Nashville weddings

A Guide To Nashville Food Trucks: What Are They? Option for Weddings? What to Consider?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The food truck craze has hit Music City, with people filing out of their offices in droves to get a delicious, piping hot meal from a truck parked outside. If you've fallen in love with these gourmet meals on wheels and thought "could this work for my wedding?" stay tuned all week as we cover EVERYTHING you need need to know.

Picture by Alex Bee Photography

What is a food truck?

A food truck, especially where Nashville vendors are concerned, are mobile units that include trucks, wagons, and even buses that serve food either previously prepared or freshly made on site. The trucks are usually powered by generators and can have grills, fryers, and ovens on board to ensure that the food served isn't stale or left sitting out. Nashville has a ton of food trucks serving cuisine from all over (Thai, Mexican, Japanese and Western) to trucks that serve sweets, candy and dessert! You can find a list of all the food trucks here at Nashfoodtrucks.com.

Image Courtesy of Life a la Mode

The Cupcake Collection Bus! (Image courtesy of The Nashville Scene Bites Blog)

What kind of weddings are ideal for food trucks?

Food trucks are a lot more casual and are great for less formal, almost whimsical weddings. You're not going to expect your guests to retrieve their own food in disposable (albeit eco-friendly and sometimes customizable) plates at a black tie wedding, just as you wouldn't expect fine china and polished silverware at a country-themed, outdoor wedding.

Trucks like the Grilled Cheeserie or Mas Tacos or Deg Thai obviously serve food of a particular theme and style. Then there are trucks like Mere Bulles or Riffs Truck who are experienced caterers and who can serve more of a variety of food, making the style of cuisine something you should consider as well.

Crystal (Twitter: @grlldcheeserie) comes from a family of food truck proprietors. Having lived and worked in Los Angeles, which has been ahead of the curve with food trucks, Crystal offered an alternative way to feature a food truck or two at your wedding as an after-dinner, late night snack option. "I worked at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills after their plated high end dinner food trucks are being hired for the midnight after wedding snack, waiting for the guests at the entrance of the venue." So this is great if your wedding dinner has ended, the night's still young and you want your guests to keep partying, but not on an empty stomach - have a food truck there to serve little bites in the later half of the reception!

Photo courtesy of Bryson Leach Photography

 What kind of venue is well-suited for food trucks?

"Most event sites where wedding are held are ideal," advises Crystal De Luna Bogan, owner of The Grilled Cheeserie. "I think as long as the grounds are leveled (like a hilly field would be hard for a truck to get leveled to set up) or a tight space where the truck would hinder the movement of the event site. It should be an accent to the party not the center of attention."

Of course, it pays to always check with your venue first. Carlos, chef and one half of the Riffs Truck duo, stresses that if you're at a venue that already has in-house catering or isn't an open venue to check with your wedding venue. "The bride should arrange with the hotel or venue as to where we are able to park."

Linda Wright who owns and runs Cedarwood brought up some good points to remember about food trucks and weddings:

1. Service personnel: Normal caterers provide staff for things normally expected at a wedding. Would food trucks be willing to include staff? (clearing tables, refreshing beverage stations, cake service, coffee service)

2. Most trucks would have a hard time servicing 175 people in a timely manner. If they set up a buffet line outside the truck, it would lose some impact of the styling/novelty.

3. Disposable products vs. china/glassware -- would brides have options?

With regards to the second point of servicing a large group of people, Carlos of Riffs Truck suggests having more than one food truck: "For every hundred people, you should have one food truck. Two food trucks would guarantee less wait time and more food options." The Grilled Cheeserie echos the sentiment, saying that for a wedding of upwards of 300 people, "we suggest other foods to be offered so not everyone rushes the truck at one time. Which helps with the wait time."

Other trucks like the Mere Bulles food truck are larger and have a full-service kitchen and are able to churn out more food.

As I've mentioned, food truck dining is casual so definitely keep it in mind when including this aspect in your overall wedding vision!

ABG Notes: Smaller, portable wagons like The Sugar Wagon can fit into venues and don't have any exhaust, so it's something to consider! (Picture by The Sugar Wagon)

How do food truck costs compare to traditional wedding catering?

Tomorrow, we will cover the costs per person and mininums a bit more in-depth.  Some trucks' catering rates are comparable with traditional wedding catering, especially those that offer full menus and high customizations.  They are essentially, mobile restaurants.  Others price their meals around the same price as you will find if you walked up to the truck, at $7-$10 per person.  Even with these seemingly low prices, there are still factors to consider - like how your guests will be served, clean up, travel fees, etc.  So, be sure to ask and compare apples to apples.

How do you contact the trucks, taste the food?

We will provide an introdution and full contact info for the majority of the trucks throughout this week.  But here's what you should know: Tastings for each truck will vary.  Some trucks offer private tastings and others do not.  We've found the easiest and most convenient way to know whether you like their food is to find out where their truck will be located and go out and experience them first hand.  Some of the food trucks have websites, others do not.  Most of them do post their location of the day via their Twitter accounts.  

And finally...

Crystal: Think of the fact that people will not want to wait in a line or more than 5-10 minutes for their food so the menu should be simple and easy to eat. Also, the client has to be very clear about what they are expecting from the food truck because most food trucks are used to serving in a more casual setting, while the bride may be expecting something that would come from a high end catering company.

Carlos: With food trucks you are limited to the theme/type of food each truck offers and it may not be a full spread of food - truck food menu is more eclectic. (ABG adds - there are a few trucks, like Mere Bulles, that are actually full service mobile kitchens.  With full service kitchens, the menu options are more extensive.)

So when you contact your favorite food truck about catering your wedding, be clear and open on the details and keep these factors in mind to make sure it all goes smoothly and you and your guests have a great time!

(Follow the links to our coverage on Nashville wedding food trucks - Part 1 - intro, Part 2 - popular food trucks, Part 3 - popular trucks, Part 4  - dessert trucks.)

About the Author:

Tabitha

Blogging is something I’ve enjoyed doing for years. My interests lie mostly in lifestyle related topics like fashion, style, design, food and weddings. When I heard Ashley was looking to bring on new members to the ABG team, I jumped at the opportunity - I can’t think of a better way to stay involved in weddings than to write about them and to stay in touch with the trends and new ideas. Lucky for me, Ashley likes my blog and trusts my experience to bring me on and so far, it’s been a blast.

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send   Posted on November 1, 2011 | Filed under: Cakes & Food, Inspiration & Trends