autumn wedding menus: what's in season and what to ask at the tasting.

If your wedding is between September and November, you have picked the months when the British larder is at its fullest. Blackberries and plums at the start, squash and apples in the middle, root vegetables and game at the end. A caterer who cooks with the season has more to work with in October than at almost any other point in the year.

There is one catch, and it is easy to miss. You will almost certainly choose your menu months before the wedding, at a tasting held in a different season. The plate you approve in spring is not quite the plate that arrives in October, and nobody has done anything wrong. It just helps to know that going in.

What the food is costing you

Catering is one of the few lines that grows with every name on the guest list, so it is worth knowing the going rate.

Bridebook's 2026 UK Wedding Report puts the average wedding catering cost at £117.10 a head. In-house catering from the venue averages £114.45. A caterer you choose freely averages £112.50. A caterer you have to pick from the venue's required list averages £159.

On 80 guests, the average works out at a little over £9,300. The gap between a required list and a free choice, £46.50 a head, is £3,720 on the same 80 guests. If you are still choosing a venue, ask whether its caterer list is recommended or required. It is one of the bigger numbers hiding in the brochure.

What is in season, month by month

This is a rough guide for the UK. The weather moves it by a week or two either way, which is exactly why a good caterer will want to leave some of the menu open.

September. Late summer and early autumn overlap. Tomatoes, sweetcorn, runner beans and courgettes are still about, alongside blackberries, plums, damsons and the first apples and pears. Wild mushrooms start to appear. Grouse has been in season since 12 August, and partridge opens on 1 September.

October. The fullest month. Apples and pears at their best, squash and pumpkin, beetroot, celeriac, kale, quince and chestnuts. Pheasant comes into season on 1 October.

November. Heavier and earthier. Parsnips, which are sweeter after a frost, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, cavolo nero, sprouts and stored apples and pears. Game is well into its season.

The game dates are the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust's open seasons for England and Wales.

You do not need to build the menu around this list. But a starter, a side or a dessert that uses what is at its best that week will taste better, and often costs less, than something shipped in to look like July.

The tasting happens in the wrong season

Plenty of caterers run tastings when their diary allows, which is rarely the month you are getting married. Some hold group tasting evenings in the spring. So a couple marrying in October may well taste their menu in May, with May vegetables on the plate.

That is normal. What you want is to leave knowing exactly what will change. Four things help.

Ask what each dish becomes in your month. "In October this comes with roast squash rather than peas" is a perfectly good answer. "Seasonal vegetables" on its own is not, because you have no idea what you have agreed to.

Get the swaps written onto the menu. Not in an email thread, on the menu itself, so the chef on the day is reading the same thing you signed off.

Photograph every plate. Before you eat it, from above, with your phone. It takes seconds and it settles any question about portion size or presentation later.

Ask whether the tasting portion is the real portion. Tasting plates are sometimes smaller, or more carefully plated, than a kitchen can manage for 80 people at once. Ask what will be different on the day.

If game is on the menu

Game is one of the best reasons to have an autumn wedding, and it is also the dish most likely to come back to the kitchen untouched.

Offer it as one choice, not the only main. Collect meal choices with the RSVP so the caterer works from real numbers rather than a guess. And check the date. A late September wedding with pheasant on the menu is asking for a bird that is not yet in season, so ask what will actually be served.

It is also fair to ask whether the meat comes on the bone and whether there is any chance of shot, so nobody finds out the hard way.

Keep it warm, not heavy

An October evening turns cold, so warm food makes sense. But three heavy courses followed by a dance floor is a lot to ask of anyone.

A lighter starter helps. So does a dessert that is not a second main, and a meal that finishes on time so the evening can start. If you love a slow autumn braise, have it, and let the courses either side of it be quieter.

Put it all in one place

The menu is a set of decisions that keep moving until a fortnight before the wedding: the dishes, the seasonal swaps, each guest's choice, every allergy and the final numbers. It is far easier to keep straight when it all sits together, rather than across a PDF, an email thread and a notes app.

That is what Build The Day is for. Collect meal choices and dietary requirements with the RSVP, keep the caterer's menu and deadlines alongside them, and it is free to start.

Then book the tasting, take your phone, and go hungry.