What to do until the Caterer arrives

  Good Planning is the key to a successful affair

Take a pencil and paper and write down the
answers to a few questions.
First what kind of function is it: a wedding, birthday celebration, product promotion or a simple gathering
of friends?
Does the function have a hidden agenda?
Is it to impress business associates?
How would you like to appear frugal and conservative, extravagant or does it matter?
       What is the budget for the function?
It  is important that the caterer  know what your thinking of spending, it will get us to a  starting point . Will it be lavish, bare bones or somewhere in the middle, is that high middle or low middle.
The site, the caterer will do a site inspection. He is
professional , but you must  make a list of any
restrictions or rules, this is common in rented or
donated space.
                     Bar and Beverage service
You must make a decision as to the type of
beverages to be offered.
Will it be coffee, juice, soft drinks, beer, wine,
champagne or cocktails?
Think about what you would like to have,
how and when you want it served and who
will supply it..
                          Serving Staff
Depending on the type of function do you want the  guests   to help themselves? Or be served? If it is a buffet
do you want a serving staff. One server can generally
handle three items,do you want a carver/server?
Do you want someone to pass hors d'oeuvres?
There are no absolute rules, but there are some
guidelines we, as your caterer, will of course help you.
                  Think about the menu
You might have some experience in planning
  a function or at least have attended enough to have
  some idea as to what it is all about.
Give the menu some thought the final selection will depend   on a few things , budget, type of function, age and number of guests and in some cases the facilities.
If it's going to be a buffet then the guests will pick and
choose the food themselves if it's a formal sit down
dinner the plate planing will be very important.
                              Menu suggestions
A simple very basic sit down meal consists generally
of a soup or salad or both.
The main entree would be a meat,starch and a vegetable, then dessert and coffee.
The items themselves would depend on budget,
and client preference or event theme.
To the basic meal could be added an appetizer course,a fish course,a pasta course,an Intermezzo course, and a cheese course.
                        How is this to be used?
Well let's say the Retired Clerks Assoc.of Sarasota are having their annual dinner dance.  All other details have been worked out and we are up to the menu. We have concluded that most of the attendees are in the 60 and 70 age group.
So let's keep it simple.
  Let's face it, after 70 years they have seen it all,
done it all and what's going to impress them about
the meal is not getting heartburn.
They have requested that we keep it simple and low priced.

We start with a simple mixed green salad, we skip
the soup course and move right to the main course.
At the time of signing up for the dinner they were given
the choice between Chicken Franchese a breast of
chicken with a lemon sauce or Florida Snapper with the same type of sauce or Yankee Pot Roast.
If choosing in advance is not practical,  I'd go with the Chicken.The starch is a roasted red potato with a little butter and rosemary. The vegetable a simple honeyed carrot with a few green peas for color.
Dessert is Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
very tasty,very sweet.
Fresh fruit has been provided instead for those
requesting it at sign up.
For a sit down dinner that's about as simple as it gets,
want to kick it up.
Here's a dinner for the Powerboat racers assoc.   
When called to table the guests are served....
Champagne cocktail and Coconut shrimp with shrimp toast,
Wild and White mushroom soup with tomato basil focaccia bread.
Field greens and steakhouse tomatoes with hot goat cheese
Spinach Crepe with Prosciutto sauce
Main course choice of:
Supreme of Chicken with wild mushroom sauce
Osso Buco with Mushroom Risotto
Beef Tenderloin with creamy green peppercorn  sauce
Planked Salmon with Horseradish Mustard Crust
Glazed carrots, sugar snaps and stir-fried asparagus and mushrooms
Layered polenta (Italian cornmeal mush) baked and layered with mozzarella cheese,grated parmesan and Ragu Bolognese
Italian Cheesecake tarts, fudge brownies and Amaretto poached pears.
Italian and American coffees are served with paper thin
lace lemon cookies
As a cart passes from table to table offering after dinner cordials.

The difference in the two dinners is money.
What you choose to spend will be  the guiding factor.

We can put together the first dinner or the second.
We just can't put it together for the same price.

So when starting a discussion with the caterer,
the function budget should be the  first order of business.
This saves everybody a lot of time.