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• » Planning the menu

Planning the menu 

Don’t underestimate the value of catering at events. Take the time to understand your guests and their expectations. If guests leave hungry or you serve them greasy or cold food, they will take away a negative impression regardless of the rest of the production. 

Step 1: Choose a caterer

If your venue has an in-house caterer, they may expect you to use those services exclusively. If you decide to hire an external caterer, the venue may charge a fee, and you will need to carefully negotiate use of the kitchen, floor-staff and cleaners.

You may also consider getting your guests to cook their own meal as a form of entertainment or team building. With the revival of interest in cooking, a number of companies have developed hands-on cooking events. These can be adapted to suit your timeframe, group size and location.

Step 2: Consider alternatives

If you don’t wish to use a venue’s caterer or pay an additional fee, consider hosting your event outdoors or at a private venue, where you have the freedom to choose your own catering options. Off-site caterers are also often more price-competitive than venues.

Hands-on cooking events offer options from canapés to seated meals and competitive formats, or even stage shows. Different from cooking classes, professionally designed and delivered cooking events can satisfy a number of objectives.

Step 3: Know what to expect

A good caterer does more than prepare food. When you’re choosing a caterer, ask if they:

• Have a wide and modern selection of food
• Offer a flexible approach to accommodate your theme, venue and guest list
• Will source and manage floor staff
• Will organise to hire necessary equipment
• Provide beverages (these are often provided in packages of times and head-counts, such as two hours of beer, wine or soft drink for 100 guests)
• Have the presenter/chefs for hands-on cooking events who are engaging, entertaining and professional teachers as well as qualified chefs
  

Step 4: Confirm everything

Prepare a ‘catering checklist’ and check each item off as it is confirmed:

• Get requests, dates and agreements in writing
• Ensure the caterer has all the necessary permits and licenses 
• Check whether the caterer has a previous working relationship with the floor-staff
• Reserve additional rental items, such as glassware and cutlery
• Ask for menu suggestions to suit your needs including guests allergy and dietary restrictions
  

Resources

• Download BESydney’s Planning canapés guide. This guide provides advice on serving canapés (bite-sized standing food) at your event, some popular menu items, and classic mistakes to avoid
• Download BESydney’s Understanding wine guide. This guide provides tips for matching the right wines to your event menu