How to Host a Successful Catered Party
Perhaps you want to celebrate an anniversary, a birthday, an engagement, or just have a nice dinner. Whatever the occasion, you’ve probably decided to host a catered party. There are several tips and tricks to host the most successful catered party. We’ve compiled our top three tips in this blog post to help you with your next event. Read on to discover our secrets!
Know Your Guests
This is by far the most important tip for hosting a successful catered party. Just like a comedian does, you have to know your audience. For example, you probably wouldn’t serve smoked duck and caviar at your toddler’s birthday party…unless your two year old has some oddly sophisticated taste buds! Understanding the wants, needs, allergies, likes and dislikes of your guests will allow you to plan the entire event accordingly. Knowing who and how many you’re serving will make it easier to choose from menu options, seating arrangements and serving style.
Have a Detailed Itinerary
The secret behind any successful person or event is organization. Having a detailed itinerary, or even an outline of the event will relieve a lot of stress off the host when planning a catered party. A timeline will also help the overall event run smoothly. After you select your menu you can develop an itinerary. Here’s an example of a timeline for a catered party:
- 5:00 pm: Guests arrive
- 5:00 pm-6:00 pm: Cocktail hour serving spanakopita and bacon wrapped scallops
- 6:15pm: Begin seating guests
- 6:30: First course is served – Caesar salad
- 7:00: Main entree is served – Chicken de Rhone
- 8:00: Dessert is served – Creme Brûlée
- 9:00: Guests depart
Working with an experienced caterer will ensure your planned itinerary runs smoothly and on time.
Create a Seating Plan
Especially for more formal dining events, having a seating plan is elegant and helpful. When you establish a seating plan, it increases the efficiency of seating your guests in order to stay on schedule. Try to create a fresh mix of people at the table(s) so new connections can be made. Creating a great seating plan requires knowing your guests, as we mentioned earlier.
Ready to be the Hostess with the Mostest?
Are you ready to host the perfect catered party? Remember our tips: know your guests, have a detailed itinerary and establish a seating plan. With the help of Four Seasons Catering, your catered party will be the talk of the town for weeks to come! Contact us today to get started, or check out our catering menu.
At Four Seasons Catering, we offer a variety of dinner or lunch catering services in Pensacola. Catering has many different aspects to it. Therefore, many people may not know exactly what their options are. In this post, we will discuss the different types of dinner or lunch catering services in Pensacola, offered by us at Four Seasons.
House lunch or dinner parties, birthday parties, proms and other social events are another part of the catering services Four Seasons offers. You can customize your catered menu from hors d’oeuvres to desserts, including serving options to match your party style. No matter the size, we are here to make your social event run smoothly and deliciously!
Planning an event in Pensacola, no matter how big or small, is no easy task! A major staple in event planning is the food. Finding a great caterer takes research, time and budget planning. Pensacola catering prices can vary, but looking into quality and quantity of food and a reliable caterer is key. In this blog post, we will discuss Pensacola catering prices and steps to plan your event while sticking to a budget.
Once you establish number of guests, type of event and budget, you can now start working on menu options. Again, Pensacola catering prices will vary depending on what you serve and how you serve it. From filet mignon, chicken, fish, hors d’oeuvres, carving stations, buffets, five-course meals…the options can be endlessly overwhelming! This is where an experienced, knowledgable caterer like Four Seasons comes in handy. There are several options to consider when it comes to serving style. Will you be having a cocktail hour followed by a sit-down multiple course meal? Or will you have a buffet style meal with carving stations? Or perhaps a variety of styles? Once you decide on a serving style, you need to create the actual food menu. The menu will depend on your guests needs, such as dietary restrictions, as well as the type of event. Working with your caterer to develop a menu based on your needs and budget is key to planning your event. With our extremely talented chef, top of the line servers and reasonable prices, Four Seasons is your best option when looking at Pensacola catering prices.
The catering world is a fast paced business with a ton of different types and styles. Different caterers do different things. Full service caterers, such as Four Seasons, have a lot to offer. You may be asking “what are full service caterers?” In this blog post we will discuss what full service caterers do, the benefits of hiring one and what services they have to offer. Read on to learn more!
The main idea of full service caterers is that they handle every single aspect of food for your 
In addition to food preparation, handling and serving, full service caterers offer a broad
Attention to detail is by far one of the most important characteristics for event caterers. Especially as events get larger, things get more complex. Remembering and notating certain details produces much higher-quality catering events. For example, all it could take is one typo on a banquet event order form to ruin an entire event. Details with food, service and paperwork are all vital to a successful event. If you’re looking for a caterer or you want to become one, one that focuses on every single detail of your event will produce the best result.
training to be able to pull off such a feat. Educational programs, training and certifications are helpful to be a successful caterer. Programs such as hospitality, culinary production, knife skills and others can set caterers apart from others in addition to industry experience and increase success.
We could go on about more qualities of successful event caterers, but these four are some of the most important. If you’re working on becoming an event caterer, be sure you pay attention to detail, are customer focused, creative, flexible and experienced. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a caterer, be sure you look for one with these qualities. At Four Seasons Catering and Eatery, we pride ourselves on a team of hardworking people that possess each of these qualities and more. We would love if you 