Questions to Ask Your Caterer

Besides your location, the food for your wedding weekend will probably consume the largest portion of your wedding budget and be one of the most important factors in ensuring a successful event. Great food service will leave a lasting impression on your guests whether you are having an intimate affair or really big blowout. 

A lot of things come into play when selecting a caterer, so don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you need to. Whether your potential caterer works at your event facility or you’re hiring them independently, here are some vital questions that are often overlooked:

1. How many weddings do you do per year, and how long have you been in business?
2. Have you done any events at my location before? 
3. Are you licensed and insured?
4. Will you provide a banquet manager to coordinate the meal service or an on-site coordinator who will run the entire event?
5. Do we have to work off a pre-set menu or can you create a custom menu for our event? If I have a special dish I’d like served, would you accommodate that?
6. Can you accommodate dietary restrictions, such as kosher, vegan, etc.?
7. What décor do you provide for appetizer stations or buffet tables?
8. What’s the difference in cost between passed appetizers and appetizer stations? What’s the price difference between a buffet and a sit-down meal? If we have a buffet, are there any stations that cost extra, like a carving station? 
9. How much do you charge for children’s meals?
10. How much do you charge for vendor meals?
11. Do you do food tastings and is there an extra charge for this?
12. If there is leftover food from my event, can we have it wrapped up for guests to take home or have it delivered to a local shelter?
13. What is the last date by which I have to give you a final guaranteed guest count?
14. What is your payment policy? Do you accept credit cards?
15. How much of a deposit is required to hold my date? When is the final payment due?

Why Is It Less Expensive To Do Plated Dinners versus Buffet?

One of the first things to determine when you are planning your wedding is whether you want a sit down dinner, or a buffet. Both meal options give different feelings to your special day. To make your decision a little easier, we have broken down the different options to give you some pros and cons for each:

Sit Down equals Formal. Plated food is served to each guest. Table cards with meal selections and place cards are needed so that the catering staff knows what to serve to which guest.

The Pros:

- You can serve exactly what your guests want by giving them options for meals. They can get an appetizer to start, then their meal choice, then dessert.

- Food is hot right out of the kitchen.

- This is the more elegant way to present food at a wedding,

- There is portion control so your costs are and should be less than buffet.

The Cons:

- Sit-down service usually takes longer to get everyone fed.

- There is usually a 15-minute window between the first table and the last at a large wedding.

- If you are crunched for time, this might not be your best option as the focus is on the level of service and not on the speed.

Buffet equals Casual. Food is nicely displayed on a long table where guests serve themselves.

The Pros:

- In a less formal environment, this option is great for your guests to socialize and get to know one another.

- Guests can get their food at their leisure- Guests can also keep going back for more.

The Cons:

- Buffets can be hard to get around if they aren’t planned well.

- Sometimes, people and tables get in the way so you need to make sure the caterer plans a good place to set up the table.

- There are long lines for guests to wait for their food.

In the end, even though your pocketbook is important, choose your service by the look and feel you want on your wedding day.