Organising a company party: what to agree with the caterer
A company party is not a private party with more people. There is a programme that has to run, a budget that has to be justified, and a guest list of colleagues you are responsible for. Those three decide which catering format works, more often than the taste of whoever is organising it.
How do you make sure everyone eats in time?
By choosing a format in which nobody has to wait their turn. At a Walking Dinner the whole group has eaten within about two hours, because the courses come past instead of the room walking to the food.
With foodstands everyone picks their own moment. That is more comfortable for a long evening, but it does mean putting out enough stands for your guest count: one stand for a hundred people becomes a queue. We think that through with you based on your numbers and the length of the evening.
What do you do about colleagues' dietary requirements?
Ask for them with the invitation and pass them on in one go. At a company party you are the one who knows who is vegetarian and who has an allergy, and that information shapes the menu, not something that should still be getting solved on the night.
We agree every dietary requirement and allergy with you in advance, so everyone can join in without a second thought. Which fourteen allergens a caterer must be able to inform you about regardless is set out in dietary requirements and allergens.
How do you keep the budget defensible?
Ask for a price that contains everything. A quote listing staff, crockery, cutlery and transport separately is a quote that comes out higher afterwards, and that is precisely the conversation you do not want to have with your controller.
With us it is a single figure: staff, crockery and cutlery sit inside the price per person or per stand. What an evening costs you can work out in advance yourself with the calculator on the concept pages: enter your guest count and see the figure.
What should you tell the caterer?
Four things are enough to get a serious proposal: the venue, the number of guests or a range for it, the time food needs to be served, and the dietary requirements you know about. The programme alongside is a bonus.
With us you then have a tailored proposal within one working day, setting out the menu, staffing and schedule as one figure you can put in your budget. How that proposal comes about, and what can still be moved afterwards, is in how an evening on location unfolds.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best catering for a company party with a programme?
A Walking Dinner, because the pauses between courses give you natural moments for a speech. If your evening has no fixed eating moment because colleagues join whenever they can, foodstands suit better.
How many foodstands do I need?
It depends on your guest count and on how long the evening runs: the shorter the evening, the more points you need serving at once. We work it through with you before you book.
Can you cook at our office?
Yes. We come to your office and agree in advance where we can set up and where people will eat. We bring what that takes, and afterwards we leave the space as we found it.
Do I get one price or a sum of separate line items?
One price. Staff, crockery and cutlery are in it, so no separate line for service or washing up appears afterwards. In your budget it stays a single figure you can justify.
