When should you hire your caterers?

Event planners in charge of organising big events that require corporate catering services for example for a new product launch, wedding catering, or dinner events requiring silver service catering, have a lot of decisions to make including venue hire, décor and food. Without a doubt, the catering is one of the most important aspects to arrange but when in the organisation process should you book the caterers and how far in advance is too far? The following should be taken into account:

How big is the event?

A catering company will not only make and prepare the food for your event but will devise menus with you, taking into account dietary requirements, they will source ingredients for the dishes, prepare the various courses and of course, deliver it and possibly serve it too. The caterers will also need to ensure they have all the correct equipment, and enough of it for your guest numbers.

Obviously, the larger the event, the further in advance you need to secure your caterers. Generally events of fewer than 50 guests will take a few weeks to organise with bigger events of several hundred taking upwards of 6-8 weeks.

When is the event?

As with all industries, the event sector has times in the year when demand for catering services is much higher. These include Christmas and New Year, as well as ’wedding season’, traditionally May to August. If you are arranging catering for an event taking place at one of these time, be aware that catering companies may have more than one event in the same day and may well only be able/prepared to cater for a strict number of events in a specific period. The choice here is to book as early as possible or to be flexible with dates.

Wedding caterers

Planning a wedding takes meticulous attention to detail with brides-to-be and their mothers taking on average a year to plan one, with the help of a wedding coordinator. Once a date has been set and a wedding/reception venue chosen and booked, the next thing to plan is the wedding catering services. If the wedding is taking place during ‘wedding season’ and you have a preferred caterer in mind, it is vital to make contact as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Catering services from The ALS Group

With over 30 years’ experience in the event and catering sector, The ALS Group offers a comprehensive range of catering services. We offer a complete range of catering services and all our staff hold relevant qualification and safety certificates. We will work with you to create the perfect menu for your event, source fresh, local ingredients, prepare and deliver it and serve it if required. To take advantage of our full range of services and to avoid disappointment, we need as much notice as you are able to provide and will endeavour to be as accommodating as we can. Simply get in touch via email with some preliminary information or give our friendly and helpful team a call on 01526 397995