Food Party Planning
Dear Friend,
Food party planning skills are essential when it comes to hosting an awesome get together, This is something that depends on who you know and how organized you can stay in order to pull it off. If you simply want to invite some people over to watch the Super Bowl, you could go to the trouble of planning just the basic activities. But why bother?
For example, no matter what, you always want to work from a party planning checklist. This has proven over the years to be the wisest way to stay organized and on top of the many activities that will be thrown at you.
The first item from which all other decisions will be affected by is that of how much money are you working with here. If you have large budget, you still need to know this before you start trying to organize the event.
It does not matter if it is a bachelorette party, retirement party, birthday part, whatever, they all need someone to organize with food party planning. This would make it successful.
Using a checklist may seem like a lot of work. But it is less work compared with trying to keep all of these details in your head (and stay sane). Your vendors, that is those who will cater the food, the drinks, the wet bar, the music, the decorators, the party favors, all of these people and businesses want to get paid. They are performing a service in order to get your business.
Don’t be surprised if you have to sign a contracts for your event. Food party planning is big business. Recently, a bride was getting married. She had a difficult time getting the deposit to secure the caterer. This just shows how tough times can be for many people. Approximately three days prior to the event, she called the caterer, and asked for a massive discount. The caterer tried to work with the customer and offered her 10% off. But then the bride to be had her mother go purchase all the table linens, flatware etc for the reception. She was very displeased when she saw her bill because she was still charged for “table service” even though she purchased her own goods.
The vendor has to get paid. They provided the food, drinks, and would have been the linens. The moral of the story is to make sure you stay organized by using your party planning checklist. Knowing what the budget was and what the contract stipulated is important for everyone involved.
Another item on your checklist should be the site of the event. If you are going to use a private banquet hall, or a church reception area for your event, that should be noted. The prices and services will likely vary. So, you want to start sooner rather than later and get price quotes. How many should you get? That questions comes up often. You should get at least three to start. The odd number just allows you to have a built in tie breaker should it come down to two locations with the same prices.
Quotes often mean you have to place money down in order to secure a place for the party. If you have three top choices that are all open for your most desired date, save yourself some money and select only one to contract with. The contracts are legal and binding in most states. Always check with your lawyer or other legal counsel should you have questions. It might not be a bad idea to have your lawyer review your contract before you sign it anyway.
What has happened is that many vendors have lost money. They either held the property for a customer that did not show up. Or they lost money by having the customer flat out not pay them. You’ll probably have to put down a money deposit when you sign the contract. I’ve even had to give my credit card imprint to secure the property for a certain date.
