Weather
I get this question at every single tasting, every consultation, every wedding fair. It is always the first thing the mother of the bride asks. "But what if it rains?"
The short answer is: we cook. The long answer is a bit more interesting than that.
I have cooked in horizontal rain in a field in Kent. I have cooked through a hailstorm at a festival in Wales. I have cooked a whole deer on the cross in November sleet while the wedding guests sat under a marquee sipping champagne, completely oblivious to the fact that my eyelashes had frozen. The food was immaculate. The reviews were five stars. The couple still email me every anniversary.
This is the bit people do not understand. Fire does not care about rain. A well-built fire with proper fuel will burn through a downpour without blinking. The Argentine cross, the fire pits, the planchas - they all generate enough heat to evaporate rain before it even reaches the cooking surface. The charcoal burns at over 600 degrees Celsius. A few drops of water are not going to put a dent in that.
What rain does affect is us. The team. We get wet. Our boots fill up. Our waterproofs stop being waterproof around hour six. But that is our problem, not yours. You will never know the difference, because we plan for it.
The guests at a rainy wedding have the best time. Seriously. There is something about huddling near the fire with a glass of wine while rain hammers the marquee roof. It creates an atmosphere you cannot manufacture.
- Cai
We do not just wing it and hope for the best. Every event has a wet weather plan built in from the moment we quote. Here is what that looks like:
In ten years of outdoor catering, we have never once cancelled an event due to weather. Not once. Rain, snow, 35-degree heat, gale-force wind - we have cooked through all of it.
This is going to sound mad, but bear with me. When it rains, the air is more humid. That humidity means the smoke from the fire clings to the meat for longer instead of dissipating. The result is a deeper, more pronounced smoke flavour on the venison and lamb. It is subtle, but it is real.
Rain also keeps the temperature of the cooking environment slightly lower, which means the exterior of a whole animal on the cross caramelises more slowly and evenly. You get a better bark, a more even cook, and less risk of the outside charring before the inside is ready. Ask any Argentine asador and they will tell you the same thing - overcast weather produces the best asado.
This is the real question. The food will be perfect regardless. But will your guests enjoy standing in a field in the rain? That depends entirely on the venue setup - and this is where your marquee company, your venue coordinator, and your caterer need to be working together.
A good wedding venue with outdoor catering capability will have covered areas for guests, solid ground or decking near the food stations, and a plan for moving drinks service indoors if needed. We work with the venue to make sure the guest experience is seamless whatever the weather.
And honestly? Some of the most memorable weddings I have ever catered have been in the rain. There is a warmth - literal and emotional - to gathering around a fire when the weather is foul. People get closer. They share blankets. They drink more mulled wine. The fire becomes the centrepiece even more than it usually is.
We have cooked through every kind of British weather. Your event is in safe hands.
Get a Free QuoteSo next time someone asks "what if it rains?" - tell them it makes the food better, the atmosphere cosier, and the photos moodier. Tell them the fire does not care. And tell them Game and Flames has never, in a decade of outdoor cooking, let the weather win.
Because we do not.
- Cai
