Boutique Wedding Catering in Dorset & Hampshire

Boutique wedding catering with The Dorset Chef costs from £85 to £100 per person, all-inclusive. That covers canapés on arrival, a multi-course wedding breakfast, full table service, locally sourced Dorset ingredients, a complimentary tasting session, and complete kitchen clean-down. There are no extra charges for transport, staff, or service. For a 40-guest wedding, total spend typically lands between £3,400 and £4,000.

Everything you need for the food side of your wedding day — bespoke menu planning, a complimentary tasting session, all ingredients (locally sourced from Dorset and Hampshire suppliers), canapé reception, multi-course wedding breakfast, evening food if required, luxury crockery and table settings, personalised printed menus, full table service, and a spotless kitchen at the end of the night.

We specialise in boutique weddings of up to 60 guests. That's the sweet spot where every plate gets the same care and attention as a fine-dining restaurant — intimate enough to feel personal, large enough to celebrate properly. For weddings above 60 guests we'd recommend a larger catering operation; we're happy to point you in the right direction.

Yes — a complimentary tasting session is included with every wedding booking. It's a relaxed evening at a mutually convenient location where you sample dishes from your draft menu and refine the choices before the big day. Most couples tell us it's one of the highlights of the planning process.

Almost always, yes. We've cooked at boutique hotels, private estates, marquees, country houses, holiday cottages, and bespoke venues across Dorset and Hampshire. As long as there's a working kitchen or sufficient prep space, we can adapt. We're happy to do a venue recce ahead of the day to check logistics.

For weddings under 60 guests where the food matters as much as the venue, a private chef gives you a noticeably more personal, bespoke experience — same chef from first conversation to last canapé, menu built from a blank page, and transparent all-in pricing. We've written a full breakdown in our guide on the differences between a private chef and a wedding caterer.

Three to six months is ideal for our boutique slots, especially for peak wedding season (May to September). That gives us time for menu planning, the tasting session, and dietary mapping for every guest. We can sometimes accommodate shorter notice — it's always worth asking.

One. Yours. We only ever cater a single wedding on a given day, and Mark is the chef on every booking — never a sub-contractor or rotating brigade. That single-chef model is the reason we cap at 60 guests; above that, food becomes a logistics exercise rather than a craft.

Yes. Mark is the chef from your first conversation to the final canapé. There is no scenario in which a different chef shows up; if Mark is unavailable on a date, we let you know up front so you can plan accordingly rather than commit to a service that might be handed over.

Yes — children’s plates are designed alongside the main menu (smaller portions of the same dishes, or simpler alternatives if preferred). Supplier meals (photographer, band, planner) are charged at a reduced flat rate and served in the same window as the wedding breakfast.

No. Quoted prices are all-inclusive and we plan the run-of-show so service flows naturally; we don’t bill overtime when canapés go on for an extra half-hour or evening food is held back for a speech. If the structure of the day genuinely changes (a fully extra service window, for example), we discuss it transparently in advance.

We cater weddings across the entire South Coast, including Bournemouth, Poole and Sandbanks, Christchurch, Wimborne, the New Forest, Lymington, Dorchester, Weymouth, Winchester, and Salisbury. We're based in Bournemouth, so anywhere within roughly 90 minutes' drive is straightforward — and there's no transport charge added to your quote.

Average wedding catering cost per head with The Dorset Chef is £85–£100, all-inclusive of canapés, multi-course wedding breakfast, full service, locally sourced ingredients, complimentary tasting and a spotless kitchen at the end of the night. Larger weddings (around 40 guests) tend to land near £85pp; smaller, more intimate ceremonies and bespoke menus with premium ingredients sit closer to £100pp. National averages for wedding catering range £60–£140 per head depending on style; our band sits in the boutique tier.

We cater boutique weddings up to 60 guests only — our single-chef model is what keeps the price and the food quality in balance, and above 60 it becomes a different operation. For a 100-guest wedding, expect a UK ballpark of £8,500–£14,000 (≈£85–£140 per head) with a larger brigade catering operation. We are very happy to refer you to Dorset wedding caterers we trust at that scale. If a 100-guest wedding includes a more intimate pre-wedding dinner, day-after brunch or supplier feast for closest friends and family, that is a perfect fit for us alongside your main caterer.

A 3-course wedding meal with The Dorset Chef — starter, main, dessert — sits at £75–£85 per person on its own. Almost every couple folds in canapés on arrival (which is where the £85pp all-inclusive headline starts) and most add evening food, taking the day total to £95–£100pp. The price covers the dish, the ingredients, the service, the crockery and the kitchen clean-down; there is no separate per-person service charge.

We cater regularly at Athelhampton House, Mapperton, Wolfeton House, Kingston Lacy, Deans Court, Lulworth Castle and Highcliffe Castle in Dorset; Lime Wood, Rhinefield House, Sopley Mill, Burley Manor, Pylewell Park, Efford Park, Lainston House and Avington Park in Hampshire and the New Forest; and Wilton House, Trafalgar Park and the Old Mill at Harnham in the Salisbury area. Marquee weddings on private estates and gardens are the largest single category — most weddings we cater are in venues without an existing wedding caterer.