Blog

Laissez-faire catering has over 30 years of experience as a Sydney catering company, specializing in fresh, local produce, and creative, inventive catering menus. Offering the best in corporate, conference, conference, and retail catering services, Laissez-faire has what you need to make sure your next event is unforgettable.

Every Type of Food, Every Type of Catering, at Laissez-faire

At Laissez-faire, we offer tailored menus for your event. Not only do we customize our menus based on your company's needs, but we also customize them based on the fresh, seasonal produce available. We work directly with local producers and farmers to make sure that our ingredients are of the highest quality — and we match our foods to your type of event.

Whether you need BBQ catering Sydney or modern, contemporary fare, Laissez-faire has it covered. We work with you to create a menu from scratch. Whether you want general catering in a certain cuisine or you want a specialty menu that's designed to suite a theme, we'll develop the perfect solutions for you.

Our menus are carefully crafted depending on type of event — whether you need small, finger foods that are easily eaten, or full lunches and dinners that will leave your guests completely sated. Any type of catering you need can be found at Laissez-faire.

From Venue to Menu, Laissez-faire Offers the Best in Catering Sydney

Planning corporate events and private events can be a challenge. One of the major challenges is finding a venue. Laissez-faire works with a number of spectacular venues throughout Sydney, and can make suggestions for any size of corporate catering or private event. We have a list of venues that we know work well with our catering services, and we can also work around any venues provided by our customers.

Laissez-faire offers:

• Corporate catering Sydney. Depending on the type of your corporate event, Laissez-faire can create the perfect menu for you. Whether you're interested in corporate award night catering or conference catering, the food has to be enjoyable while also facilitating the event itself. We work with you to plan your event out perfectly, whether the food is the star of the show or intended to be something more convenient and unobtrusive.
• Sydney office catering. Bring the catering to your event, with office catering services — customized to your business. Not all corporate events have to be held at a separate venue. We can help you determine whether your office is the better place for a corporate event, and bring catering directly into your office without distraction or disruption.
• Cocktail event catering on Sydney Harbour. One of our most popular and beloved venues, the modern Sydney Harbour is the perfect place for cocktail events. From wedding receptions to Sydney End of Financial Year (EOFY) event catering, Laissez-faire and Sydney Harbour can help. Cocktail event catering provides a relaxed, upscale atmosphere during which employees can socialize and connect.
• Sydney wedding catering. Wedding catering needs to be done perfectly, and that means that the venue and the catering service need to be able to work together. We'll help you find the best catering Sydney CBD location for your wedding, as well as the menus to match.
• Private event catering. If you need it catered, Laissez-faire can help. Laissez-faire provides full, general Sydney catering services for both private and corporate events.

We provide catering for events at our favourite sydney venues, and we provide Sydney event venue recommendations for our clients tailored to their needs. With the best in catering equipment Sydney, catering supplies Sydney, and customized, boutique menu and drink lists — everything that you need to make your next event perfect.

Get the Perfect Menu for Your Next Event Today

If you need conference catering, private catering for events in Sydney, wedding catering, or anything else in between, connect with us today.

Want to see more? You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn. We regularly post some of our fantastic menus and catering services.

Sign up to our newsletter for monthly updates on what we're doing around Sydney, exclusive deals and specials, or, contact us today on (02) 9209 4810. You can also make an enquiry online.

Weddings are an opportunity to impress those closest to you. From family to friends, those at your reception encompass the closest people to you. How can you make your wedding reception stand out? Here are a few ideas for making your wedding reception something others will talk about for years.

1. Consider Food Stations Rather Than a Sit Down Dinner

A sit down dinner is classic but it doesn't give guests a lot of time to talk and interact. Rather than committing to a sit down dinner, you could instead create multiple food stations where guests can select their favorite dishes.  Your food stations can even be themed; guests can choose from different exotic locations, seasons, or memorable occasions throughout your life. 

2. Offer Unique Mini Foods/Canapes

Rather than relying on a few large dishes to blow everyone way, consider some inventive and creative canapes. Laissez Faire Catering is able to blend unique presentations with fresh, seasonal flavors to create canapes that have never been seen before. By using special presentations, food can be elevated into a more memorable experience.

3. Present Activities and Games

A number of optional activities and games can be carried out during your wedding reception in order to keep your guests entertained. Consider trivia contests about the bride and groom or raffles for fun items. You could even play a wedding version of bingo.

4. Actively Decorate the Space

Don't just commit to decorations; let your guests decorate too! Your guests can take Polaroid photos and place them around the reception hall, or can even do something fun and creative such as putting their hand prints on a sheet of paper that you can then take with you. Everything can be placed in a wedding memory book at the end of the event.

5. Personalize Your Invites

Every invitation is special. Rather than spending a lot of money on elegant but generic invitations, consider personalizing each invitation for the person you're sending it to. Select different colors and styles or add stickers and decoupage to show the unique aspects of your relationship with each person. That shows that you're thinking about them as well on your special day.

6. Go Unique With the Cakes and Desserts

Rather than just having a single cake, consider a dessert bar that has a number of unique and exciting desserts that your guests can partake in. Many have two cakes: a cake for the bride and a cake for the groom. Others are even foregoing traditional cakes for things such as gourmet cupcakes or specialty desserts that are easier to distribute among guests.

7. Place Flowers Throughout

Flowers don't have to just be a centerpiece. Flowers can also be strewn throughout the reception hall, suspended from ceilings, and otherwise integrated into your decor. If you have a favorite flower or a favorite color, this is an excellent time to really highlight it. Of course, it also depends on season; depending on when your wedding will be, different flowers will usually be available.

8. Get Creative With the Lighting

Lighting has a dynamic influence on your reception area. Consider getting creative with lighting, such as suspending holiday lights from the ceiling, using accent lights to create focal pieces, and using candles (or electric candles) for a more intimate and relaxing atmosphere. Don't forget that the coolness or warmness of the lighting will influence the colors around you.

9. Integrate Social Media

While amateur photography is best banned during the wedding itself, the reception is another story. Encourage guests to take photos and post on your special hashtag, while also creating photography opportunities such as areas for guest photos -- such as a flower or balloon arch that depicts the day, time, and event of the picture.

By thinking about your guests and the things that they care about, you can happen upon a number of unique ideas that will make the day truly memorable to them. Of course, what people remember most about any reception is going to be the food. To start developing some creative and clever food ideas today, contact the experts at Laissez-Faire.

Everyone wants to be remembered for their stellar wedding reception and at Laissez-faire Catering, we agree - and then we set the bar higher than that. The small details really are what makes a wedding reception go from average to extraordinary. With over 20 years providing catering services in Sydney, we know what the current trends are that will make your event stand out and keep your wedding remembered in a timeless manner. Keep reading to find out what we have identified as the key five factors that make a modern wedding reception be remembered for all time.

Multiple Food Stations at Your Reception

Food stations add a whole new element to a wedding reception. The guests don't have to wait to be served at a table. They feel encouraged to get up and move around. You can also avoid the long wait in a line of one station that is basically a buffet style of serving. Food stations offer several visual points throughout the reception area and plenty of opportunity for your guests to mingle with each other. Not to mention that an elegant food station can be the key to starting off a great conversation among the guests.

Food stations offer your guests plenty of options to snack on whatever they feel like, as well as luscious visuals that really make the wedding reception pop with beautiful colors, flavors, and scents. Your guests will feel more like moving around instead of staying seated in one spot all night.

Our chef's team will make sure that your food choices are not only delicious but also look like works of art. Each food station is carefully thought out with everything from the best farm to table options to a beautiful display of seasonal foods to set the mood. Here are a few examples of food stations that we've done in the past.

• Cognac and Chocolate
• Cheese, Meat and Seasonal Fruit
• Carving station of your choice of meats accompanied with Southern sides like a smoky pimento cheese
• Crudites bars
• Charcuteries

There is no limit to our imagination and we are happy to help you create the ideal food stations for your wedding theme. The food station itself can offer some of the most beautiful centerpieces and points of conversation. Your wedding reception can be a place where family and friends make lifetime friendships just by adding a few different food stations!

Click the image below to download information about our Wedding packages (and access all of our other menus!):

Popup Bar

Depending on your theme, this could include a full bar or a simple tea and coffee station. What we really like about the pop up bar station is that it allows you to present your ambiance and theme in a unique way. By adding lighting, plants and simple decor themes, you can tie the whole reception together with your theme at a pop up bar.

Reinvent the Canape Table

A canape table reinvented with garnishes from our talented garde mangers will give you an opportunity to highlight your wine or champagne offering with seasonal fruits and veggies. The really wonderful thing about sticking to seasonal fruits and veggies is not just the ambiance, but it helps you with your wedding budget, too. Technically, this would be another great option for a food station, but it also allows you to gracefully show off new culinary delights in traditional way.

Decor is Everything!

By taking the time to put a little extra flair and drama into things like food stations, pop up bars, and canape tables, you create several focal points that are great opportunities for photos of the wedding guests. You can tie your color themes into the whole area. Your guests will feel like they are all an important part to the wedding party when the decor ties the entire room together with several visual points for them to mingle or be drawn together.

Audio Visual Gear

Audio visual gear is one of the most commonly overlooked elements by the wedding guests, but when you don't have it, everyone will notice. Do you plan on having videos playing, music, people making speeches? You'll need lighting and gear to make sure everyone can hear or see your speaker or videos. Most venues will have this available to your wedding reception, but it is important to make sure that you plan on it. No one wants to have a speech being talked over because some of the wedding guests didn't hear that the speech or the video start playing.

Contact Us for Your Sydney Wedding

Browse our website to see some of the beautiful venues that we service and learn more about our unique approach to your wedding. You can call us at (02) 9209 4810 or contact us on our website.

There are many details that a wedding guest will remember weeks after the reception, but there is something they will never ever forget: how good (or bad) the meal was. That’s why it makes sense to put enough time and plenty of planning into the food, drinks and the right caterer for your reception.

But before you start planning your wedding catering, you need to decide on your wedding theme and venue. After you have decided on those two, talk to your fiancé about your wedding reception. No matter what style you choose, both of you have to make sure that you understand all the catering options available before making your final decision.

Booking a caterer for your wedding should be straight forward and exciting at the same time. At the start, expect an informal and no pressure talk from the caterers that you‘ll be meeting with. They will get an idea of who you are, what you like and dislike. It can be over the phone or a face to face meeting. A proposal will be created with the menus and the cost for your initial consultation if it applies.

Choosing The Reception Style

Wedding receptions are usually offered in different styles. Whether you’re thinking of an elegant or traditional wedding or a small and intimate gathering with your family and friends, there will be a style that will surely fit your taste. Below are some examples:

A Sit-down Dinner

This is the most traditional style and has groups of around 10 guests seated at a table assigned to them and with each guest being served three courses or more. If you want an elegant and traditional wedding this is the one for you. For this, you have to consider your venue and budget, since a plated dinner needs more staff to prepare, plate and serve the dish. The good thing is that this style will give guests more time to mingle and it also allows guests to dress up  fancy! This style of reception is more suited for an all adults-only guest list.

Food choices typically served in this style include:

Appetizers:

• A Mixed Seafood appetizer: shrimp, calamari, scungilli, octopus, and mussels with lemon and extra-virgin olive oil
• Fresh figs draped with prosciutto di Parma 
• Tuscan garden salad: romaine lettuce, Bibb lettuce, radicchio, tomatoes, and radishes with balsamic vinaigrette

Main Courses:

• Rack of lamb: Coated in an aromatic blend of fresh herbs and spices
• Salmon: broiled and seasoned with bread crumbs, garlic, lemon, and butter
• Served with: Bouquet of fresh seasonal vegetables and golden fried potato croquette

Desserts:

• Cake Push Pops
• Waffle Sundaes
• Mini Pies on a Stick
• Pudding Parfaits

A Standing-Style Party

Main Courses:

• Barbecue beef brisket
• Pork spareribs
• Smoked sausages
• Barbecue chicken   

Sides:

• Barbecue beans
• Coleslaw
• Potato salad
• Tossed green salad
• Toasted garlic bread
• Cornbread
• Corn on the cob

Casual Dining

• Onion, Feta, and sun-dried tomato tartlet
• Dumplings served with dipping sauces
• Grilled coriander, giant prawns with a chili-lime sauce
• Rosemary-roasted baby lamb chops with apricot-mint salsa
• Bite-size chicken fajitas with avocado salsa
• Mini lobster rolls on toasted brioche
• Sauteed soft shell crabs with a spicy rémoulade
• Chicken satays with a tangy peanut sauce
• Miso-glazed cod with Asian pesto
• Dim sum: crystal shrimp, sweet rice, spinach, and shiitake mushroom

Buffet Style

• Stuffed endive with Roquefort cheese, topped with chopped walnuts
• Wild mushroom tartlets
• Miniature crab cakes
• Artichoke mousse puffs
• Roasted new potatoes with dill cream and golden caviar
• Melon wrapped in prosciutto
• Miniature reuben sandwiches
• Spinach dip with toasted pita triangle
• Spanakopita (spinach and Feta in phyllo pastry)
• Smoked salmon canapes topped with capers and fresh dill
• Seafood dip with sliced French bread
• Antipasti display (buffalo mozzarella, grilled eggplant, marinated mushrooms, artichokes, vine-ripened tomatoes, kalamata olives, and bread sticks)
• Smoked salmon display (sliced salmon served with chopped onion, lemon slices, capers, cucumber-dill sauce, and assorted dark breads)
• Carving station (Asian flank steak and Cajun-rubbed turkey breast served with cranberry-mango chutney and assorted rolls)
• Pasta station (ravioli with roasted red-pepper sauce; bow tie pasta with Gorgonzola cream sauce)

Deciding On The Wedding Menu

Know The Season

Check For Recommendations 

Choose Your Favorite Dish

Special Diet Menu

Happy catering hunting and congratulations!