How to Find and Hire a Caterer

Save yourself time, worry, hassle and cleanup. Hire a caterer to do all of that for you. Here's how to do it with ease and pizzazz.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Party Planners
• Caterers

1. Look through the Yellow Pages. It's still a great resource for food and beverage services.

2. Look for catering referral services, both local and national. You can find them online by using a major search engine like Google or Yahoo.

3. Ask your friends and relatives for recommendations. Ask yourself who had a catered party recently? Did they like their caterer? What advice do they have?

4. Call cooking schools for their advice and for referrals.

5. Prepare a list of questions to ask before calling caterers. (See Tips for some ideas.)

6. Determine your budget and a basic idea of what kind of food you want to serve before meeting with the caterer. (For example, figure out whether you're serving dinner, hors d'oeuvres or both.)

7. Set up an initial meeting to discuss the menu and the services you desire.

8. Sample the caterer's food before you agree to hire.

9. Agree on payment before the caterer arrives at the party.

10. Lay down the law. Let the caterer know what expectations you have before the party starts. Ask the caterer what expectations and/or questions he or she might have.

11. Enjoy yourself.

Tips & Warnings

• Some questions to ask caterers: Do you add a gratuity to your price? Can you accommodate food preferences and special diets? How many electrical outlets do you need? What can you supply (such as dishes, utensils, valet parking, bartenders, table decorations, linens and coffee) and how much extra is each? What is included in your estimate?

• Prepare yourself for the expense of hiring a caterer. Most caterers will require 2 payments: one before the event and one immediately following the event.