Catering Options to Fit Your Wedding Style and Budget

Even when everything else is perfect, the caterer for your South Carolina event can spell the difference between boon and bust. Finding the right caterer for your party, club meeting, or wedding, is crucial both to the event’s success and your bottom line. The catering industry in South Carolina is also more diversified from small operations to specialty groups; even restaurants, covering virtually every taste and cost. South Carolina caterers can be worth their weight in gold. With all the logistics involved in planning a large gathering, knowing your caterer will competently handle the food is a godsend. Find out the advantages to having a caterer for your next event and how you can pick the caterer that’s perfect.

Advantages To Having A Caterer

Of course the first advantage to having a caterer is that this South Carolina food professional will handle the cooking of all the food to be served at your event. Even more importantly, the caterer will be responsible for the transportation and/or placement of the food at the event site. Sometimes this involves cooking the food off site and then transporting it, or even preparing it on site. If your event is a business meeting, changes in the federal tax laws in 1987 look more favorably on the business lunch or dinner that is catered in house. The caterer will also clean up afterwards, which can be a real plus when you may have many other after-event matters to which you must attend.

Catering Types And Styles

There are basically three kinds of catering, the buffet style, family style, and the cafeteria style. Which style you choose for your South Carolina event should be done only after careful consideration of your needs. If you cannot decide ahead of time, be sure to contract a South Carolina caterer that can provide all three styles. The caterer will help you decide which catering style is best for your event.

The cafeteria style is perhaps the slowest style of catering. Guests choose the foods they want, which are then placed on their plates by the attendant(s). In the buffet style, all the dishes, both entrée and side dishes, are kept decorated on the table and your guests serve themselves at their convenience. In the family style of catering, each individual food item is placed on a single large plate at each table and replenished by the wait staff when necessary. Your guests will pass these around among themselves.

There is one additional consideration one should remember when using the buffet system of catering. Since there will be some waste and overeating of the food, when making your catering budget, make provisions for 20 percent more food than estimated from the number of attending guests.

Although most South Carolinians assume event catering when they think about catering, there are actually two other types. There is mobile catering, where food is served directly from a cart or other vehicle designed specifically for that purpose. This kind of catering is usually done in downtown areas during events and festivals, business districts and concerts. If the event provides the food, the food cart proprietors are known as caterers; if the food is provided on a pay-per-individual basis, they are usually known as vendors.

Industrial catering provides food for specific industries, usually on a more consistent but still as-needed basis. This type of catering can include prisons, schools, and other institutional settings. Depending on the setting, large industrial catering companies are also known as food service companies.

Standard Event Catering Services

In general, when you contract a South Carolina event caterer, you can expect some standard services that are understood. Helping set up the dining area is a service that is typically provided at banquets, weddings, and conventions. Any event where all the attenders are provided with food and drinks, or sometimes only hors d'oeuvres is often called a catered event.

One of the main reasons one hires a South Carolina catering company is not only because of the company’s expertise, or their knowing food preparation, but how to make it attractive. Many events require working with the entire theme or color scheme that fits with the general atmosphere of the event. Catering companies are now providing full-service by taking charge of food preparation and decorations; such as table settings or lighting. The South Carolina catering industry recognizes that providing this kind of service helps solidify the caterer’s indispensability in the overall presentation of a successful event.

Catering costs are determined on a per-person basis, where adding additional people is a flat cost per person. Keeping the cost of the food and supplies below this level is required to ensure a profit on the catering. A caterer and his or her staff should be friendly and cooperative because, after all, they are in the food service industry and should follow the motto "the customer is always right."

Foods Offered By Caterers

At one time, caterers in South Carolina could get by with a general menu that featured standard meats, vegetables, drinks and desserts. This was especially true when the population of the Palmetto State was of a more homogeneous makeup. With the continuing cosmopolitanization of South Carolina, due to an influx of people from every state in the U.S. and many foreign countries, existing caterers have changed with consumer demand and new specialty catering companies that feature non-traditional fare have sprung up, especially in the last 25 years.

This trend was mainly fueled by a number of niche cuisine restaurants that were able to take advantage of the changing market. New South Carolina restaurants featuring food from the individual cultures of India, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and other countries discovered that catering events for their customers and for new South Carolina residents who have relocated from these countries, increases their potential customer base. Weddings continue to be the largest single events that many of these caterers handle, although, featuring their particular cuisine at public events has also driven the demand for diverse food offerings from South Carolina catering companies.

South Carolina Specialty Foods

Another niche market for South Carolina caterers involves offering different food preparations featuring specialty foods produced exclusively in the Palmetto State. These foods run the gamut from barbecue sauces to seafood preparations, spices and marinades. Specialized gourmet offerings of everything from desserts to hors d’oerves and entrees (salad dressings, vegetables, jams and jellies, etc.) that are made from South Carolina recipes and by South Carolina food companies are more in demand by catering customers than ever.

The producer-oriented South Carolina Specialty Food Association has been more proactive in promoting South Carolina specialty foods through caterers across the state. This education of caterers statewide includes generic promotions and information resources which locate and describe the state's specialty food producers. The Association has worked with caterers to include such items in their offerings.

Event Catering Planning

There are many factors to consider when deciding to hire a South Carolina caterer. From the type of food served, the cost, preparation site, hors d’oeuvres and drinks, or who will serve the food, a South Carolina caterer can work with you to customize the service that meets your needs. You will need to work out these considerations either before or during your meeting with the caterer; regardless of whether you choose a caterer, or you decide to go with one provided by the meeting or event. The biggest consideration, of course, is your budget. Presenting that up front will save you problems later.

Here are some average catering costs and services to consider:

• An inexpensive catering choice might be a private room at a Chinese, barbecue or other casual restaurant, without alcohol, which can cost as little as $6-$15 per person. Many restaurants charge a small room rental fee, but not for the use of plates, glasses and flatware.
• An hors d'oeuvres reception or buffet with no cocktail hour and a limited bar can cost $30 to $70 per person. This might include a hearty spread of hot hors d' oeuvres, and salads served either buffet-style or in stations, as well as a beer-and-wine-only bar. This is especially true of wedding receptions.
• A cocktail hour and sit-down dinner at a fancy hotel, country club or resort with an in-house caterer can cost $125 to $350 or more per person, including service and gratuity. This might include passed hors d' oeuvres, a sit-down multi-course meal and an open bar.
• Whether you use an in-house or an outside caterer should not affect the final price much -- just the complexity of your bill. In-house caterers build in the price of flatware and stemware, which they will usually own, for example, while outside caterers rent it from a third party and itemize the cost on your bill.
• The average South Carolina wedding caterer cost, including food and food service, drinks and drink service and cake and cake cutting fees is anywhere from $9,000-$12,000. The average number of guests is 150.

Additional costs can include:

• Some caterers add a 15 to 25 percent gratuity to their bill, and some leave tipping up to the customer's discretion. This will need to be clarified in the caterer’s contract.
• While in-house catering typically includes service, outside caterers usually charge for labor --around $15 to $25 an hour each waiter and $45 an hour or more for a chef. Passed appetizers add to labor costs because they require more servers.

Remember, caterers charge in different ways, so it is important to make sure any and all possible fees and charges are discussed upfront.

Discounts

• Save on catering by holding a lunch reception instead of a dinner reception; prices are lower because portions are smaller, and guests tend to drink less alcohol at mid-day.
• Another way to cut costs is to have the caterer prepare the food, but enlist the help of family and friends or company staff to serve it.
• Some couples on a tight budget choose to self-cater their weddings.

Catering is a major portion of a successful event that can be facilitated with a little prior preparation. For lists of South Carolina catering companies in your area, log onto www.catering.sc.