Joshua Riazi is a renowned chef, and the owner of Ripe Food and Events in Rhode Island. Having worked at restaurants in both Washington, DC, and Providence, Riazi is an advocate of utilizing fresh ingredients from local purveyors. In this article, he tells us what questions a couple should ask their caterer during their initial meeting.
The questions that a couple should ask the caterer who is doing their wedding will obviously vary depending on a lot of factors. But one of the most important things that any couple will want to find out right away is whether the caterer they are hiring is actually equipped to handle an event of their size and caliber.
Not all catering companies can handle parties of every size, and many companies specialize in very small or very large events. Here at Ripe Food and Events, for example, we generally do not handle events that are expecting more than 200 guests, and even that figure is a little bit high.
Other catering companies, meanwhile, may only be able to provide a sit down service for 25 or 100 people. And if you happen to choose a catering company that specializes in large corporate events, then there might be a problem when you explain that you are only expecting 30 or so guests at your sit down dinner event.
So those are all reasons to ask your caterer what their capabilities are before moving on with the project. Based on how they answer that question and respond on that topic, you should be able to get a feel for how honest they are being about their skill level, what they can handle, and everything else.
Additionally, you will want to fill you caterer in on the basic details of your event, like date, time, and location, to make sure they are available on the day you need.
If you are already set on using a particular menu or food style at your event, then it is also worth asking whether the catering company has enough experience making that type of food especially since they will be making it for a large group of people.
This kind of issue will typically come up more often when couples are working with a restaurant to cater their wedding rather than a full-service catering company, but it is still worth asking and checking out no matter what type of company you are working with. It is better to ask and find out the answer than to not ask and find out later on that the company cannot meet your needs and expectations.
And again, and as always, it is important to really listen to the catering company’s answers to your questions. How honest they seem to be about both their company’s strengths and weaknesses is telling, and can definitely sway you in deciding which catering company to go with for your event.
