remember. A good caterer can make anything look delicious, but they need to know what kind of accommodations the wedding location has and if any special equipment is needed.
 From zoos to back yards, reception sites run the gambit. Match the reception venue with the caterer and it will be an affair to remember. A good caterer can make anything look delicious, but they need to know what kind of accommodations the wedding location has and if any special equipment is needed.
 <img class="img-right" src="images/cateredAffair04.jpg" alt="The Catered Affair" />The best part takes place when a couple is actually sitting down with the caterer and discussing how they want everything to look and how they want everything to taste. Telling the caterer your preferences for linens, chairs, china and centerpieces is just as important to your theme as the food - but don't forget that most people remember they loved the food - not the moir&eacute; on the chair covers. 
 &quot;Once we pick out a theme, the rest seems to follow,&quot; said Heidi Vail, of Heidi's Events & Catering. &quot;Brides are very particular and want it the way the want it. It's all about uniqueness.&quot; 
Vail said one her most unusual menus was an international theme that featured buffet stations from Mexico, Italy, Asia, the Caribbean and, of course, America.
		The Best Ingredients The best ingredient any catered affair needs is sound planning, so know the statistics. Catering can take between 40 and 60 percent of your budget and a caterer should be booked a year to 18 months in advance. Caterers need you to be specific about the guest count, even if it is an estimate and not clear until the R.S.V.P.'s come pouring in.
 Make sure that the contract lists the exact items you requested. A standard down payment is 50 percent with the balance due at a later date. Fees, gratuities, insurance and even extra charges should be outlined on the contract. Know the payment schedule and the cancellation policy. 
 Above all, make sure that you have a great time at your catered affair. Laugh, talk, eat and enjoy your guests with the comfort of knowing your affair was one in a million!
 
 	<ul class="normaltext">
 <li>&quot;Grooms are asking for sliders, and a popular item is an oyster in a shot glass with cocktail sauce.&quot; - Robert Richter</li> 
 <li>&quot;Morning weddings are a great way to make things affordable. We offer all kinds of unusual ideas for the adventurous bride, and conventional ideas for the traditional ones, too.&quot; - Janet Thebarge</li>
 </ul>
 
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