Catering Basics for Meeting & Event Planners

An in depth review for beginning Meeting Planners or those who need to strengthen their catering game. Take a review with me as to what key items that should be reviewed in a catering contract before you sign with the venue. What questions should be asked and can be negotiated, some that you may not have thought of. Suggestions on what to do if the contract is already signed and how to walk through those commitments. Including some insights on venues that only offer off -site catering. Next touching on venue menu pricing and why some items are priced the way they are. Looking for consistency in pricing on event orders, discussing staffing fees, and food & beverage minimums. Working through looking at the full price of your event before contracting. Lastly digging into how to figure out how much food to order, by using event history. Estimating Quantities not only saves money, but avoids waste while allowing funds to be allocated to other facets of the event. Get a good baseline of knowledge to take to every future event. Don't forget to look for increasing information in other courses, including Catering Next Level which discusses Event History, Menu Building and Bars. Then Catering Digging Deeper which discusses tradeshows, branding, and event themes.