When you are preparing for a big day your head is full of details. The menu. The decorations. The guests. The best party planning, whether it be a wedding, a graduation, or other event, involves delegating. One of the biggest parts of any party preparation is a plan for food and serving it. Making the decision to delegate these major tasks to an event catering service helps provide a great party for both you and your guests.
Being the mother or father of the bride, groom or graduate is an exciting time. The best way to enjoy this excitement is for you to be involved and careful in all of the planning, but then allowing yourself to sit back and enjoy the event. Hiring an event catering service allows you to do that. Some of the most important questions to ask a catering service are:
- Are you available on the date we need? Obviously, this is the first question you need to ask.
- Have you ever worked at our selected venue before? Obviously, you also need to know that your venue accepts outside catering services.
- Can I see sample event menus? Start by letting your caterer know about the details of your event and ask to see a menu from an event that?s similar.
- Do you allow clients to customize their menus at all? If you have specific requests or dietary restrictions, you should make it a priority to find a caterer that?s flexible.
- Are you licensed to both serve food and serve alcohol? Depending on the state, make sure your caterer is licensed from the health department and for alcohol service if necessary. The caterer you select should be aware of and comply with current food safety laws in their particular state.
- Can we do a tasting? If so, is there a fee? Having a pre-wedding tasting is an important part of planning.
- Do you also provide rentals like tables, chairs, linens, etc.?
- What?s your normal ratio of servers to guests? This number will vary depending on whether you are having a buffet or sit-down dinner. A typical sit-down dinner will have one server for every 20 guests. With a buffet, the guest count will be higher.
- Who will be on site on the event day? You?ll want to be sure that you meet beforehand with the event planning and catering coordinator who will be at your event.
- Can you provide a per person price estimate for an event like mine?
Good caterers should be prepared to answer all of the above questions. Whether you are planning the increasingly popular make your own food bars, such as salsa and guacamole bars, taco bars, slider bars, or sundae bars, or a planning a plated sit down event, turning the details over to a contracted event catering service will make your day more enjoyable. The beauty of hiring a caterer is that this person or group will manage the staff of cooks, servers, cleaners, and dishwashers, as well as adhering to the schedule so you can enjoy the event.