6 Questions to Ask a Caterer Before Hiring Them for Your Wine Tasting Party

If you’re having friends over for a wine tasting, you’ll want to have some good food. You’ll want to have something in your stomach besides the wine, and who doesn’t love a good pairing?

Having your party catered is the best way to make preparing for your guests easy. However, finding a good caterer isn’t always simple. The market is flooded with many caterers who provide mediocre services. If you plan to have a party soon, ask a caterer these questions to ensure you hire the best catering company possible.

1. Have You Ever Catered for a Similar Event?

Like any other profession, you would want to deal with a catering service with experienced staff. Such a team will be able to handle last-minute adjustments and interact with guests and clients. If you find a caterer who has done party catering and has served the same number of guests as the ones you are expecting to be at your event, you can be assured they’re prepared.

2. How Do You Come Up with the Price of One Plate?

This question will help you know the company’s pricing strategy and how they calculate the cost of each plate using their method. This question is important because it will help you avoid surprises later on. For example, some catering services consider certain foods as extras, so it will be helpful if you knew this beforehand.

3. What Services Do You Include in Your Quote?

Just like purchasing anything else, you must compare the prices of different vendors to ensure you choose the one with the most reasonable quote, depending on your budget. In most cases, caterers charge extra expenses which were not included in the initial quote.

Ensure that the quotes you analyze contain the same things, including:
• Furniture
• Alcohol – will they provide wine.
• Staff
• Clear Away
• Table Service
• Serving Utensils
• Cake Cutting
• Tips
• Taxes

When you look at the quotes side by side, you will identify the caterer who will offer you more services at an affordable cost. This is important to consider as there may be other expenses to consider, and you’ll want to see how everything fits into your budget. For example, you may want to look into affordable dumpster rentals to get rid of all the party waste, and while the caterer would not be expected to supply this, it’s helpful to know exactly what they want to charge so you can plan out the expenses for the other aspects.

4. Can You Cater to My Venue?

It would be best if you told the caterer where your event would be held to ensure they can offer their services in that location. Certain venues have a list of caterers they allow to work on their premises, while other venues will ask you to pay more if you choose a caterer who is not included in their list.

5. Where Will You Cook the Food From? 

Food is a delicate component of every event; if it’s not cooked in hygienic conditions, it can ruin your day. You want to ensure that the caterer cooks it from a certified and inspected commercial kitchen. The food can’t be cooked in an area where many people sleep or in a residential kitchen. This is part of the regulations and safety standards.

Sometimes, you may have to go to the commercial kitchen to confirm that is where they are doing their cooking and preparation.

6. Do You Bring Your Catering Insurance with You?

An accident can happen during an event affecting you or a loved one. This can happen even when you have recruited the best caterer on the market. For this reason, you must establish whether your caterer has insurance at all.

Make sure you ask about the details of their insurance policy, such as their error and omissions (E&O) and liability. Catering liability is the best policy for your situation because it will cover injuries that may occur during the event to anyone attending the party, including your guests.

Eat (and Drink) Well!

Organizing and hosting a party is a wonderful thing that most people look forward to. Choosing a good catering company can mean the difference between a great party and a disastrous one. Make sure you have enough wine to go with the food and don’t forget the bubbly to really make your wine tasting party be sparkling.