Hire serving spoons, tongs, ladles and carving sets for events. Commercial stainless steel grade. Return dirty. Live stock, no deposit, delivery from £40.
Serving cutlery handles the gap between the kitchen and the table. Serving spoons, tongs, and ladles move food from serving dishes to guest plates. Carving sets handle roasts and whole joints at buffet stations. Expo Hire supplies all serving cutlery alongside standard place setting cutlery and crockery from a single order.
\nFor a hot buffet with five dishes, order at least one large serving spoon per dish plus one set of tongs for dry items. Add a ladle for soups and sauces. A carving set handles roast joints. For a self-serve salad or cold buffet, two sets of salad servers per bowl is the right ratio when guests are serving themselves simultaneously.
\nPlated service uses fewer serving pieces. Kitchen staff need service spoons and ladles for portioning, plus carving equipment for the pass. The front-of-house team need only bring plates to the table. Order serving cutlery quantities based on kitchen workflow rather than guest count.
\nAll serving cutlery returns unwashed with the Send It Back Dirty service. No pre-rinsing required. Separate from glassware in return crates.
Serving cutlery is needed wherever food is self-served or plated at a buffet. The rule is one set per dish — each platter, bowl, or tray needs its own tongs or spoon. For a 10-dish buffet serving 100 guests, order a minimum of 10 serving utensil sets. Add 20% for breakage and misplacement during service.
Serving spoons suit rice, pasta, salad, and loose vegetables. Tongs suit carved meats, bread rolls, and any item that needs grip. A slotted spoon is needed for any dish in liquid or sauce where you want to drain before serving. Read the Cutlery Hire Guide for full quantity guidance on cutlery and serving utensil combinations for different event sizes.
Count by dish, not by guest. A buffet with six hot dishes often needs six serving spoons or tongs, one ladle for each liquid dish, and spare carving kit if a chef will work a separate station. Shared salads and dessert stations need their own utensils too. If one spoon has to cover two dishes, service slows down and the table looks messy.
Most caterers pair serving pieces with crockery, platters, and extra kitchen equipment in the same order. That keeps the back-of-house list complete and cuts last-minute gaps on event day.
Expo Hire does not charge a security deposit. A free minor damage waiver covers minor damage and loss. Excessive or negligent damage is charged at 10 times the hire price. Full details in our terms and conditions.
Use the carriage calculator to find your nearest branch and get an accurate delivery quote. At checkout we show an itemised delivery cost before you confirm the order.
On the day, track your driver in real time on our order tracking page, or use the link in the automated text we send.
For orders over £1,000, you can confirm a booking with a 25% deposit and pay the balance up to 28 days before delivery. The checkout offers this automatically. Full details in our terms and conditions.
