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Hello
… and welcome to Karen Rhodes Wedding & Event Catering!
We are a family run catering company based in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, and you’re in the right place if you want to ensure high end catering at your next event.
The Story Of Karen Rhodes Catering
It all started in the late 1970’s when my Grandad, Karen’s dad, Peter Thompson hung up his boots from being a football star and bought the Hare and Hounds Country Pub Inn at Bowland Bridge.
After meeting 2 years prior, Mum and Dad married in 1989. They both lived and worked in Grandad’s pub, the Hare and Hounds at Bowland Bridge, for 5 years before leaving to embark on their new venture; Karen Rhodes Wedding & Event Catering.
My parents Karen and Phil, the founders of Karen Rhodes Wedding & Events Catering, turned their dream into reality when they started our family business back in 1992. In its early years, the business started out with my parents hosting small dinner parties out of Grandad’s pub. Today, the business has grown tremendously, and we are proud to have catered for weddings and corporate events of all shapes and sizes across the Cumbria region and beyond.
Hosting the VIP Hospitality Marquee for Sir Elton John’s concert at Westmorland County Showground back in 2015 is a stand-out moment for our business and team. Our hospitality package included a 3-course Lakeland inspired meal and champagne in the VIP marquee. We of course enjoyed a boogie to the man himself after a successful day of work. Work hard, play hard, right?
The pandemic was a difficult time for all businesses, but it hit the wedding and event industry particularly hard. Karen Rhodes Wedding & Event Catering had to adapt, so that’s exactly what we did. In late 2020, we introduced ‘Dine in with Karen Rhodes Catering’, a meal package service offering freshly prepared ingredients and easy to cook instructions so customers could enjoy our tasty menus from home.
In 2022, once we had fully bounced back after setbacks brought on by the pandemic, we introduced both our Vintage Trailer and Street Food Van, offering a fun and tasty way to feed wedding or party guests.
Although Mum sadly passed away in May 2020, she is the ultimate inspiration behind everything we do. Her sheer determination and zest for life is what continues to drive us to be the best we can be.
Apart from her shared love of horses with Lucy, she loved to travel and her passion for great food often came from trips abroad. Her favourite trips were to Nice, enjoying a simple salad niçoise and a chilled glass of Provence rose, Antipasti and Prosecco in Venice, skiing in Courcheval where she always overindulged in desserts (in Kaz’s own words, no one can make desserts like the French!) or in recent years Cava and Paella on the Sunshine Tour with Lu & the girls.
Dad is by far the most likeable member of the family and makes friends easier than anyone I’ve ever met. He is always chatty, willing to do anything to help anyone and definitely the most practical when it comes to weddings and events. Not every wedding venue is straightforward and that’s where we couldn’t do it without Dad. From access to electrics, heating, toilets, lighting, risk assessments, sound projection (the list goes on!) he’s the expert.
Phil’s downsides have to be that he’s beyond useless at answering his phone or replying to emails so if anyone needs him and wants a quick reply definitely use me as his PA.
I joined the business eleven years ago and I absolutely love what I do. If you make an enquiry for a wedding or an event you usually speak to me as I put together all the quotations and run the day to day bookings.
My main passion is travel and at any opportunity I’ll have the office number redirected to my mobile and be working remotely from somewhere sunny.
I also have a huge passion for food and if you’re splashing out on your dream wedding, being able to have exactly what you want. It infuriates me when I hear of venues/hotels giving clients the option of menu 1, 2 or 3 and no options to personalise it when it’s often just as easy!
Lucy’s passion is horses and her ultimate dream is to be able to compete professionally full time. In the meantime she’s working part time for us and is really great at what she does. Always chatty, very particular (we call her mini hitler!) and often has list after list of jobs for all of us. Lucy’s motto has always been that I earn the money for her to spend!
Lucy competes at as many national shows as possible and also competes in Spain in February/March for 6 weeks. She’s brilliant and if anyone is looking for a rider we encourage you to take her off our hands!!
Lucy is passionate about show jumping and tends to spend every Sunday competing around the UK. She has 1 horse which she competed nationally and internationally with massive success. Valerie is the love of Lucy’s life, and she has recently had a little foal so Valerie will be having a year off competing.
You may often hear us refer to “the boys”. Charlie is the German Shepherd, Jerry the Border/Jack Russell (or similar – we aren’t really sure what Jerry is!) & Teddy the Miniature Dachshund.
Our dedicated team are passionate about food. Get in touch to discuss your event catering ideas and let us bring them to life for you and your guests.