Party planning sounds like it could be a fun exercise but in actual fact it can be extremely stressful having to organize so much to happen on one particular day. One area that can be a big hassle if you have no previous experience is catering. Choosing the right catering company to provide food and drinks for your guests takes a bit more than blind guess work, and to do it well requires a little research on your part, and some good decision making. The advice below should help you in your task in selecting an appropriate event caterer.
The first thing you need to do is to obtain a list of possible candidates that are able to provide a catering service for your occasion. Catering services should be booked far in advance as they can be busy, so you need to find out which companies are available for the exact dates you require. Obtaining a list of potential suppliers means searching local business directories, the internet and also asking family and friends for recommendations. If you previously went to a party and enjoyed the food provided, you can possibly try to contact the party planner to obtain contact information for their caterer.
Once you have a list of possible caterers you need to narrow down that list some way to a maximum of about 4 companies. The first method for doing this is by deciding what kind of catering service you require, whether you would like a sit down meal or a buffet style service. Then, contact each company and ask them to provide you with a sample menu including price list. Your budget is likely to be the primary limiting factor when choosing a catering company so it is important to discard any menus that you dislike or feel are not appropriate and then remove any caterers from the list that will be over your budget.
Next you need to make a decision based on your shortlist and to do this you should ask the potential caterers some more probing questions. You should ask each one to provide details of how they will manage your specific event, including the number of staff that they will use to serve food and drinks. You could also ask for some references from previous customers to obtain some (hopefully) unbiased opinions of the service they received. Finally, it may be possible to visit their business premises and possibly try a sample of their food to gauge for yourself their catering abilities.
Further Reading : Caterers Hertfordshire
