|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Free
wedding related information and print
outs. |
| |
HOW TO INTERVIEW A CATERER
A Complete Guide To Helping You
Select A Caterer for Your Wedding or
Special Event.
Here are a Number of Great Tips and
Some Sample Questions to Ask Your
Prospective Caterer.
Many people discover that their catered
event is the biggest expense of their
wedding or party. The cost of your
wedding reception or party includes the
food, beverages, kitchen staff, wait
staff, rentals, the decorations, and the
cost of the reception site itself. About
50% of a couple’s wedding costs are the
reception. It is very important to know
how to interview and to choose a
caterer.
Site/Availability
When you are selecting a facility such
as a winery, hotel, country club, park,
resort, reception hall, or restaurant
you need to know whether the site
includes the caterer. Some
reception/facility sites have their own
in-house caterer and they do not allow
outside caterers to provide the food on
their site. The site that your choose
should match the formality of the event,
the theme of your wedding/event, the
type of food that you want to provide,
and your budget. You may want to reserve
a site where you have the freedom to
choose your own caterer.
Is your event/wedding reception
indoors or outdoors?
This is important to know what
facilities are available at your site.
Some facilities do not have sinks,
kitchens, ovens, stoves, or barbecues
for the caterers to work out of. In
terms of the weather and the menu, the
food may need to be kept hot or cold.
Pick a date! Once you have figured out
if you need to hire an off-premise
caterer, then you need to find out if
they are available on the day of your
event or wedding. The caterer you want
could already be booked for an event on
the same day of your affair.
You should try to book your caterer at
least 6-12 months in advance of your
event.
Budget
Now you need to decide if they can work
within your budget!
What is your budget for your catered
event?
Most caterers require an initial deposit
to hold the date of your event. Is there
a deposit required? What is the initial
deposit and when is it due?
Are installments or payment plans
available?
When is the final payment due for the
catering?
Is there a gratuity or service charge?
How much are the taxes?
How many hours of service does the
caterer include in their overall cost?
How much extra will it be if my event
runs overtime?
What does the caterer include in the
price (e.g., set-up, clean up, staff,
food, rentals, etc.)?
Experience
How long has the caterer been in
business? Ask them about their
experience, background, and culinary
education.
Have they catered weddings or your type
of event previously? Have they handled
the amount of guests that you have
invited?
Can they handle small or large events?
What is the number of guests of the
largest event that they have managed?
License/Liability/Health
Are they licensed?
Are they insured?
Do they have health permits?
Alcohol
· Do they have a liquor license to
purchase alcohol? If no, are they
willing to serve your alcohol? Does your
caterer provide bartender(s) to serve
your beverages? How much extra is this
service?
Is there a corkage fee for serving my
own wine?
Is champagne service included for my
wedding toast?
Are the beverages served at the bar,
buffet style, and do the wait staff
refill drinks at the tables?
Ice; don’t forget that you may need ice
for the keg, bar, carafes of water. A
good rule of thumb is ½ of pound of ice
per guest. You may need extra ice in
really hot weather.
Rentals/Equipment
What rentals are needed for your event?
Is the rental equipment provided through
the catering company or through a rental
company?
There are many details to consider such
as tables, and chairs, plates, napkins,
table linens, chaffers, glassware,
sternos, silverware, serving pieces,
tents, etc. Some people choose to use
plastic flatware and paper plates in
order to save money.
Rental costs add up quickly if you rent
extra silverware such as salad and
dessert forks, bread/butter knives,
dessert spoons, along with the basic
table setting of forks, knives, and
spoons.
There are many different grades of
silverware, tableware, glassware, etc,
and different colors of linens to choose
from. You need to make some choices and
find out the price differences for your
rentals.
Your caterer can help you figure out
what items that you need to rent.
Request to see samples of equipment to
make sure it is what you want, that’s
it’s not old, chipped, or in poor
condition.
Most caterers charge you for rental
equipment. Some caterers include the
cost of rentals along with their food
prices per guest.
Head Count
Prices are usually based on the number
of guests that you plan to invite to
your wedding or event. The caterer will
need an initial head count or a rough
idea of the amount of your guests.
When does the caterer need to know the
final head count? When you send out your
invitations, keep in mind that the most
caterers want a final count 1-2 weeks
before your event.
Does the head count include other
wedding/party vendors, such as the DJ,
Band, Wedding Consultant, and
Photographer?
Is there a price difference for the
children and the wedding/party
professionals?
Is there some place else for the vendors
to eat, out of site from your guests.
Menus
Do they have set menus or can they
customize menus according to the theme
or style of your event?
Can they provide special menus such as
vegetarian cuisine, kosher cuisine, or
are they able to accommodate guests with
food allergies.
Service
What methods do you want your
food/beverages served?
Are the hors d’oeuvres passed around to
the guests by the wait staff or are the
hors d’oeuvres stationary (sitting on a
table)?
What style do you want your main meal
served? Types to consider are buffet,
seated or sit-down, French, Russian, and
family styles. Ask your caterer about
different styles of service that they
provide. Specify what services are
included and what details that they do
not handle.
Serving Styles:
1. Seated or standard sit-down service
is when the food is plated and portioned
in the kitchen and the guest is served
the plate of food while sitting down at
the table.
2. Russian Style is where the food is
plattered and the server portions and
serves each guest a portion of the
entrée, starch, and vegetable, served
with a fork and spoon.
3. French Style is when the food is
plattered tableside. The platters are
presented to the guests and the guests
pass and serve themselves. This requires
more space and service can be slow.
4. Family Style is when the food is in
bowls and on platters in the middle of
the table and the quests help
themselves.
5. Buffet style is when the people stand
in a food line.
Does your caterer provide servers or is
the buffet self serve?
Does the catering include wedding cake
service or do you have to hire someone
to cut and serve the cake?
Dress code for the wait staff. Is it
formal or casual? The attire should
reflect the formality/theme of your
event. The staff may wear tuxedo shirts
with bow ties and blank pants or skirts.
Butler style is when the waitpersons
where white gloves. If you are having a
Hawaiian theme party, ask your caterer
to have the wait staff where Hawaiian
shirts.
Ratio
What is the staff to guest ratio?
Generally, there should be at least one
server per 30 guests for a buffet and
one server per 20 guests for a sit-down
dinner. However, it depends on how
formal or complicated the event is. The
ratio may be reduced, depending on these
factors. A lavish six-course, sit-down
dinner may require one server per 10-12
guests. Discuss the staff to guest ratio
with your caterer.
Food
Does the caterer use fresh
ingredients/produce or does he/she use
canned or frozen ingredients?
Who are their food/produce suppliers?
Do they bake their own breads/desserts
or do they contract out to
bakeries/chefs?
Generally speaking, the price of food
includes all of the ingredients,
preparation, and transportation of the
food to your site.
Discuss portion sizes and the amount of
food that needs to be prepared.
Contract/Refunds/Cancellations
· Request a contract or proposal.
What are the general terms of the
contract?
What is their cancellation policy?
Is your deposit refundable if your
wedding/event is cancelled?
Read all of the fine print including
their cancellation policy, price per
person, service charges, and taxes.
After you read the contract make sure
all parties that are involved sign it.
Be ready to put down an initial deposit.
The contract should include:
1. The date, time, location of the
event, and hours of service provided by
the caterer.
2. The date that you need to provide the
final head count.
3. The list of services provided (e.g.
buffet, sit-down meal, bar service,
wedding cake service, etc.)
4. The menu that you have selected.
5. The fees, including an extra
expenses, a payment schedule, and when
the final balance is due.
6. The name of the caterer handling the
event.
7. Finally, your contract should include
the caterer’s cancellation policy.
Customer Service
Talk to your caterer on the phone.
Request the menus ahead of time. Then,
schedule an appointment and meet with
your prospective caterer in person.
How does your caterer deal with you?
Do you feel comfortable with your
caterer?
Does your caterer communicate with you
effectively and is he/she helpful?
Your caterer should be available by
appointment and by phone to answer any
questions that you may have.
Tasting
· Will your caterer provide an initial
tasting/consultation? Some caterers will
ask you to come in for a free tasting.
Others will charge a fee. Some caterers
will ask you to come into their
restaurant if you want to try the food.
However, some caterers do not provide
tastings at all. They will give you
references and show you pictures of
their presentations of food. Be aware
that preparing a meal for a few people
and a few hundred is very different in
the quantity, holding, and the
transportation of the food.
Judging the food at the caterer’s
kitchen is not always a true example of
the food that is served at an event.
If you do go in for a tasting, ask your
caterer is the tasting for free or does
he/she charge a fee for the sampling?
How many people can I bring to the
tasting?
Don’t assume that you can bring 5 or 6
people to a tasting. Tastings are
expensive and complicated to provide for
the caterer. Ask if you can bring
someone along, such as the bride or
groom.
Request to look at pictures of events
that they have done in the past.
References
Request references from your caterer.
Ask your friends, family, or colleagues
for recommendations of caterers that
they have employed for their events.
Some caterers will provide you with
letters of references or phone numbers
of clients that are willing to share
their past experience with your caterer.
Ask the client questions about the
quality of the food, if they were
satisfied with the wait staff/service,
and ask about the overall presentation
of the event.
Leftovers
What is your caterer’s leftover policy?
Do not assume that all of the leftovers
are automatically yours. Most caterers
make extra food for unexpected guests
and to feed their staff. You are paying
per person, much like a restaurant.
However, some brides/grooms/hosts do not
have time to eat during their
reception/event. Therefore, some
caterers will provide a leftover basket
of their food. The couple can have a
romantic picnic for two on their
honeymoon and enjoy themselves when all
of the commotion is over with.
Good Luck And Bon Appetite!
|
| |
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
