Breaking down the Party Checklist

The Venue
When renting a well known location there are factors to consider such as:

If it is a well known and busy banquet hall what sort of charges beyond the catering packages might not be included? These facilities are very good at providing dinner promptly on time, and with Weddings or other events with lots of speeches that's important.

If you are looking at a prestige location like Casa Loma or the Carlu for instance, there will be extra costs, like security, and a "15% landmark charge" above and beyond the five figure venue rental charge. They also will only allow a certain list of "preferred caterers" to quote for your event at their location.

While these affairs are very professionally run and enjoyed, its difficult to feed 300+ people in a true "a la minute" style and they are being disingenuous if they say they are doing so.

For more on this specific topic see Behind the swinging door.

If you throw "a party in a barn" or outdoors at a non-traditional location the caterer has to arrange for and bring everything from electricity to washrooms, coolers, hot boxes and stoves. If it rains, things can get pretty hairy with mud and safety issues. You have to decide what you want to spend your money on, such as a hard wood dance floor or the seafood your guests eat?

Restaurants can also provide great service, but at a price, they have high overhead and need to meet minimums per seat every night. Staff Service charges and high mark-ups on Wine lists also add to the bill.

As a contrast Personal Chefs have small overhead costs and concentrate on the food, you can enjoy your own wine cellar and gratuity is at your discretion. (Most service charges with caterers go towards the bottom line of the owner and may not be passed on to the actual workers).

The Bar
Some Caterers have travelling LLBO liquor licences making them a travelling bar. More likely small caterers and Personal chefs offer the service of serving alcohol that you purchase yourself. Bartenders in Ontario now have to have passed the "Smart Serve" program, and you also want to know that the caterers is licensed and insured or only your own household insurance is vulnerable.

For groups of 30 or fewer the server/bartender can easily handle making drinks and waiting, unless it's a cocktail party or you have special beverages and a heavy drinking crowd. For larger events one bartender for every 50 people is the rule, and portable podium bars and tables can be rented for under $ 100 to make the set-up efficient and professional looking.

For a shopping guide of what to buy, the LCBO has plenty of tips on-line, and getting 40 ounce plastic bottles, that can be returned if unused, is the way to go. Creating a signature drink is a lot of fun and a way to make things more of a party atmosphere.

Don't forget to arrange for ice, possibly large coolers and washtubs for beer and non-alcohol beverages.

Staff
While a Personal Chef should be able top graciously serve an Elegant Dinner Party of up to 12 people and even handle small buffets alone, having a server is important for a more formal or business occasion and makes things more civilized, also helping towards the daunting task of clean up.

The ratio of servers is one per 25 people depending on how formal you need the event to be. There are actually caterers who will try to do 100 person events with as little as one cook and one waiter, imagine how " in the weeds" and unprofessional they will be!

Servers and bartenders can be hired directly from the caterer or agency and cost upwards of $25 to $35 per hour. Chef services can be $50 per hour unless included. Some caterers actually charge a certain amount to the client and pay the waiter a fraction of that. Likewise gratuity may not make its way to that hard working person unless the client distributes cash personally, which is greatly appreciated.

Rentals
There are many rental companies who will help you plan your catering needs, prices vary from .30 cents per piece to a great deal more depending on your style needs.

Even clear Lucite chairs can be rented (at $35 each) so no caterer can accurately quote until the clients needs are considered. Even if you think you have enough dishes and glasses on hand yourself, rentals are a good idea because of breakage, the big job of cleaning up and the hassle of running out of clean wares during the night.

As a general rule cutlery and dishes are available by the dozen or half dozen so over do it by 10%, but with glasses allow at least 1.5 to 3 units to be used per person to be safe. Delivery charges can be high, $75 and up, and most caterers add a mark-up to the price offered by the rental service. So in choosing a rental agency its good to look local and for great service over bottom line price per piece.

Unseen Extras and Billing
When you ask for a quote from a well established large caterer it is quite likely that if you want to spend under $1,000 on a small party, the salesperson, by adding staff, rentals, bar and service charges will push that cost to closer to $2,000.

Parties of this size are not the bread and butter of that sort of caterer, but are better handled by a Personal Chef or small caterer.

As a general rule the cost of the food, say $50 per person times 20 people will be matched by the cost of rentals and staff put together. So if it's a $1,000 food quote its approximately another $1,000 for everything else, plus GST and the cost of alcohol.

When calculating a quote caterers can offer "all inclusive" which means the food, staff and rentals are listed together or they can quote on " Food, Plus-Plus". ( The cost of the food first, then separately adding whatever staff and rentals needed)

At chefjono.ca I quote the cost of the food, approximately $45 to 65 for casual buffets, $85 for an Elegant Dinner Party package, or up to $125 per person for a Celebration Dinner, the ultimate Personal Chef experience. The cost of servers is $250 flat rate for very professional well trained people and rentals can be arranged by chefjono from your local rental service.

To be frank, I concentrate on what I enjoy, which is serving delicious high quality natural food made from scratch in your home. If you need the services of an event planner to build a stage, or cover chairs in linen, or do a light show, there are professionals we can obtain to do so, I'll be in the kitchen!