Why Can't We Bring Our Own Food?
Occasionally, we have an engaged couple in the process of wedding planning who asks us about bringing in their own food (either by a caterer or family members) for their reception and is just looking for a ballroom to rent.
We do have a policy that all food and beverage must be produced by our culinary team. There are two primary reasons why we require this when booking any event at SKY: safety and satisfaction.
We have no doubt that a caterer you may hire or a family friend could create a delicious meal for you and your guests. But as we adhere to health department rules and procedures, we are responsible for the safety of any food guests eat; if we don't provide the courses, we can't control the temperature, cook times, or overall safety of what's being eaten. If someone were to fall ill, SKY Armory would be held responsible.
Similarly, we want to eliminate the need for last-minute crises management. We recently had an issue with an outside wedding cake (arranged before we began enforcing our policy) that fell apart when the baker arrived. The baker unfortunately did not have any plan B and a lot of work was needed. Our pastry chef did triage and made the cake look as close to as-good-as-new as possible. Our team worked behind the scenes so the bride and groom didn't know until after their big day that there had been an issue; we had looped in the mother of the bride, though. If a vendor doesn't have a backup plan or supplies, members of our culinary team are pulled off their duties to solve the problem. Of course, our team will do whatever is necessary to make a couple's wedding a success, but it was scramble that we would prefer to avoid. If everything originates with us, we are able to plan and prepare for any scenario.
If a guest were unhappy with the taste or quality of a meal provided by someone other than us, the guest would not likely be aware of the provider, and they would associate that with SKY Armory. We want to make sure everyone has an exceptional experience at SKY; we take a lot of pride in our emphasis on from-scratch food and the flavors and presentations we produce. We think the flavors of your menu are an integral part of the sensory experience of a great event and we like to have all elements at the same high level of standards we set for each event we do.
Often the reason wedding clients want to bring in their own spread is because they have their hearts set on a certain dish or want to serve ethnic dishes that honor their backgrounds. The beauty of weddings at SKY and our culinary team is that we are happy to--and have the ability to--customize your menu with ethnic dishes or those with special meaning. We can even take your family recipe and scale it up to serve your guests. Each of our chefs has experience as an executive chef and training in a variety of cuisine styles.
If it's simply a display of traditional cookies you want to include, we're happy to create a space for them and place a small sign signifying the family connection.
We welcome any and all questions about our food and available options. Visit our cuisine page to learn more about our philosophy.
PS: Food and beverage sales are literally our bread and butter: That's how we earn our living and have the ability to employ 80+ people and pay them living wages.
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