Wondering how you can take that upcoming celebration to the next level? Birthday parties, graduations, family reunions, seasonally themed events, and others are all special events, but with the help of the right Philadelphia catering company – and a little bit of experience that we’re going to share – you can create the perfect event.

Take these tips into account and soon you’ll be enjoying the fruits of your labor; a well-planned event, with great food, that has you and your family and guests feeling satisfied and fulfilled. Before you know it, you’ll be planning dazzling events in no time, all with a little help from the right catering in Philadelphia.

Prepare a guest list

Before you even go looking for “catering near me,” you need to know who’s going to be coming to your event. Is it going to be an intimate birthday party with fewer than ten participants? Is it going to be a huge wedding reception with over a hundred guests or an even bigger reunion? Will you be throwing some sort of holiday bash?

Get that guest list together and then you can get into more of the details. Then you’ll know how many people will be coming and who they are so you can get into menu planning.

Set a budget for yourself

After you have a guest list you can set a budget for yourself so that the rest of your planning will be accurate and realistic. There’s no point in building up a party and envisioning success only to find out that the catering services you wanted were out of the question due to the expense of other entertainment.

This is where a little help from affordable catering in Philadelphia comes into play. By the way, read our recent blog on the difference between affordable and cheap catering – they are not the same.

Take special dietary needs into account

Once you have a budget set and you know who’s on the guest list, you can get into some of the actual details of menu planning. Considerations you should take into account include the following:

• Do you need to offer vegan or vegetarian dishes?
• Do you need to provide and gluten-free options?
• Will there be any picky eaters?
• Are there any religious dietary laws you will have to observe?

There are others, but these are some of the biggest ones to take into account.

Plan for the “theme” of the event when menu planning

Now is also the time to start accounting for the type of event you are going to be planning insomuch as it relates to the menu. If it is a holiday party then you might need to offer some seasonal items. If it is early in the morning, then you will want to offer breakfast. Consider also that weddings and casual family soirées will require very different menus. Whatever the big day is, we’ll help come up with a custom menu that will inspire and satisfy.

Once you have that all hammered out, you can work with us to craft a menu for you that will meet the needs of all of your guests and satisfy everyone equally.

Offer alternative menu selections

Even after you come up with an official menu, you should come up with several alternative menu options to present to your guests. Tastes, like other preferences, are not always the same. In fact, they are often very different.

In order to ensure that everyone is not only well-fed but also happy, make sure you provide more than one choice in a menu. We’re one of the catering companies in Philadelphia, PA, that will work with you to ensure that what we create impresses and delights everyone.

Make buying local a priority

Since you’re already looking for Philly catering, this might go without saying, but buying local comes with a lot of benefits. The ingredients will be fresher, the food will be fresher, and you’ll have less of an impact on the supply chain.

Plus, in this instance, you’ll be working with a company in the Philadelphia area, so you’ll be supporting the community.

Prepare for entertainment

Once you have a guest list and a menu complete, you can prepare for any other forms of entertainment you want to offer at your party. Once you’ve addressed that, whether it be music or board games, you can get onto the fun part. Bring in the guests and add in some wisely chosen catering in Philadelphia, and you have the makings of a great time.

Let the good times roll!

After everything is said and done, you can let the professionals take care of their share of the work. We’ll create your quality food items on the day of the event freshly for delivery. We’ll even deliver to you, free of charge.

That’s the way the best catering company in Philadelphia sees full-service catering. We work with you to create a special menu, using local ingredients, and then prepare it freshly for you, whether your event requires wedding catering or corporate catering in Philadelphia. That’s how we show we care.

If you have any questions about our menu or want to learn more about our services, get in touch with a member of our team at one of our Waterfront Gourmet locations. We love to hear from our customers and we can’t wait to get you onto the top-notch event planning you always knew you could accomplish!