Are You Catering on a Budget?

There are many steps that you can take to find quality caterers on a tight budget. First of all make sure that you allow yourself adequate time to plan your event. You may want to speak with a caterer 3 to 6 months prior to the event, maybe even more. Catering services cost a lot more if you wait until the last minute to hire them. This is due to the fact of the catering company not being able to order their food early enough.

The next way to save money on catering is to keep tabs on the guests that have responded that they will attend. Many caterers will need final counts within a few days prior to the event. If you have had guests that responded over a month ago, they may have had something else coming up or they may have forgotten completely about your event. So you should always double check with the people who said they will come to be sure that they still plan on coming. You should also count on to 5 to 10% of those people not showing anyway. So when you do give you final numbers, always give a smaller number than have actually responded. A caterer can usually come up with enough food to feed everyone, but won't discount you for food not eaten.

You can save money by not offering alcohol at your event. Alcohol is a very expensive part of any party, so by not offering it you can save money and ensure that your party will not get unruly. If you really believe that alcohol should be offered, then do so at the guests expensive. Have a bar available that sells drinks to the guests as opposed to open bar.

Catering Delicious Mexican Food!

Do you find yourself searching the internet for Mexican food catering companies only to find that you don't know a thing about them. You got family coming in town and you obviously wanna impress them, and you only have one chance to make a first impression. Well here's some advice.

1.) While some people might have a cynical predisposition to leave only negative feedback, most people use review sites to help their fellow consumer. So check the review sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp and City Search.

2.) If the potential caterer has a restaurant, GO THERE. Check 'em out. If the food and service are terrible at the restaurant, guess what, their catering product is probably going to be terrible as well.

3.) Ask for references. Any reputable caterer will gladly fork over, no pun intended, a list of happy clients.

4.) Its not all about the price. Cheaper is not better, just as more expensive is not better. It comes down to a dollar vs. product. What is the biggest bang for your buck. So start with a philosophy of "What is the most quality I can afford?" and go from there.

5.) Apples to Apples. Make sure your comparing apples to apples. If one caterer provides a condiment that another doesn't, take that into consideration.

6.) Portion Size. It's time to get specific. Whether it be a quantity or weight, you want to know. Do not settle for terms like "enough for one person".

7.) Hidden Charges. Don't fall for the low per head charge only to realize that the caterer failed to mention anything about a service charge, gratuity, or delivery charge. Any reputable catering company will be upfront with costs.