When Mrs. Sharma called us on a Tuesday afternoon in October, the wedding was exactly 42 days away. Two thousand guests. Six functions. A heritage haveli in the old city for the Mehendi, a five-star ballroom for the Sangeet, and City Palace grounds for the main wedding and reception. Our team had 10 minutes to decide whether to take it.
We said yes.
The First 72 Hours
The first thing we did was not think about food. We thought about logistics. With 2,000 guests across six functions over four days, the catering challenge is less about what you cook and more about how you move it, store it, and serve it simultaneously across multiple sites.
Our operations head drove the full circuit — haveli to ballroom to palace — timing every route, mapping kitchen access points, measuring power infrastructure. We identified three sites needed dedicated generator sets, the haveli required a portable gas line setup, and the palace grounds had a strict no-vehicle zone after 6pm that required a complete rethink of our delivery logistics.
The food is only as good as the operation behind it. A perfect dal baati churma that arrives 40 minutes late, or lukewarm, is a failure — not a success.
Building the Menu Architecture
The Sharmas were a Delhi family with deep Rajasthani roots — they wanted authenticity, but their guests were cosmopolitan. We designed a menu architecture that respected both:
- Mehendi (Day 1): Pure Rajasthani — ker sangri, gatte ki sabzi, dal baati churma, bajra roti, traditional mithai. Live chaat counter and rabri-jalebi station.
- Haldi (Day 2): Light, festive, sattvic. Fresh fruit chaat, poha stations, bedai-sabzi, laddoo and barfi spread.
- Sangeet (Day 2 evening): Indo-Continental cocktail format. Passed canapes, live stations — tandoor, pasta, sushi (yes, really), live dessert counter with customised wedding mithai.
- Baraat (Day 3): Street-food celebration. Pani puri, dahi bhalle, live tawa counter, biryani dum pots, massive dessert spread.
- Wedding Pheras (Day 3): Seated Rajputana thali service — 32 items, served course by course by 180 trained service staff.
- Reception (Day 4): Grand buffet — 60+ items across Indian, Continental, and Chinese, with 8 live stations and a dedicated dessert room.
The Numbers
Over four days, we served approximately 11,000 individual meals. Our team on the ground peaked at 340 people — cooks, sous chefs, service staff, setup crew, and logistics. We consumed 800kg of flour, 600 litres of ghee, 1,200kg of vegetables, and 400kg of mithai ingredients prepared in our Jaipur kitchen and transported fresh each morning.
What Went Wrong (And How We Fixed It)
On the evening of the Sangeet, a generator at the ballroom venue tripped 45 minutes before service was supposed to begin. The sushi station, which required refrigerated display, was at risk. Our team switched to a live-assembled format — chef-made to order at the counter — which the guests actually preferred. What could have been a crisis became a highlight.
The lesson we carry from every large event: plan for three things to go wrong. Have a response for each. The guests never need to know.
The Morning After
Mrs. Sharma called us the day after the reception. She said her father-in-law — a man who had attended hundreds of Jaipur weddings over seven decades — told her it was the finest catering he had ever experienced. That is the only metric that matters to us.
If you are planning a large-scale celebration and want to talk through the possibilities, we are always happy to begin with a conversation.
