When you decide the kind of foods to be served at your banquet, there are certain things you should consider. You must take into consideration the wide variety of tastes, dietary restrictions, and other preferences as per the requirement of your guests. Plus, you must also take into account a few not-so-obvious things to help ensure a hit event and a delicious meal.
We have penned down some crucial steps to menu and catering planning that will ensure that your banquet stands out among the usual catered event meals.
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Know a little about your guests:
What is the profile of the guests that are being invited to your event? To prevent your party from meeting the unflattering situation, consider the given points.
- The profession of your guests
- Their location
- Their ethnic background
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Know about their food preferences:
By understanding the general profile of all the guests, your event planner or caterer can better begin to consider what meal options to offer. However, the following may help you better plan and arrange their menu needs.
- Guests concerned about dietary aspects may prefer more vegetarian and seafood options.
- The older groups may prefer a lighter menu option.
- The younger and middle-aged guests may prefer non-vegetarian and spicier items.
All this can be different; however, the idea here is to just consider what your guests will love the most based on the type of event or party you are planning.
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Offer menu options:
While you may put in your best effort to know about your guest’s food choices, always remember that you’ll never be able to please everyone with the same food option. So, make sure your caterers always offer several menu options to ensure each guest is pleased with the specific meal they like the most. When planning the menu option, remember the given points:
- Offer at least three choices of meal
- Offer multiple salad dressing for salad courses
- Offer at least two to three dessert options
- Serve the condiments and other gravy items on the side
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Always include seasonal items in the menu:
When choosing the menu for your banquet, the time of the year should be considered a crucial aspect of figuring out food and beverages. So, keep in mind to take into account which food items are in season for that particular time of the year. Plus also take into consideration the location or region of the event and famous food items of that particular area. Make sure you incorporate regionally grown fruits and vegetables to reflect the local tradition.
And finally, consider the final display of the food and beverages. It is rightly said that we eat with our eyes and noses before we actually eat the food in real. So, whether the meal is served platted or in a buffet style, it should always be visually fragrant, creative, and appetizing. The final presentation of the meal should make your guests want to taste it as soon as possible.
Hence, by considering all these factors, hopefully the caterers will able to plan a successful catered event that will leave your guests to spellbound and will also make your event a huge success.