Taking care of budget while planning an event is such a stressful and challenging task. You must take care of lots of aspects at once and if by mistake, you miss out any of them; your entire event might turn out to be a disaster. One of such essential aspects of the event is catering. The food that you serve can have a great impact on the overall event. The bright smile that people have on their faces while coming across the delectable range of food items, portrays the grand success that it is going to be.
This is the reason why a proper research and attention is must, when you formulate a budget for caterers. Like any other components of the event, there are a few things that should be taken care of while dealing with caterers and allocated budget to it. If it is simply new to you or you have never planned a catering budget before this, you don’t need to worry because here in this post, we are going to provide a complete guide on how you should formulate a budget.
5 Invaluable Steps T to Formulating Budget for Caterers:
There are five simple yet effective steps that you should follow while working with the budget of the caterers. These steps are:
Step 1: Understand the Purpose of The Event
Are you going to have a party to celebrate the success of your company, or an annual meet-up? Is the party a family affair meant for the loved ones or is it just a casual meet up party for friends? Well, whatever is your purpose, you must be aware of the purpose of the party. It can help you determining an accurate catering budget for the same. When you give a proper idea of the purpose of the party to the caterers, they plan out the dishes that would be served and presentations accordingly. Therefore, it’s best to know the purpose and theme of the party to work towards catering accordingly.
Step 2: Analyze the Menu
Once you are sure about the event, the next step is to decide the menu. Most of the caterers provide many options to choose from, but obviously you can’t pick each one of them! Hence, focus on the preferences of the guest (if you are aware of) and then streamline them with the purpose of the event. A well-planned menu not only completes the essence of the party but at the same time suits your budget beautifully.
Think twice before selecting any dish on the menu and sample test them to know whether they would meet the expectations that you have or not. Never choose any dish blindly, as the items served to the guests can turn a successful party into the disastrous one.
Step 3: Focus on Special Needs if Any
If there are any special requirements that you have from the caterers, then the time has come to focus on them. Some of the common examples of such requirements are: use of organic and farm-fresh products for the preparation of food items or certain allergies that guests have towards ingredients and so on. Remember: when professionals move beyond their stipulated services, they do charge a bit and calculating the same in your budget will always count.
Step 4: Compare the Budget with Catering Price Charts
You can take the catering price charts of at least five promising companies and compare them based on their service, charges and various other things. Once you finalise the best options, chose any of them according to your budget. This is where you must learn the power of prioritization. If there is something that costs too much and manipulates your budget, it’s best to move onto the one that would balance your budget for the same. You must be careful with the comparison as this is where the accuracy of the budget will be determined.
Step 5: Choose Caterers Who Meet Your Budget
At last, count on budget-friendly caterers who can deliver the services that you are looking for that too in the budget friendly cost.
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