The Catering Operations Glossary and FAQ Hub

Aim for the same business day, and sooner when the event date is close. The first reply does not have to be a quote. A short acknowledgment that names the date, confirms whether you are available, and proposes a fifteen-minute call does more for you than a detailed estimate sent two days later. If the date is already booked, say so in that first message so the client can keep moving and remembers you kindly for it.

The menu and the price almost always make it in. The items that go missing are the ones that cause disputes later: the final count deadline, the exact hours of service and what overtime costs, who supplies rentals and who pays for breakage, whether the service charge and gratuity are separate lines, the deposit and refund schedule, and what happens if the venue or date changes. A useful test before sending: could a stranger read the proposal and know what the client gets, when, and for how much, without calling you.

The run of show is the timeline alone, listed minute by minute from load-in to breakdown. The BEO is the whole execution document, and the run of show is one section of it alongside the menu, counts, staffing, equipment, and billing. The distinction matters when a planner or the venue produces their own run of show. Reconcile it against the BEO timeline before the event, because two schedules that disagree by even twenty minutes on dinner service will push every fire time off.

Once the deadline has passed, the guaranteed number is what the kitchen produces and the office bills. A late increase is usually possible within a small range, typically a handful of extra plates, because most kitchens prep a buffer above the guarantee. Beyond that it depends on product on hand, and it is fair to quote a rush price. A late decrease does not normally reduce the bill, because the product has been purchased and the staff scheduled. Day-of no-shows are the client's cost, and clear guarantee language in the contract is what keeps that conversation short.

Three questions at intake, repeated at the final count: how many guests have each need, whether any of them are allergies rather than preferences, and whether any allergy is severe enough that cross-contact in the kitchen matters. Record the answers as a count per category, not as a paragraph. Then give each special meal a seat or table assignment and a physical marker, such as a distinct plate cover or a tent card, so the server delivers it without asking the table. If your kitchen cannot guarantee a nut-free or gluten-free environment, put that in writing before the event, not on the day.

Label the service charge with what it covers and state in the proposal whether any of it is distributed to staff, because some states and cities have rules about how a mandatory charge may be described and where it must go. If gratuity is left to the client, put an optional line on the invoice rather than adding it silently, and if it is included, say so on the proposal in the same sentence as the service charge. Most surprises on a final invoice come from these two lines, so make them boring.

Start from what the event actually costs you to deliver, then add the margin you want. The costs that most often go missing from a quote are travel time paid to staff, the hours spent packing and unpacking at the kitchen, consumables like sternos and ice, rental delivery fees and breakage, the tasting itself, and the sales time it took to write the proposal. After the event, compare the real food and labor spend to what you quoted. A quote that was off by the same amount three events in a row is telling you about your pricing model, not about your team.

Count from the timeline rather than from a chart. For a plated dinner, decide how many tables one server can clear and reset within the window between courses, and that gives you the server count. Add a captain, runners to carry plates when the walk from the kitchen is long, and bartenders based on how many guests will want a drink in the first half hour. Buffets and stations trade servers for attendants and runners who keep the line stocked. Then write call times against the timeline, because a server arriving thirty minutes early costs far less than a room that is not set when guests arrive.

Pick one recent event and count the documents where the guest count appears: proposal, contract, BEO, production sheet, staffing list, rental order, invoice. Then count how many of them had to be edited by hand the last time that count changed. If the second number is more than one, you have found where your errors come from. The cure is to name one document as the owner of each fact and make every other sheet copy from it, whether that copy is a spreadsheet reference or a field in software.

It happens often enough at large events that it is worth planning for. Keep a short note on the BEO of which menu items are already free of the most common allergens, so a server can answer at the table. Hold a small number of unassigned plain plates, typically a simply prepared protein and vegetables, that can be adapted quickly. Have the server bring the question to the captain rather than guessing, and have the captain confirm ingredients with the chef before the plate goes out. If you cannot make a safe plate, say so honestly. A guest would rather skip a course than risk a reaction.

Ten minutes before doors open covers most of it. The captain reads the timeline aloud, the chef confirms the fire time for each course, both agree on who calls the go for each course, and the dietary plates are matched to seats. Agree on one channel for the event, whether radios, a group thread, or a runner, and one person on each side who speaks for it, so the chef is not fielding five servers at once. After the event, spend five minutes writing down what ran late and what ran out while it is still fresh.

Three touchpoints do most of the work. In the first week, a thank-you written for that client rather than a template, naming one moment from the evening and asking how their guests found the food. A few weeks later, once photos or a review exist, a short note sharing them. Then a check-in ahead of the next natural occasion, such as the same season next year or the next quarter for a corporate client. Keep a record with the dishes they praised, the ones nobody touched, who actually made the decision, and any preference mentioned in passing, so the next proposal starts from what you know.