Choose an Instagram Worthy Caterer

We all know how popular Instagramming your social life is - every party, event or wedding must be documented. If you plan properly, your clients will market your wedding catering business for you. As a restaurant owner or chef, your goal is to create dishes and drinks worthy of being snapped – and shared. After all, nearly three-quarters of millennial and Gen Z customers take photos of the food they consume at weddings and parties. To get your menu items ready for their closeup, put these nine Instagram marketing strategies into play. 9 Pro Tips for Making Your Wedding Instagram Worthy: 1. Instagram for Weddings 101 It’s so obvious, you might overlook it…To make your wedding Instagram-worthy, first let patrons know you want them taking photos of your food and drinks! It could be as simple as adding this Instagram language in your signage, along with the Instagram logo: “Show us your #foodpics.” Don’t forget to include your Instagram handle signified with the “@” symbol. 2. Garnish for the Gram When it comes to marketing your menu on Instagram, little details make all the difference in whether your dish gets photographed or not. Use these garnish tricks to transform existing items on your menu: Add pops of green to liven up meat-based dishes. Top a basket of chicken wings with thinly sliced scallions or cilantro, like this. Beautiful garnishes can take your cocktails to the next level. Instead of a basic orange wedge, opt for a stunning blood orange. While an old-school sprig of parsley won’t win you any Instagram marketing favors, garnishing with any of these 42 edible flowers is a sure bet. Use small cookie cutters to turn vegetables and fruits into notice-me shapes from hearts to stars. Another menu-focused Instagram marketing trick? Fill sauces into a squeeze bottle to create intriguing crisscross or swirl patterns on the plate. If you want to ensure a patron puts your dessert on the ‘Gram, spell out their name in chocolate sauce on a dish. 3. Dish it Out Speaking of dishes, they can be your secret weapons in Instagram marketing. White plates and bowls always provide a great blank canvas. However, many restaurants are leveling up to appeal to Instagram users. Some popular serving vessels include gray slate slabs, rustic cutting boards, and hand-made pottery. Vintage dishware turns an otherwise average dessert into a fashion statement. And colorful dishes – think classic Fiestaware – command attention, like this photo of waffles on a golden yellow plate. Don’t stop at dishware! Cool glassware, like retro Tiki tumblers, can give that rum punch an “it” factor. 4. Go Over the Rainbow It all started a few years back with the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino. It was Instagram marketing gold (well, pink and purple). You couldn’t log onto social media without seeing someone “bragging” through photos that they tried the colorful concoction. Give your own menu the unicorn treatment with rainbow-hued foods just made for Instagram marketing. Try an ice cream sampler with 5-6 small scoops served in rainbow order. Or, use colorful heirloom potatoes and carrots in purples, pinks, and yellows, to create an unexpected rainbow of color. 5. Status Symbol A brag-worthy menu item is another Instagram marketing strategy worth trying. For Cinco de Mayo 2018, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse in Tampa, Florida offered a $100 Prime Margarita served in a Baccarat highball glass that the guest could take home. Customers were snapping pics left and right of their luxury purchase and (not-so-humble) bragging on Instagram. 6. #HashtagHomework As you plan your menu based on Instagram marketing, keep watch on emerging food and drink trends on Instagram. How? By doing a photo search using the top 10 trending foodie hashtags for 2019. Visit Instagram and then search by one of these hashtags. You will see both the most recent and most popular photos for that particular hashtag. For example, in late January 2019 photos of ombre pancakes were trending based on hashtag research using #foodie and #forkyeah. Using varying amounts of blueberries or strawberries in each pancake, the results look like a work of art. 7. You Go First So far, the focus of these Instagram marketing tips has been getting customers to photograph your food. However, you need to do the same! A recent study shows that when deciding where to dine, many millennials first assess the “Instagram-ability” of a restaurant’s food. Look at your Instagram page. Do your food and drink photos look appetizing? Alluring? Intriguing? Have you put your best plate forward? If not, get out your camera. And yes, your smartphone can do wonderful things. Get creative, take pics from all angles: from the “overhead” shot (also known as flatlay) to a side view of a perfectly sliced burger. Use these 11 expert Instagram marketing tips for taking awesome food photos. Almost every professional in Instagram marketing recommends you take photos in natural light, without the flash. 8. Set the Scene Once you’ve mastered your menu with these Instagram tips, turn to your reception’s interior – and even exterior. Many foodies love holding up a drink or sandwich against an interesting backdrop. From funky wallpaper to vibrant paint colors and even neon signs, what’s in the background matters to Instagram users! Start outdoors. Could you enlist a local artist to paint a mural? Indoors, could you add plants like the trendy potted palms or ferns? Your restaurant’s décor should be an extension of your brand. For example, in NYC, everyone wants to get a photo of cereal milk ice cream at Milk Bar – shot against the iconic pink background. Of course, great tasting food matters. But if you want more customers to experience love at first bite, use these Instagram marketing tips to create a menu that has them falling in love…at first sight. Long gone are the days of knowing exactly what you're going to eat at every wedding you attend. Everyone from trend forecasters to planners to caterers agree the formulaic-ness of cocktail hours, dinners, and other wedding eats are behind us. Instead, 2019 will show us interactive drink stations, hyper-personalized favors, and late night food so good and greasy you'll feel like you're a freshman in college again. But, you know, one who dresses way better now. "Couples are now working with the culinary team to essentially tell a story with their selections. If their first date was sushi, then perhaps their favorite rolls are being passed out. Some selections may be a nod to favorite destinations they’ve visited or pay homage to the region where they decided to marry.” -Kylie Carlson, Owner, International Academy of Wedding & Event Planning "There's a move to more activity-centered, Instagrammable [cocktail hour] stations. We recently created an 'action' station with one of our chefs hand-carving Iberico ham to serve with crostini." -Heather Jones, Catering Sales Director, Wente Vineyards "Grazing tables [remain] a popular choice, especially among couples who opt for a more relaxed, casual vibe. Smaller snacks combined with choice cocktails or mocktails allow for more mingling between guests." -Trip Wheeler, President, SB Value "Interaction is big this year. Instead of simply being handed a crafted cocktail, guests will get in on the fun. Expect to see stations equipped with flavored syrups, fruits, edible flowers, and herbs for guests to add to the base of the cocktail themselves." -Kylie Carlson "Signature cocktails will forever be popular at this point, and they're almost expected as an easy way to personalize your day. You can do it as simple as giving it a name that speaks to you, or you can get a little crazier. I worked on a wedding where the couple met on Bumble, so they named their drink The Bumble. It had honey in it, and they had these wood stirrers that had bees on them." -Alyssa Longobucco "As a venue and caterer we're always looking for ways to stay eco-friendly, [and wedding drinks are a good place to start with] more straw-less or alternative options such as paper straws and bamboo stir sticks instead of plastic." -Heather Jones "Rectangular market tables are popular, but they're being combined with round tables to create different textures, shapes, and dimensions. Wooden market tables look great as a juxtaposition to textured linens or velvet for the round tables! We've also noticed a trend in long head tables for the wedding party and parents." -Heather Jones "Picnic-style seating with the bride and groom is particularly on-trend, and we've seen it go a step further with a passed-plate serving style. This removes any isolation of the couple and eliminates the need for a sweetheart table altogether." -Trip Wheeler "There is an uptick in couples wanting food to serve the dual purposes of being both decor and edible. Consider a champagne tree greeting guests as they enter cocktail hour or placing food on walls or tall bookshelves for your guests to admire and eat." -Kylie Carlson "With intimate weddings on the rise, couples are developing tasting menus for their guests featuring 6-7 smaller courses. This is an especially great and popular choice right now for food-loving couples who may not have a big dancing crowd." -Kylie Carlson "Dinner is the biggest place where we've seen the loosening of the ties. It used to be very formal and very regimented. [Now, we've been seeing things like] a roaming dinner, which is essentially an extended cocktail hour. It's having no sit down dinner at all. Instead, you have little lounge areas set up with some high-top tables people can put their plates at, but it's really all about tons of passed appetizers that get heavier as the night goes on." -Alyssa Longobucco "Guests want to know the exact food origin and backstory. This year, we'll see unique food stations with a more personalized sourcing story, like pasta with mushrooms that were foraged locally by the chef himself, [for example]." -Trip Wheeler . "We’re seeing a sudden spike in requests for [ombre cakes], cakes with a lot of colors speckled onto a classic white cake. I’ve especially gotten a lot of requests for different shades of blues lately. What we're not seeing is orders for fondant bands on the base of the tiers of cake, [which was very popular at the beginning of last year]. I've not seen one yet this year. The fondant stuff is fading out." -Betty Wu, Head Decorator, Baked NYC Tribeca "We will see fewer 'naked' cakes with a move toward a more sophisticated style of smooth buttercream and fondant. If we do see a 'naked' cake, it'll be much more polished-looking with touches of metallics or strategically placed blooms." -Kylie Carlson "A Belgian waffle stack, or a pancake stack is [a fun cake alternative right now]. We’re seeing a lot of cinnamon bun cakes and a lot of donut cakes—I don’t think the wedding donut wall or donut cakes are going anywhere anytime soon." -Alyssa Longobucco image . "Healthier options for the wedding day menu are still big, so this will inevitably trickle down to late-night snacks. Expect to see acai bowl stations, vegetarian stir fry in miniature takeout containers, and large grazing tables pairing cheeses with fresh fruit." -Trip Wheeler "Coffee bars are also a rising trend if the party will go on into the night. Think about this—are you sending people home or getting them ready for round two? If the party is going late, think in terms of more substantial snacks!" -Emily Sullivan "Food trucks." -Everyone interviewed for this article.