ABOUT LA VAN

Most couples come to us for the food. What they end up handing over is the whole day: two tastings, one-to-one planning calls, the running order, the tables and chairs, glassware and linen, the bar, the show-cooking, recommendations for music and lighting, and a team who know where everything is at every moment.

The point of all of it is that on the day you are a guest at your own wedding, with nothing to chase and nobody needing a decision from you.

Hospitality is more than saying yes to everything. It is reading what a moment needs and acting on it without losing the order of the service. In practice that comes down to a calm presence, attention to detail, and a team who are warm and natural without ever being intrusive.

It also means discretion, so what we see and hear during a service stays with us. We are guests at your event as much as we are working at it.

Private celebrations, weddings, and film and photography productions. Most are between sixty and a hundred and twenty guests, and we work from fifteen up to two hundred. The settings change constantly. What we are asked for does not: professionalism, good judgement, and an event that is handled without anyone having to chase it.

Since 2018 on the island we have built the supplier relationships and the working knowledge of Mallorca’s venues and seasons that makes that possible.

La Van was founded by Max Lawrie, who has worked across hospitality and events in the UK, Italy, New York and Mallorca.

Over the years Max has worked across kitchens, service, events, logistics, staffing and client management, gradually building La Van into the operation it is today. The company remains hands-on, with a team working across management, kitchen, service and logistics.

A successful event depends on a lot of people doing their part properly. Our team includes chefs, event managers, service staff and logistics crew, with different people responsible for different parts of the operation.

Many of the people working with us have been part of La Van for several years, and we continue to build the team around experience, reliability and a willingness to get involved.

Alongside private events we cater for film and photography productions on the island. Our past clients include Netflix, the content production company Alana International, and campaign shoots for Zara, H&M, Missoni, Ted Baker, Calzedonia, Marks & Spencer, Estrella Damm and Kia.

It is a different discipline from a wedding. A wedding has one location and a timetable everybody agreed months ago. A shoot has neither, and the catering is judged on whether it held up when the day changed.

That is also why the weddings run the way they do. A team used to a day being rewritten at short notice does not lose its footing when the weather turns or the numbers change.

See our film and photo production services for menus, delivery options and how a shoot day is usually run.

Every venue has its own logistics and its own character. Some have a kitchen; most do not. Some are ten minutes from Palma, others are up a track in the Tramuntana with one way in and one way out. We are used to working across a wide variety of environments, and we plan around what each one actually needs rather than arriving with a single way of doing things.

Access, power, water, where a kitchen can be built, how far a plate travels between the pass and the table, where the staff change, how long the breakdown takes at midnight, those are settled before the day, not on it.