If you’re planning your wedding, a party, or a major event, you likely have a lengthy to-do list. Hiring an experienced caterer can reduce your stress, shorten your to-do list, and ensure your guests enjoy amazing food and drink at your event. Before hiring a caterer, it’s crucial to do your research to make sure you’re choosing the best company for the job. Here are the most important questions to ask a catering company before signing a contract.
What Are Your Menu Specialties?
Each Tucson catering company has its own strengths and weaknesses, and that includes their menu specialties. It’s important to find a catering company that has a proven record of success in the specific type of cuisine you want and can handle any special dietary restrictions and requests. You should find out if they only offer buffet-style food, plated food, or a combination of both. You can also ask if they assist with finding bartenders and servers to staff your event.
What Type of Catering Do You Recommend for an Event Like Mine?
If you have never hosted a formal event or party before, you may want to get a sense for how the catering company operates. An experienced caterer can offer recommendations and suggestions and will be happy to help you navigate the complexities of planning food for an event of your size and style. You will want to consider a few different catering options, and all of them should work for your event size, venue, timeline, budget, and guest list.
What’s Included in Your Catering Packages?
Most local catering companies offer a variety of different packages that work for different sizes, types, and styles of events. For instance, a wedding catering package may be different from the catering package for a corporate event or holiday party. Be sure to get all the details about the catering packages your caterer offers. You want to know exactly what it includes, how much it costs, and what might drive the price up at the last minute. You will also want to find out if the package includes party rentals, drinks, servers, bartenders, set-up and tear-down, or other helpful services.
Do You Accommodate Special Diets & Dietary Requests?
It’s very rare to not have any special dietary requests from guests at a wedding or special event. You will want to find out how your caterer handles these dietary requests, and if they can accommodate last-minute requests or changes. You won’t be able to account for every single guest’s culinary preference, but you will want to make accommodations for common and serious requests.
Do You Offer Tastings & Menu Sampling?
The best way to get a sense of how a caterer operates is to sit for a menu sampling. You will get to try certain dishes and see how they are presented before making your choice. You can also assess the catering company’s skills and determine if the menus offered will suit your specific event. A tasting is more casual than a menu sampling, but both give you a peek into the catering company’s skill and process and can help you make your decision.
How Far in Advance Do You Book Events?
A popular catering company might be booked for one or two years in advance. It’s important to get a sense of their availability and schedule before you even start consulting with them. You should also find out if the company has more than one event scheduled on the day of your event. That might affect your staffing and the caterer’s availability.
What is Your Contingency Plan for Unexpected Problems?
Every experienced caterer should have a contingency plan for certain issues that might come up as an event draws near. For instance, what is their back-up plan if the servers and bartenders they have hired don’t show up? What will they do if a certain food item or ingredient is unavailable or goes bad before the event? If the catering company can’t answer questions like these, they may not be experienced enough to take on your event.
Tucson Creative Catering Has Your Event in Tucson, AZ Covered
At Tucson Creative Catering, we have decades of experience helping people plan parties and events of all sizes and types. Whether you’re planning a wedding, bar mitzvah, sweet sixteen party, or corporate retreat, we have the expertise and tools needed to pull it off seamlessly. Our goal is to make the entire process as stress-free and smooth as possible for you and your guests. We can handle menu planning, event planning, party rentals, staffing, decorations, entertainment, full-service catering, and more. Call us today or contact us online to get started.