Planning a wedding in Bali? PART III

Are you ready for the third part of wedding planning? If you haven't read my 2 previous BlogPost, click on blogpost to read the rest. For readers who have read it, we are going to continue with the next chapter. Food & Beverage!

I basically found the best Balinese buffet style for the wedding day. My husband is european and he has many friends and family who flew all the way to the beautiful island of god. Because of that, we decided to do something different. I guess picking the right caterer is all in your hand. Do you have fancier taste e.g. set menu dining european style. We had attended a wedding where by the bride and groom preferred a set menu european style dining where waiters/waitresses served 3 dishes starting from a starter to dessert. Usually caterers have choices for you to choose from whether its 3, 4 or 5 dishes to serve, everything depending on your budget. They are a little cheaper than Balinese buffet style because of the portion.

We often thought the term 'buffet' will probably cost a lot cheaper than a fine serving set menu. Well, truth be told, we were both wrong! But come to think of it, it was worth the price. It was a pleasant moment dealing with KORI Catering. They are so professional and friendly to work with. We met them at their restaurant as per schedule and we did food tasting without the horrendous wedding planner we fired. We had learnt that food tasting alone with your partner and Kori crew actually gave more freedom compared to having a planner around because you get to give your opinion to change some dishes to your caterer upfront! You can also negotiate in a friendly manner with them (that's what we did). We really loved their professional manners!

We tasted so many food. Price we paid for food tasting was about Rp. 960.000* (SGD96) for 2 pax excluded canapes tasting. We made some changes with our menu and Kori was very easy and told us we could change and with the changes we made, prices were reduced too because we took out some menu we didn't like. There were so much food we couldn't really finish them all. But we enjoyed the time seeing them.

On the wedding day, we finally served:

• 4 types of canapes (Balinese/Western style) -Lumpia (Vegetables Spring Rolls), Cheese tomato with pesto, Bruschetta Avocado and Tomato Salsa and Lemper Ayam (Sticky rice stuffed with shredded chicken). 
• Soto Ayam Soup (Indonesian Soup with shredded chicken)
• Carving station: Babi Guling (Roasted Suckling Pig), Ayam Betutu (Balinese style chicken with special sauce), Nasi Kuning (Yellow rice with coconut milk), White rice and Sambal
• Stir fried vegetables, Potato and Cauliflower curry
• Dessert: Apple Crumble and Sticky Toffee Date Pudding served warm butterscotch sauce
• Coffee and Tea 

That was a lot of food and guests did not actually finish everything. We had so many left overs and the saddest part was that caterer did not ask if we wanted to keep the food as we were staying longer in the villa. So before we know it, everything was cleared. So much meat to finish. With all the menu we ordered, we paid approximately Rp. 600.000* per head. You could easily spend a good USD40* for a 3 course meal. But I recommend to have a try at kori even just for a nice lunch and dinner. Their place is in kuta, it is easy to find (small alley) and the place is really balinese style. A peaceful restaurant.

The most expensive I'd say would be the beverage. We only took the non alcoholic beverage with them because we brought our own bottle from another seller. They were not so keen to do such a service but they finally gave us the best quotation. Prices ranging from Rp.250,000 and above (per head).

I don't know how else I could praise Kori but we are now so thankful that you made our wedding day a memorable one. Thank you for dropping by to see me before you leave Fheny. You have been very helpful since day one and always reassuring me that there's nothing to worry in regards of the FIRED planner. I was worried but because of many other vendors reassured me, I finally had the best day of my life.

*Prices are subject to change without prior notice

**Sorry, I do not have photos of the catering side because I guess our photographers were too focused on the bride, groom and guests instead of whats on the plate haha. But here is a sweet sweet wedding photo to remember by! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and I'll be back soon!