If you are hosting an event then this can sometimes be a stressful occasion. On the one hand there is a lot to be gained from a good event, but at the same time it’s also a lot of pressure and you will be required to ensure that a lot of people have a good time and that nothing goes wrong. And there are many elements to take into consideration too from the catering, to the music to any talks or presentations you intend to have to help promote your business.
The catering however is arguably one of the more important aspects and it’s one of the things where the most can go wrong. So what can you do to ensure it doesn’t? Here are a few pointers to help you have a calamity free meal for you and your guests.
Get People’s Orders in Early
When you send out the invites, then try to also get early orders from people. This way you can let the catering service know as early as possible what to start preparing and this can ensure a minimal chance of anything going wrong.
Send Out a Confirmation
And this is the smart bit – be sure to also send out a confirmation to people to get them to confirm what they want to eat. This is very important because it ensures that they don’t forget their order or decide to change their mind last minute which can sometimes happen and leave you with the wrong numbers.
Use Place Settings
And just to make extra sure, as your third line defence you can also use place settings that have not only names on them, but also a person’s order. This way, even if they change their mind last minute or don’t like their order, they will know right away and can bring it up with your caterers while they still have time to find an alternative.
Have Spares
Of course it’s no good getting early notice of changes if there’s nothing you can do about it. This is why it’s a good idea to ensure that you have lots of food and spare meals available for the people who do change their orders. This is also useful in case anyone should drop their meal or spill their drink onto their plate. So simply order a couple extra of each meal with your caterers.
Cater for Everyone
Literally. When you design your menu you must ensure that there are no groups left out who will be unable to eat what you’re preparing. This means that you have to ensure that your food is suitable for vegetarians and that it is okay for most of the main allergies. Of course you don’t have to force everyone on your guest list to abscond from meat, but rather you should just have one option on your menu for each group. And while you can’t account for every allergy out here, you can nevertheless have a very basic option that doesn’t include anything too unusual and this will also be good for those with picky tastes. Finally you can invite anyone to get in touch if they should have special dietary requirements.
Robert Caine works for a prestigous and renowned event management company. They recommend visiting www.theoxford.com.au for the perfect venue for corporate events.
When I invite friends and colleagues for a party, I make sure to ask them if they have any dietary preferences or restrictions. This way I know what to prepare and ensure everybody has full plates!
Good point Emma I am going to host a party this weekend and I think I should do my homework and ask my friends and relatives about their food preferences as well food we must not prepare.
Send Out a Confirmation
And this is the smart bit – be sure to also send out a confirmation to people to get them to confirm what they want to eat. This is very important because it ensures that they don’t forget their order or decide to change their mind last minute which can sometimes happen and leave you with the wrong numbers.
Have Spares
Of course it’s no good getting early notice of changes if there’s nothing you can do about it. This is why it’s a good idea to ensure that you have lots of food and spare meals available for the people who do change their orders. This is also useful in case anyone should drop their meal or spill their drink onto their plate. So simply order a couple extra of each meal with your caterers.
These 2 are the smartest tips here. We can never be too careful especially in these social events where the main thing to look forward to is the food. We talk to people over food and suddenly it becomes less intimidating to socialize. Having too little or too much would be inefficient especially in terms of cost. Great article once again.
Great idea to put the person’s order on their name card as well. Yes, catering for everyone can be a big deciding factor in what place you want to do the catering.
Hosting an event can become a headache if not done properly. you have made some great points here. Thanks for this useful info.
I have always been arranging events for my office and family; the tips you have mentioned here are all a key to successful catering and overall event. Great post.
It’s true when you mentioned that hosting an event can be stressful most especially when you fail to iron out the details. Thanks for sharing these tips.
Planning is a critical part of hosting an event so it must be done meticulously. I highly appreciate the tips you have shared here. Thanks!
A good catering is one of the crucial aspect which defines the success or failure of an event. Food always remain the main element of discussion days, months or even years after the event has wrapped up. The tips provided in the post for a good catering are apt and very easy to implement. Thanks for the share.