We decided to have a marquee wedding at our family home overlooking Old Head Beach near Westport. It’s the most beautiful location and we wanted to capture this tranquil beauty on our wedding day, surrounded by friends and family. The next step was to find a catering company to look after the food. We are both very particular when it comes to food, have high standards and we wanted to find someone that shared our passion. We wanted the opposite to the ubiquitous, hotel standard, beef or salmon and wanted the menu to reflect a sharing element.

We were introduced to Andrew Rudd and were aware of his reputation. We met Andrew and his team in Medley when it was located on Drury Street. We sat down and designed our own menu with Andrew, taking into account his recommendations and suggestions. We wanted to use local and seasonal ingredients. We also wanted the menu to reflect the amazing food that we have in Mayo.

The next stage was the tasting menu. We were blown away with the exquisite flavours, and the presentation of each dish. All the flavours complemented each other and the different courses worked so well together. Our next question was, can this be replicated for 150 guests. This was our biggest anxiety in the lead up to the wedding.

Andrew and his team of chefs (including his Mum Prue) arrived the day before the wedding to get the kitchen set-up. On the morning of the wedding his team of waiters arrived early from Dublin to set the marque up. I still doubted that the menu that we sampled in Medley could be replicated.

It was now time for action. Firstly, we had the canapés on the lawn, which set the tone for the main meal. We then moved into the marque and the opening course which a was a shared selection of breads, dips, cured meats for the entire table, the perfect way to get everyone interacting from the start. We then moved to the mains where individual orders were taken for the most wonderful fillet beef (cooked exactly as required…medium rare) or monkfish. Dessert was a trio of Cardamom Infused Panna Cotta, Chocolate Brownie, and Chocolate Fondant.

From planning to execution Andrew and his team delivered what was promised and expected. We would certainly recommend Andrew and his team to anyone that is passionate about ensuring food is placed high on the list of priorities of a wedding celebration. Being able to realize our dream of having our wedding in a garden overlooking the beach made our day very special indeed.

Thanks so much to Andrew and his team.

—Colm & Fíona Walsh

My husband and I were lucky enough to have Andrew Rudd and his team cater our wedding. We had a marquee for 200 guests so from the very beginning we knew the preparations were going to be full on. I can honestly saw we struck gold when we were introduced to Andrew by our wedding planner. He was truly fantastic to deal with from beginning to end. With his guidance we came up with a menu that to this day our guests still talk about. The quality of the food, the presentation, the service, the taste was nothing short of fantastic. Andrew has a natural ability to keep everyone calm while carrying out the event in a highly professional manner. His catering team and waiting staff were excellent and nothing was a problem. Andrew also catered our BBQ the following day for 150 guests, again everything was perfect and food delicious. I would recommend Andrew and his team for any event, large or small if you want high quality and standard of service and delicious food – he is an excellent cook!

—Barbera Fiennes