Mother of the Bride, here’s an important tip—make arrangements with your caterer for leftovers and get it in writing. You’re paying dearly for all the food at the wedding reception so you are entitled to take home everything that’s left over.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming the caterer will automatically save the leftovers for you. Some may have a policy of tossing food that has set out for a certain period of time. If that’s the case with your caterer, you’ll need to make plans for the food to be packed up and refrigerated (if needed) before the time limit is reached.

Also, a verbal agreement is not enough. With one of my daughter’s caterers, I verbally mentioned my desire to be given the leftovers but failed to get it in writing. By the time I asked her about the food after the guests had left the reception, she informed me that it had already been thrown out. I was very unhappy but couldn’t do much about it because I had forgotten to get the details in writing.

So, MOB, let the caterer know your desires about this issue in one of your pre-wedding meetings and have them include the details in the contract you sign. Save yourself the disappointment and wasted money by making firm arrangements ahead of time. Learn from my mistake.

*You might also like to read Get It in Writing and Wedding Day Checklist: Containers for Leftover Cake.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, came out earlier this month. It’s not too late to receive it. Sign up is FREE! *Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash