Catering Advice for Couples, from Budget to Venue to Menu

Whether you are planning an anniversary celebration, birthday party, annual dinner party, or the wedding of your dreams, working with a caterer will make hosting easier and can elevate your event with incredible flavors, design, and service. There are many questions that pop up once you decide to cater a party – how much should you spend per person? Are you going to stick to a theme? What food and beverages are the best options? What if people have strict allergies or dietary restrictions? Are you ordering enough food for the amount of guests attending? 

We’re happy to share catering advice for couples who are planning a big event to celebrate life milestones or to make a regular day extra special, but the main thing to remember is to stay calm and organized! Food is a very important part of every event, and you surely want your guests to have a great time while also leaving satisfied.

Top Tips for Determining Your Budget, Venue, & Menu:

#1 – Budget

First things first – discuss your overall budget for the entire event, starting with the two traditionally largest costs – your event venue and the food and beverage catering. If you are planning a wedding you need to take many things into consideration for your budget, including décor, photography and videography, music and entertainment, florals, favors and place settings, invitations and stationary, transportation, photo booth, hair and makeup, planner fees, venue rental, chairs, tables, linens, plates, silverware and glassware (rentals are dependent on if your venue provides them or not), and more depending on your event.

Once you have put together a list of all the services and physical items you will need for your event, you can start putting dollar amounts next to each as you budget how much you can and expect to spend respectively. If you have a strict fixed budget, it can be helpful to work backwards – create a spreadsheet with the total funds dollar amount listed, subtract your largest fixed costs next (estimated expenses for the venue and caterer), and then find and select your remaining vendors based on the leftover budget. Catering is typically one of the largest expenses, after the venue, because it includes food, beverage, and full service throughout the event. Once you have your priorities list compiled, you can better compare the information from the variety of vendors after you’ve received their quotes. If you’re planning a formal gathering, we would recommend working with a professional event coordinator or event planner who can help you prioritize, introduce you to preferred vendors, and negotiate on your behalf where possible.  

When deciding on a catering budget you will want to think about the types of food and beverages you would like to offer to attendees – whether the meal will be a buffet, family style, or seated multi-course, if you want individual food stations, if there’s a sentimental or nostalgic cuisine you’d like to enjoy at your wedding, how many passed hors d’ oeuvres you would like served during cocktail hour, what type of beverages you’d like at your bar, etc. You can start off by writing a list of your non-negotiables when it comes to your wedding catering, such as if your priorities are the highest quality of food, top tier service, or if you want to feed the masses as quickly as possible to get them on the dance floor. If you’re unsure about determining the catering service style you’d like for your wedding, we put together an outline with descriptions on the 7 most popular wedding menu service style options.

Another thing that plays into your catering budget is the total guest headcount. Your final guest count is typically due two weeks before your wedding date, necessary for both determining your table place settings and ensuring the correct quantity of food and beverage is ordered. When sharing numbers with your caterer, start with a desired estimate based on the number of invites sent and responses received thus far, and be prepared with the hard cut-off closer to your event so that your caterer can ensure the perfect amount is served. If you expect to receive a large amount of late last-minute RSVP’s, you might consider adding a few extra guests into the count just in case you need to accommodate for a slightly larger party than originally anticipated. Most caterers will account for a buffer in case additional meals need to be added, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry so you don’t run out of food at your wedding reception. When putting together the menu service, if you’re planning to offer late night snacks, note that they aren’t essential for every guest – some people DO leave after the cake is served, and you do not need late night service for your full list, and you can safely lower the count for this section of your menu.

#2 – Venue

When choosing your event venue space in Southern California there are 9 key things to consider as you evaluate your wedding venue options:

• LOCATION – How important is convenience to you? Where are the majority of your A-list guests traveling from? Do you want your venue by the beach, in a hotel, with views of the ocean, in the hills/mountains, in a chateau, in a historic house, or full of tropical plants that make your wedding feel like a jungle?
  
  
• INDOOR / OUTDOOR – Do you want an ocean view ceremony lawn on grass or sand, an outdoor cocktail reception area, an indoor banquet room, and/or an indoor dance floor? In Southern California, many wedding venues (not all – there’s a wide variety of venue setups to choose from!) have the ceremony outdoors, and as the weather starts to cool as evening approaches, the event is moved to a combination of indoor-outdoor for cocktail hour and golden hour, and then indoors for the dinner service and dancing.  
  
  
• AVAILABILITY – If you’re tied to a specific date that is sentimental to you and your partner, is the venue available on that day? What time of year are you planning on hosting your event? Which day of the week fits best with your budget, calendar, and desired season? How far in advance does your venue typically accept bookings, and how far ahead are the dates typically reserved?
  
  
• EXCLUSIVITY & PRIVACY – Will there be multiple events going on at your venue simultaneously, or will you have exclusive access to the property for the duration of your event? Will the public walk around the area and end up in the background of your photos?
  
  
• STAFF CAPABILITIES – If there are multiple other events taking place at the same time as yours, how will the onsite staff meet your needs while also working with the other events? What staffing does your venue include with your package, and which staff do you need to hire? If you’re in charge of bringing in staff, do they have a preferred vendor list?
  
  
• GUEST COUNT – Based on your vision, do they have a smaller space for if you’re looking for a more intimate wedding, and/or do they have a larger space that can fit a grand event? What are their minimum and maximum capacities, and how does this number change based on where you’d like your guests seated? Can the venue accommodate the number of people you would ideally like to invite, and what is the guest count you realistically expect? Have you already sent out your save the dates or received RSVPs? Some venues can accommodate larger numbers depending on the different spaces reserved, while others have fixed caps on capacity.
  
  
• COST – Does the venue fit within your wedding budget? What types of package tiers do they offer? Make sure to ask for all-in pricing from your venue and vendors so you have a clear understanding of the totals you can expect.
  
  
• KITCHEN – Does the venue allow you to bring your own caterer, or do you have to use the onsite kitchen and corresponding staff? If you do hire an outside caterer, does the kitchen meet the needs of your selected catering vendor? If you’re allowed to bring in outside catering, does the venue have a list of preferred catering vendors you need to select from? Make sure to also inquire about the kitchen setup when looking at venues. You can save on wedding catering by renting a venue that has a built-in kitchen so that your caterer doesn’t need to bring and build their own kitchen setup and equipment.
  
  
• PARKING – Is parking included for you, your guests, and your vendors? How many designated parking spaces are allocated, and does your venue include valet or parking lot attendants? Is there enough parking for your estimated guest count? Is the parking convenient or will you have to shuttle guests to and from the property?
  

#3 – Menu 

When selecting the menu for your event, you’ll want to determine whether you want your food experience to be themed & casual or more upscale. From there, your caterer will help guide the dishes based on which ingredients are in season, and what style of service you prefer – buffet, family style, stations or seated service. Each option has its own pros and cons, and it all comes down to preference and the type of event you are hosting. In our experience, food stations are a big hit at every event, and a traditional seated meal is always a classy and popular option. 

Tray passed appetizers are something we highly encourage at the start of any event, as many guests arrive hungry and would appreciate a snack before the main meal is served. Appetizers are the best way to play around with flavors and offer a wide range of options for your guests who have different tastes and dietary preferences. Take the time to closely work with your caterer to create a menu that is unique to you as a couple and enjoy a sit-down tasting so you can have the chance to make sure you love all of your menu items before the big event.

Planning the catering for a special event, from weddings to anniversaries to showers, can be both an exciting and overwhelming process.

If you are looking for a caterer for your upcoming event in Southern California, contact us to learn about our services and our variety of menu options to best fit any event style. You can also follow us on Instagram for daily inspiration and a peak at our most recent work!