My husband and I are about to celebrate our 1st Wedding Anniversary in a few weeks. This has me reflecting on the past year, that special day, and, frankly, the months of planning leading up to it. We deviated from tradition in several ways for our special day - from my blush wedding dress, to the outdoor barn location, to the food. We chose to have a food truck wedding for 3 reasons:

We met (and lived) in Austin, TX which is arguably the food truck capital of the world and loved the idea of sharing a bit of home with our closest friends and family
It WAS cheaper!!! I did my homework and got quotes from traditional caterers and boy, oh boy, did those estimates knock my socks off.
My husband and I would take cheap, delicious authentic truck tacos over an expensive, run of the mill, over priced meal that leaves you feeling hungry afterward any day. Food trucks provided variety, laid back, comfort food and were representative of us.

In this blog post, I’m sharing tips and tricks on how to have a successful food truck wedding including details on how we did it. There are a ton of important considerations to ensure the experience is memorable and fun for your guests rather than frustrating and inconvenient. When I was researching prior to our wedding, I found a plethora of blog posts with cute, fun ideas for a food truck wedding and no actual tactile strategies or advice. We didn’t hire a wedding planner, so it really was all up to us to figure this out. I went so far as asking photographers who I’d seen shoot food truck weddings if they could put me in touch with the bride for advice. I’m so glad I did and the bride was happy to help!

How We Did It

Prior to the Big Day

In order to avoid living out the horror stories I’d heard where one food truck runs out of food, we had guests select their meal on their RSVP card. The downside of this is it definitely takes away some of the novelty of the experience being able to choose in the moment, or even trying both trucks. The other alternative would be to order food for about 75% of your guests from both trucks, but this doesn’t necessarily solve the for the possibility that one truck could be immensely more popular than the other.

We included dietary restriction details on the RSVP card so that guests could choose accordingly. We also made it clear that it was a food truck wedding as I believe it is important to set expectations when you are doing something a little out of the ordinary.

On the Big Day

We hired two food trucks, Bigalora Wood Fired Pizza and Cosa Sabrosa Tacos for 165 total guests. Cosa Sabrosa arrived first and provided the appetizers - chips and guacamole, charcuterie and watermelon slices. Bigalora provided family-style passed salads while guests waited to be dismissed to the food trucks. We also hired 3 servers through Bigalora who cleared plates, took requests from guests, and took care of garbage at the end of the night.

Remember how we had guests RSVP for their meal? We decided to have our place cards double as “tickets” for the food trucks. When guests went to order, they’d hand in their place card. This not only helped guests go up for what they’d RSVP’d for, but it also kept people from going up for seconds which wasn’t in our budget. I created these place cards to sit on top of our wedding favor cups for something a little more unique than the traditional table tent place card. They looked better before the wind knocked them all over, ha!

We included menus at each place setting that also included details on the food truck ordering process at the top. The goal was to encourage guests to decide what they were going to order prior to getting in line at the truck. We also had a dessert table with donuts, cookies, and pie as well as a s’more bar. We listed those items on here too so people knew what was up!

What to Avoid and How to Avoid it

Long lines at the food truck window

Keep the menu simple
Provide printed menus at each guests seat
Hire more than one food truck

Piling up dirty plates and dishes

Hire waitstaff/bussers

Guests doubling up on meals (and your food truck running out of food!)

RSVP for meal selection
Dinner tickets as place cards

Important Considerations

First and foremost, does your venue allow food trucks? Is your food truck willing to drive to your location?
- Some city ordinances won’t allow it, and some rustic venues don’t want the trucks driving on their dirt roads. Alternatively, some food trucks won’t/can’t drive in muddy areas for fear of getting stuck.
Where will the truck park?
- Keep in mind this needs to include space for guests to line up to order AND wait for their food.
What is your rain plan?
- At our wedding, it started raining right in the middle of dinner service :( I was floored at how fast the Bigalora food truck put up a tent in front of their truck so guests had some shelter while waiting for their food. Seriously, it took maybe 15 seconds for them to spring into action!
- My dear bridesmaid (Mackenzie) and wedding coordinator (Erin) went to Target for some clear umbrellas the night before and thank goodness they did, Erin had the bright idea to hand them off to guests as they walked outside to go to the food truck.
Does the food truck you are hiring have a generator or require a power source? If so, what kind of voltage/outlet do they require?
- Generators can be loud, if your food truck uses a generator, take this into consideration when planning out layout and where they will park.
Is there a way your food truck can do some prep work ahead of the dinner rush to help things run smoothly?
- Our pizza truck prepped a few pizzas of each flavor when they arrived so they were ready to pop in the oven immediately to help keep on top of things.
Make sure you have a clear dismissal plan for tables, your DJ should be familiar as it is basically the same process as dismissing for a buffet.
Remember, food trucks are not traditional caterers. You will likely be on the hook for place settings and linens. Our taco truck serves tacos in brown paper “boats” (as I call them) and for the pizza truck, I shipped bamboo plates to the HQ prior to the event for them to serve the pizzas on.

TL;DR

With proper planning, food truck weddings can be a huge success - affordable, memorable and delicious!

How to Have a Food Truck Wedding from a Bride Who Has Done It