Catering Event Planning

Whether you are planning to feed several hundred guests at a huge corporate event or  just the neighbors at a small backyard party, you’ll need to plan out your event catering. Here are a few guidelines to help your event catering.

Catering Budget & Menu

Once you have an idea of how much money you’ll have available to spend, then you can determine what type of menu you can provide. You’ll need to decide between the your theme and type of menu. Will you be offering full dinners, just appetizers or both? Will it be a buffet style or will you have someone bring out ordered dishes? What about drinks? Are you going to be offering bar service? All of these questions will be much easier to answer once your catering event budget is decided.

Number of Event Guests

Find out how many guest you’ll be having. Will your event be invited guest only? Will your guest be bring their family and friends? Knowing the answers to these questions will help better prepare you for your event. It’s a good idea to have your guests RSVP in advance.

Event Time & Date

If you have flexibility in your dates, then you should considering talking to your caterers to see if you can get a discounted rate for certain day. Weekdays tend to be less busy and come caterers will offer odd discounts for specific days based on their schedules.

Location & Event Details

An experienced event caterer can do more for you than just prepare your food. It’s a good idea to collaborate with your caterer about location options as they may be able to help reserve a park or building for you.

In addition, if you haven’t planned many catering events, it doesn’t hurt to ask your caterer questions. A good caterer will be able to save you a lot of time and money as they’ve helped plan many events in the past.

Set up & Clean up

Find out what it will take to help set up and eventually clean up after your event. Most parks and buildings that let you use their premises will keep your deposit if they are not satisfied with your cleaning job afterwards. Some catering services will assist with both your set up and clean up. Be sure to ask all of these questions before hiring an event caterer.