Choosing a catering company in Santa Cruz, CA, is only half the battle. The next step is choosing the method that you wish the food to be catered through. Most catering companies offer a wide selection of catering options, so it can be overwhelming for the first time buyer, especially if they’re on a budget. How do you order food for such a large gathering while still managing to stay within your budget? If you are looking for a catering company, and pondering this question as you do so, here are some good bits of advice on how you can stay on budget and still get the best service possible from your caterer.
#1. How many mouths are you feeding?
This is one of the most important factors to consider when budgeting your catering service, so be sure to narrow this down early on. The biggest contributor to the cost of the caterer’s services is how much food they’re going to have to make for how many people. Being able to give your caterer an exact guest count will ensure that they manage to come to a price that will be satisfactory to you. If nothing else, it’ll help you budget the plan better now that the caterer has given you the price.
#2. Delivery method
Despite what many folks think, there are more ways to cater than just packing things into a truck and driving it over. There are other methods of delivery, the price varying on the company and what it can do with the resources it has. These include, but are not limited to picking up at the catering company (saving money on shipping fees), the caterers coming over with not only food, but tables, silverware, and displays, and then setting it all up, too all of that plus the food being cooked on site. Look over the different delivery methods and see which one best suits you and your budget.
#3. Know your budget beforehand
The best way to not go over budget with the catering, or any part of the planning stage really, is to know what your budget even is from the get go. This is usually the first thing thought about, and the last thing figured out. Be sure to make note of this; getting your budget figured out as soon as possible will make not only the catering, but most the planning process, significantly easier on you and far less stressful than it otherwise would’ve been. A good way to start with this is by determining how much you’re willing to spend on this and then dividing it by the estimated amount of guests set to arrive for the event. This will make this entire process easier, so be sure to figure it out fast.
If you’ve done that and just need a catering company to order from, look no further than D’La Colmena Mexican Food Catering Service.
