For a 2027 Antalya wedding with 70-150 international guests, do not start by asking a venue for its "best wedding menu". Start by sending a catering brief that explains who is eating, how the evening should flow, which dietary needs matter, what drinks service you want and which details must be written into the final event documents.
That approach keeps the decision independent of any particular hotel. It also produces better quotations because two venues can use similar words - gala dinner, cocktail, wedding cake, open bar - while describing very different service structures.
The practical goal is simple: by the time you reserve, you should understand what is included in the food-and-beverage scope, what remains optional, what information the kitchen will need later and which decisions are still open.
Build the Brief Around Your Guest Group, Not a Generic Package
A destination wedding guest list is rarely uniform. A 100-person group may include older relatives, children, guests who do not drink alcohol, vegetarians, guests with allergies, people arriving from different countries and family members with cultural or religious food requirements.
The first catering document should therefore describe the group before it describes the menu.
| Guest-group question | Why it matters |
|---|
| Expected adult guest count | Sets the working scale for dinner, drinks and service staffing. |
| Number of children | Helps the venue decide whether separate meals, portions or service times are needed. |
| Known dietary requirements | Allows the kitchen to assess realistic alternatives before the final guest list. |
| Allergy-sensitive guests | Flags that the venue must explain its own procedures and limitations in writing. |
| Cultural or religious requirements | Prevents an important food rule from appearing only after the menu is selected. |
| Alcohol preferences | Helps distinguish a drinks package from a food package and avoids paying for the wrong structure. |
You do not need every guest's final meal choice at the enquiry stage. You do need enough information for the venue to tell you whether the proposed catering model is suitable.
Write the Evening as a Food-and-Service Timeline
A menu is easier to price when the venue can see when food and drinks are expected to appear. Instead of saying "cocktail, dinner and cake", write the sequence.
- guest arrival and welcome drink;
- canapes or light food before the ceremony, if required;
- cocktail period after the ceremony;
- dinner start;
- speeches or entertainment during dinner;
- cake cutting;
- dessert service;
- late-night food, if wanted;
- bar closing time;
- final guest departure.
This reveals whether the proposed package actually covers the whole evening. It also exposes hidden timing questions early. A four-hour beverage service, for example, means little unless the proposal states when those four hours begin.
Choose the Service Style for the Group You Actually Have
Plated service, buffet service and shared-table service each create a different guest experience. The right choice depends less on prestige than on the size of the group, the event timeline, the venue layout and the number of special meals that need to be managed.
For a mixed international group, ask practical questions before deciding:
- Can guests choose between main courses, or must one main course be selected for everyone?
- If guests have different main courses, how will the service team identify each choice?
- Can dietary meals be served at the same time as the standard menu?
- If the dinner is outdoors, does the service style change if the wedding moves inside?
- How much time does the venue expect the full dinner service to take?
- Does the quoted structure include bread, water, coffee, tea or after-dinner service?
The objective is not to find the most elaborate menu. It is to find a service structure that can be delivered smoothly to your particular guest group.
Separate Dietary Preferences From Allergy-Sensitive Requirements
Do not put every special meal into one column called "dietary". A vegetarian preference, a vegan meal, a gluten-free request and a serious food allergy can require different levels of attention.
For preferences, the question is mainly whether the venue can provide an appropriate alternative and how it will be identified on the event day.
For allergy-sensitive guests, ask the venue to explain its own process and limitations. Do not promise a guest that a kitchen is allergy-safe unless the venue itself has confirmed what it can and cannot control.
A useful written enquiry can ask:
- what information the kitchen needs about the guest and the ingredient to avoid;
- whether a special meal can be prepared separately;
- how the service team will identify the correct guest;
- whether ingredient information can be confirmed for sauces, desserts and cake;
- what cross-contact limitations the venue asks guests to understand;
- who the couple should contact if a dietary question changes close to the event.
The venue's written answer should control the plan. If the answer is too vague for a guest's needs, the couple can address that before the contract is final rather than on the wedding day.
Put Cultural and Religious Food Requirements Into the First Enquiry
International weddings often involve more than standard vegetarian alternatives. A family may require an alcohol-free table or event, specific ingredients to be avoided, a particular style of meat preparation, fasting considerations, a specialist dessert or dishes that are important to a cultural celebration.
Do not describe this only as "international catering". Write the requirement directly and ask how the venue proposes to handle it.
If an outside specialist caterer or food supplier might be necessary, raise that before booking. Some venues may keep core food service in-house while treating external cakes, sweets or cultural food stations differently. The only safe assumption is the rule written into your specific proposal.
Children's Meals Need Their Own Plan
A wedding with 100 adults and 15 children is not the same catering job as a 115-adult wedding. Ask whether the venue offers children's portions or a separate children's menu, how ages are defined for pricing, and whether very young children need a different service arrangement.
Also consider timing. If children will eat earlier than adults, the banquet team needs to know. If children's meals are served with the main dinner, the seating plan should make those meals easy to identify.
Do not wait until the final seating chart to raise the issue. Include an estimated number of children in the initial brief, then update it when the guest list is confirmed.
Treat the Wedding Cake as a Catering Item, Not Only a Design Item
Couples naturally focus on the appearance of the cake, but the service details matter too.
Ask the proposal to state:
- whether the wedding cake is included or separate;
- how many portions it is expected to serve;
- whether the cake is the dessert course or an additional service;
- whether the couple can choose flavour and filling;
- whether an outside cake is permitted if the couple wants one;
- who stores and sets up the cake;
- who cuts and serves it;
- whether any plating or service charge applies if an external cake is used.
A cake that looks included in a package can still create extra operational questions if serving, storage or an outside supplier is not defined.
Drinks Should Be Quoted as a Separate Service Structure
Do not let the phrase "drinks included" remain undefined. Ask what drinks are included, during which hours, in which event spaces and whether the same structure continues through the late-night party.
| Drinks point | What to confirm |
|---|
| Welcome service | What is offered and for how long. |
| Dinner beverages | Water, soft drinks, wine or other drinks included during the meal. |
| Alcohol structure | Package, bottle allocation, consumption basis or another written model. |
| Non-alcoholic options | Whether equivalent options are available for guests who do not drink alcohol. |
| Late-night service | Whether the bar continues after dinner and the exact contracted end time. |
| Afterparty | Whether a second space has a different drinks arrangement. |
This is especially important for international groups because drinking patterns can vary widely across families. The couple should buy the service they expect guests to use, not the package that merely sounds generous.
If a Tasting Is Offered, Use It to Resolve Decisions
A tasting is most useful when the couple arrives with specific questions. It should not be treated as a general restaurant visit.
Before the tasting, ask for the proposed menu and mark the decisions that are still open. A useful tasting agenda can include:
- starter or cold course;
- main course;
- vegetarian or vegan alternative;
- one representative special meal, if the venue agrees;
- cake flavour and filling;
- presentation and portion size;
- wine or beverage pairing, if relevant;
- changes needed for an outdoor or indoor setup.
If you cannot travel for a tasting before the wedding, ask what alternative decision process the venue can offer. Do not assume photos, a sample menu or a tasting after arrival is equivalent to an in-person pre-event tasting unless that arrangement is acceptable to you.
The Weather Backup Must Preserve the Catering Plan
An outdoor dinner can be moved indoors, but the catering operation may not transfer automatically. The alternative room may have a different layout, service route, buffet capacity, bar position or timing.
Ask the venue to confirm whether the same menu and drinks plan applies in the indoor backup space. If not, ask what changes.
For a wedding with a plated dinner, confirm that the kitchen and service team can keep the same course sequence. For a buffet, confirm that the backup room has enough space for the food stations without reducing guest seating or dance-floor capacity.
Late-Night Food Should Be Quoted Separately From Dinner
If guests will dance for several hours after the formal meal, the couple may want a second food service later in the evening. That could be a snack table, simple hot food, sweets, fruit or another agreed format.
Do not assume late-night food is part of the dinner package. Ask for the exact service time, quantity basis, location and whether it remains available if the party moves to another space.
This should also be coordinated with the bar finish time and guest transport. A late snack scheduled after the first coach leaves is not useful to the guests who have already departed.
Create One Final Catering List, Not Several Conflicting Spreadsheets
As the wedding approaches, dietary information, meal choices and table assignments often exist in different files. That creates avoidable risk.
Prepare one final catering list that can be reconciled with the seating plan. The venue should tell you the format it prefers, but a working version may include:
| Guest | Table | Meal | Dietary note | Child / adult |
|---|
| Guest A | Table 3 | Standard | - | Adult |
| Guest B | Table 5 | Vegetarian | No meat or fish | Adult |
| Guest C | Table 2 | Special meal | Details supplied to venue | Adult |
| Guest D | Table 6 | Children's meal | - | Child |
The names above are examples only. The point is to give the banquet team one controlled version rather than multiple email threads.
Get the Final Deadlines From the Venue in Writing
Do not invent a standard deadline for menu changes. The correct dates are the ones in the venue's written 2027 proposal, contract or final event order.
Ask separately for the deadline to:
- confirm the main menu;
- submit dietary requirements;
- submit individual meal choices, if applicable;
- confirm children's meals;
- approve the wedding cake;
- approve menu-card wording;
- confirm final catering numbers;
- make any last permitted changes.
This section is intentionally about catering administration, not about changing the overall contracted guest guarantee. The venue's wider guest-count and minimum-spend rules should remain in the main wedding contract.
Put the Catering Scope Into a One-Page Contract Checklist
Before the deposit is treated as committed, the couple should be able to extract the catering terms into one page.
| Contract item | What should be clear |
|---|
| Meal structure | Cocktail, dinner, dessert, cake and late-night food included or excluded. |
| Service style | Plated, buffet, shared or another agreed format. |
| Menu choice | How many options are available and when selections become final. |
| Dietary meals | What the venue can accommodate and how special meals are communicated. |
| Children | Menu structure, pricing basis if quoted and service timing. |
| Cake | Included status, size, flavour, outside-cake rule and service responsibilities. |
| Drinks | Included products, service period and late-night arrangement. |
| Tasting | Whether offered, when it happens and what can still be changed afterward. |
| Weather backup | Whether the catering structure remains the same indoors. |
| Deadlines | Dates for menu, dietary data, meal choices and final catering information. |
If the document cannot answer those points, the catering scope is not yet clear enough to compare confidently with another venue.
Send a Catering Brief That Can Be Quoted Properly
For a 2027 Antalya wedding, send the venue or local partner a concise brief containing:
- preferred date or month and one backup date;
- expected guest count;
- rough maximum all-in budget;
- preferred area - Lara, Belek or central Antalya;
- approximate number of children;
- preferred dinner style;
- known vegetarian, vegan or other dietary requirements;
- any allergy-sensitive guests already identified;
- important cultural or religious food requirements;
- alcohol and non-alcoholic service preferences;
- whether late-night food is wanted;
- whether you can travel for a tasting;
- estimated guest rooms and number of nights;
- whether some guests will stay elsewhere;
- any welcome dinner or farewell meal;
- the timeframe in which you could reserve if the full proposal works.
The brief gives a venue enough information to produce something more useful than a generic wedding menu PDF. It also gives the couple a record of what was requested before the quotation arrived.
Planning a 2027 Antalya Wedding for an International Group?
Send AntalyaEstate your preferred date or month, one backup date, expected guest count, rough maximum all-in budget, preferred area, meal style, dietary requirements, estimated room requirement, number of nights, whether some guests will stay elsewhere, any extra events and your expected reservation timeframe.
Contact AntalyaEstate with that brief. AntalyaEstate can help refine the questions that belong in the venue enquiry and, where appropriate, introduce a trusted local partner. Final menus, catering procedures, prices, availability and deadlines should always come from the provider's written 2027 proposal and contract.
