Booking one caterer for Mehndi, Nikah and Walima is sensible. Booking the same menu three times is not. The three events have different rooms, different guest counts and completely different appetites, and the catering should reflect that.
Mehndi — long, informal, grazing
The Mehndi runs longer than people plan for and guests eat in waves rather than in one sitting. Food needs to hold temperature for hours and still look inviting at the end. Practical implications: more starters and snack-style items, fewer delicate dishes, and buffet units that keep everything at temperature. This is the event where our silver or copper chafing presentation matters most.
Guest count is often the largest of the three, but per-head consumption is the lowest. A Silver £35 spread (2 starters, 3 mains, 2 sides) usually reads as generous at a Mehndi.
Nikah — tight timing, smaller room
The Nikah is the most time-constrained of the three. The ceremony fixes the serving moment, guest numbers are often smaller and more family-weighted, and there may be a prayer timing to work around. Fewer dishes done well beats a sprawling buffet here. The planning question is not "what menu?" but "what time must food be on the table?" — everything else works backwards from that.
Walima — the formal one
This is the event guests will describe afterwards. It carries the largest formal seated numbers, the widest range of guests, and the highest expectation. Gold £45 (3 starters, 4 mains, 3 sides) or Platinum £60 (4/5/4) is where most Walima menus land, because the room contains every dietary group at once and the food needs to look abundant.
Costing three events together
Our tiers are flat per head — Bronze £25, Silver £35, Gold £45, Platinum £60 — and they apply per event, so the arithmetic is honest and easy to model:
| Event | Example guests | Example tier | Catering line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mehndi | 150 | Silver £35 | £3,750 |
| Nikah | 80 | Gold £45 | £2,400 |
| Walima | 200 | Gold £45 | £6,000 |
Those are illustrative numbers, not a quote — but they show how the shape of your three days drives the total far more than dish choice does. A full breakdown lives on our Nikah, Mehndi and Walima cost page.
Logistics across three venues
If the three events are at different venues, each needs its own load-in time, access route and clear-down agreement. Delivery is free within 10 miles of our Richmond kitchen and quoted between 10 and 20 miles — worth checking early if one of the three is further out. Catering service runs from 11am onwards by prior booking, so daytime events are fine when arranged in advance.
Booking and payment
Terms are 50% deposit and 50% balance, with no credit accounts. Book all three dates in one conversation; weekend dates in wedding season are the first to go. Public liability paperwork is available on request for venues that ask.
Sourcing
Meat and poultry come from trusted suppliers providing halal-certified products, no pork is handled and alcohol is not used as an ingredient. Jaflong is not independently HMC-certified — if your family requires a particular standard, tell us before booking. Our FSA hygiene rating is 5, inspected 25 March 2025.
Next steps: browse the full catering menu, check package prices per head, build a quote with your date and guest count, or send an enquiry. We cater across Richmond, Twickenham, Kingston upon Thames and every area we serve.
Written by the Jaflong Tandoori catering team, family-run in Richmond since 2008 and led by owner Syed Bashar. Last reviewed September 2026.